The Beatles Strawberry Fields Forever b/w Penny Lane 7" 45 RPM single with Picture Sleeve

• First US Pressing
• East Coast
• Capitol 5810
• Spizer cat. no. CAP 5810.01A

This double A-sided Capitol single could easily be considered the best the band had ever put out. Both songs were a tremendous departure from anything they had released before, both lyrically and thematically, as well as from a musicality and production standpoint. Consider the fact that their previous single was Yellow Submarine! These two songs were actually the first and third songs recorded by the group when they embarked on the sessions for the epic LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, though neither ever appeared on that album. George Martin was pressured by EMI (The Beatles' UK recording company) to put out another single, and so this record was released on February 13th, 1967. Ironically, it may have been just a little too ahead of its time, only reaching #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.

Strawberry Fields Forever is a John Lennon masterpiece. John, himself said in a 1970 Rolling Stone interview, “It’s real, you know. It’s about me, and I don’t know anything else really. The only true songs I ever wrote were ‘Help!’ and ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.'” The lyrics are beautiful, and certainly influenced by Bob Dylan's recent, more dreamy writing. Another influence, what was now one of their favorite "extracurricular activities," was also in full force. 

As far as the process of recording this one, the band had originally finished a more standard, "rock" version of the song, complete with overdubs. Though that version was beautiful in itself, John wasn't satisfied and asked George Martin to do something different with it. I'll let their producer, George Martin tell it:

"He'd wanted it as a gentle dreaming song, but he said it had come out too raucous. He asked me if I could write him a new line-up with the strings. So I wrote a new score (with four trumpets and three cellos)." This version was recorded, and edited together out of a couple dozen takes. George Martin continues with the story: "Ever the idealist, and completely without regard for practical problems, John said to me, 'I like them both. Why don't we join them together? You could start with Take 7 and move to Take [26] halfway through to get the grandstand finish.' 'Brilliant!' I replied. 'There are only two things wrong with that: the takes are in completely different keys, a whole tone apart; and they have wildly different tempos. Other than that, there should be no problem!' John smiled at my sarcasm with the tolerance of a grown-up placating a child. 'Well, George,' he said laconically, 'I'm sure you can fix it, can't you?' whereupon he turned on his heel and walked away"

Well, fix it he did. The almost perfect, and barely noticeable edit point is at the 1:00 mark of the song, on the word "going". Hear how different the two halves originally sounded, as posted on Aaron Krerowicz's fantastic blog on the "The Splice", here:

Strawberry Fields Forever edit point

To read Aaron's entire blog on the topic, click here.

The other A-Side, Penny Lane, is Paul McCartney's answer to John's trip down memory lane to olde Liddypool. Pay special attention to that lovely piccolo trumpet solo, performed by Dave Mason. It was inspired by Paul's hearing of Mason's performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto by the English Chamber Orchestra.

This is the original pressing of this 7 inch single. It is not a later issue. One interesting note on this issue is that the time that is listed for Penny Lane (3:00) is off by 3 seconds. It was corrected in later pressings. 

Price is OBO (Or Best Offer).

Record VG++ Picture Sleeve VG+

The vinyl is visually graded VG++ (Very Good plus plus) due only to a sticker and some writing on the Strawberry Fields Forever label. Labels are otherwise perfect. Gloss on the vinyl is like new. This would be a keeper copy if not for the noted defects.

The picture sleeve is visually graded VG+ (Very Good plus) due to staple holes and a price stamp on one side. There is also some creasing in the upper-left corner on the side with the price stamp. These defects can be seen in the first two pics. Other than that, it is a nice copy of this sleeve.

No splits, rips, writing, or stickers

This is a nice copy of this sleeve. Solid edges and corners.

Record will be packed in standard cardboard mailer with cardboard filler pieces on each side. Vinyl will be removed from the sleeve (where applicable) and placed in a generic sleeve to help prevent damage due to jostling during shipping. Both will be placed in a protective plastic sleeve. I've bought over a hundred records on eBay recently and I've seen how bad and how good packaging can be. Trust me, I will do what I can to make sure your record gets to you undamaged!