Penny Lane

Penny Lane is a street in the English city of Liverpool. The area that surrounds its junction with Smithdown Road is also commonly called Penny Lane. Locally the term "Penny Lane" was the name given to Allerton Road and Smithdown Road and its busy shopping area.

Related Topics:
English - Liverpool

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Penny Lane is now famous worldwide as it is the title of a hit song by The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney, recorded during the Sgt. Pepper sessions, and released in February, 1967 as one side of a double-A sided single, along with Lennon's Strawberry Fields Forever. Both singles were later released on the US Magical Mystery Tour album in November, 1967. The song features contrasting verse-chorus form and was credited "Lennon-McCartney" although Lennon did only contribute some lines in the lyrics.

Related Topics:
The Beatles - Paul McCartney - Sgt. Pepper - February - 1967 - Strawberry Fields Forever - Magical Mystery Tour - November - Contrasting verse-chorus form - Lennon-McCartney

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McCartney and John Lennon grew up in the area and they spent a lot of time playing on Penny Lane junction as children. The street is an important landmark, sought out by most Beatles fans touring Liverpool. In the past, street signs saying "Penny Lane" were constant targets of tourist theft and had to be continually replaced. Eventually, city officials gave up and simply began painting the street name on the sides of buildings. This is still the case at the Smithdown Road junction, but there is a conventional sign at the other end of the street.

Related Topics:
John Lennon - Theft - Street name

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The barber shop mentioned in the song was probably a shop owned by a Mr. Bioletti, who has claimed to have cut hair for Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison when they were children. The fire station in the song is where Allerton Road becomes Mather Avenue ("Its a clean machine"). The station is very close to the site of Quarry Bank School which Lennon attended. Mather Avenue leads to Forthlin Road, home of McCartney.

Related Topics:
Barber - George Harrison

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One innovative feature of the song was the piccolo trumpet solo played by David Mason. This is thought to be the first use of this instrument (a distinctively higher version of the standard trumpet) in pop music, where it is now (in certain genres) almost a commonplace. McCartney was reportedly inspired to use the instrument after hearing Mason's performance in a BBC radio broadcast of the second Brandenburg Concerto by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Related Topics:
Trumpet - David Mason - BBC - Brandenburg Concerto - Johann Sebastian Bach

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The promotional film for the song was not in fact filmed at Penny Lane – The Beatles were reluctant to travel to Liverpool and so the street scenes were actually filmed in and around Angel Lane in London's East End. The outdoor scenes were filmed at Knole Park in Sevenoaks, where the promotional film for Strawberry Fields Forever was also shot. Both videos were selected by New York's MoMA as some of the most influential music videos in the late 1960s.

Related Topics:
Angel Lane - East End - Knole Park - New York - MoMA - 1960s

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