Those were the days
Those Were the Days is a song by Mary Hopkin from 1968, the melody of which is based on a Russian song from 1917.
History of origin
The basis of the world hit was the Russian song Dorogoi dlinnoju (Дорогой длинною, Along the Long Road ). The music for this romance was written by Boris Fomin (1900–1948), the text is by Konstantin Podrewski. The song about the endless road became very popular in Russia in October 1917 in the version by Alexander Wertinsky ; Wertinski sang the piece before the October Revolution . The song became known in the West through the British comedy film Innocents in Paris , which was released on July 22, 1953. English travelers have fun in Paris, where the Russian folk song is sung in a vaudeville .
The first English text comes from Eugene Raskin (born September 5, 1909, † June 7, 2004). The melancholy text is about memories of times gone by. The first record with this text comes from him and his wife Francesca, who performed as the folk duo Gene & Francesca and released the piece on an LP ( Hello Love , Tetragrammaton T-124; 1962). Shortly afterwards he was picked up by the folk-rock trio Limelighters (LP Folk Matinee ; RCA 2547; August 1962, recorded on April 5, 1962).
success
Gene & Francesca performed at the Blue Angel nightclub in London in 1966 , where Paul McCartney heard the song from them. It initially remained without a response until the then unknown Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin won the television talent competition Opportunity Knocks on May 4, 1968 and shortly afterwards received a call from Paul McCartney to audition. On May 8, 1968 she came to London for test recordings in Dick James' recording studio . In July 1968, the Abbey Road Studios recorded the Hopkins first single Those Were the Days (B-side: Turn, Turn, Turn ). Produced by Paul McCartney, who also plays acoustic guitar, the piece was arranged by Richard Hewson, who emphasized Mary Hopkins soprano voice .
The single was released on the newly founded label Apple Records , which was founded by the Beatles in January 1968. In June 1968 a distribution contract was signed with EMI . Mary Hopkins single was after the Beatles title Hey Jude the second single in the Apple catalog and was released on August 26, 1968 in the USA and on August 30, 1968 in Great Britain at the same time as Hey Jude . What was unusual in the music industry was that the first two singles of a record label consecutively took first place in the British charts, because Hey Jude was ousted from the top position by Those Were the Days .
Overall, the song stayed in first place on the British charts for six weeks , three weeks in second place in the USA and three weeks at number one in Germany, with the track remaining in the German charts for 18 weeks, ten of which were among the top 10. With four million copies in the first four months alone and a total of eight million copies sold worldwide, Those Were the Days became the most successful release for the Apple label that did not come from the Beatles themselves.
Cover versions
56 cover versions are registered with ASCAP . At the same time, the piece was produced in four languages with Mary Hopkin, including in German under the title On that day . The most important versions are by Dalida ( Le Temps des fleurs ; December 1968), Alexandra (LP Sehnsucht - A Portrait in Music ; April 1969), the Leningrad Cowboys (1991) and Dolly Parton & Mary Hopkin (October 2005). In these cover versions, Gene Raskin is usually given as the author, although he only wrote the text. Ivan Rebroff recorded a Russian version and released it on his LP Russische Party in 1969 . His version, called Такие дни мой друг (Takije dni, moj drug), is a literal translation of the first two stanzas and the chorus of the English version, but without rhythm and rhyme. On November 13th, 2000 the Kölschrock band Brings brought out Superjeilezick, a song with a Cologne-based lyrics that was heavily based on Those Were the Days . The band subsequently noted a correct copyright statement. Lena Valaitis published a newer version under the title A beautiful spring day (September 2009).
Others
At Christmas 1975 the then ruler of Equatorial Guinea , Francisco Macías Nguema, had 150 alleged conspirators executed; a band played Those Were the Days .
Individual evidence
- ^ Spotlight Albums of the Week . In: Billboard Magazine, September 1, 1962, p. 20
- ↑ a b Barry Miles: Paul McCartney. Many Years From Now . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1999, ISBN 3-499-60892-8 , p. 565.
- ^ Abe Olman Publisher Award . ( Memento of the original from July 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. songwritershalloffame.org, accessed January 31, 2010.
- ^ Tony Bramwell: Magical Mystery Tours. My Life with the Beatles . Thomas Dunne Books, New York 2005, ISBN 0-312-33043-X , p. 279.
- ^ John C. Winn: That Magic Feeling: The Beatles' Recorded Legacy, Volume Two, 1966-1970 . Three Rivers Press, New York 2009, ISBN 0-307-45239-5 , p. 183.
- ↑ Stefan Granados, Those Were The Days , 2002. p. 6.
- ↑ Bruce Spizer: The Beatles Solo on Apple Records . 498 Productions, New Orleans 2005, ISBN 0-9662649-5-9 , p. 339
- ^ Günter Ehnert (Ed.): Hit balance sheet. German chart singles 1956–1980 . Taurus Press, Hamburg 1990, p. 101
- ^ Gene Raskin . In: The Independent , June 18, 2004
- ↑ ASCAP entry for Those Were the Days
- ^ Douglas Farah: Oil Gives African Nation a Chance for Change Washington Post, May 13, 2001
