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Post Card (album)

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Post Card
Studio album by
Mary Hopkin
Released21 February 1969
RecordedOctober – December 1968
Studio
Genre
Length41:34
LabelApple
ProducerPaul McCartney
Mary Hopkin chronology
Post Card
(1969) 		Earth Song/Ocean Song
(1971)
Singles from Post Card
  1. "Those Were the Days"
    Released: 30 August 1968

Post Card is the debut album by Mary Hopkin. It was produced by Paul McCartney and released by Apple Records in February 1969 in the UK and in March 1969 in the US.[1] It reached number 3 in the UK and number 28 in the US.[2][3]

Background and recording

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In 1968, Hopkin performed on the British television talent show Opportunity Knocks. Her performance was watched by Twiggy, who mentioned to Paul McCartney about signing her when he talked about the new record label the Beatles had founded. After receiving a telegram, saying to ring Peter Brown at Apple Records, Hopkin, not having heard of either of them, initially did not until her mother insisted several days later. When she rang, she was put through to McCartney, who invited her to come to London to sign a contract. However, Hopkin did not recognise that it was McCartney and at first was hesitant, until he told her to ask her mother, who almost dropped the telephone when McCartney added who he was. After signing to Apple, McCartney suggested a song he had found several years prior called "Those Were the Days" that might suit Hopkin.[4] It was recorded in July 1968 and released the following month, and went on to thrust Hopkin into the limelight, topping the charts in the UK and worldwide.[5]

Following the success of "Those Were the Days", Hopkin and McCartney set about working on her debut album. Recording began in October and finished in early December,[6][7] and took place at EMI Studios (later renamed to Abbey Road Studios), Trident and Morgan Studios. The album includes a number of old show tunes, such as "Lullaby of the Leaves" and "Someone to Watch Over Me", which were among the favourites of McCartney's father, Jim, and which McCartney thought Hopkin would sing well. However, Hopkin has been somewhat critical of the song selection, saying that "Paul was quite right to encourage me, but I don’t think my vocals were suited to some of the songs, which I felt were a bit too sophisticated for me".[8][9]

The album also includes three songs written by Donovan. Two of them, "Lord of the Reedy River" and "Voyage of the Moon", were written for Hopkin, and the third "Happiness Runs (Pebble and the Man)" had previously been recorded by Donovan.[8] Donovan also performs the acoustic guitar and provides backing vocals on these songs, and Hopkin has described them as her favourites on the album.[10]

"The Puppy Song" was written by Harry Nilsson for Hopkin at the request of McCartney. At the time, Nilsson's records were being listened by everyone at Apple and he sent over "The Puppy Song". Hopkin's version proved popular at Apple and it was allegedly in the running to be released as Hopkin's follow-up UK single, but this ended up being the McCartney-written song "Goodbye".[9] Nilsson later recorded his own version on his album Harry, and it also became a number-one hit for David Cassidy in 1973.

Hopkin sang in Welsh on "Y Blodyn Gwyn" ('The White Flower'), which she described as "a traditional tune that we did at school" and one "they always sing at the eisteddfods".[9][11] She also sang in French on "Prince en Avignon", later saying: "I loved the song before I did it. It’s the track I least like, but not because of the song, simply because I don’t like me on it".[11]

Release and reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[12]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[13]
Mojo[14]
Rolling Stone(favourable)[15]
Tom HullB[16]

It was originally hoped to release Post Card in time for the Christmas market, before being pushed back to early in the New Year of 1969.[17][7] The album was eventually scheduled for release on 21 February 1969 in the UK.[18] A launch party took place at the Post Office Tower in London on 13 February 1969 which was attended by a number of rock stars including Jimi Hendrix, Brian Wilson, Eric Clapton, Donovan and McCartney. Hopkin was also presented with a gold, disc for one million sales of "Those Were the Days".[19][11] Post Card was released in the US on 3 March, ten days after its UK release.[1] "Those Were the Days" was not included on the UK release of Post Card, but it was included on the North American release, replacing "Someone to Watch Over Me".[1]

The album cover depicts a photograph of Hopkin taken by McCartney's future wife Linda Eastman at Kew Gardens. McCartney then asked postcard-making company Valentine's to make a limited edition of postcards with this picture.[8]

The reissue in 2010 included both "Those Were the Days" and "Someone to Watch Over Me", as well as four bonus tracks, including "Turn! Turn! Turn!", which was the B-side of "Those Were the Days", and Hopkin's second single "Goodbye" with its B-side "Sparrow".[20] The final bonus track was a previously unreleased version of "Fields of St. Etienne" which had been intended as Hopkin's third single in September 1969, but it ended up being cancelled at her request as she felt it was not in keeping with her musical vision. She later recorded a much simpler version of the song with McCartney which was released as the B-side to "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" in 1970.[9] Alongside the reissue of Post Card, four versions of "Those Were The Days" in Italian, Spanish, German and French were released as a digital download.[21]

Retrospectively, AllMusic critic Richie Unterberger deemed "Lord of the Reedy River" to be one of the album's highlights.[12] Rolling Stone critic John Mendelsohn regarded Hopkin's voice as being well-suited to the Donovan songs, although he considered the songs themselves to be "ponderous and over-long".[22] Unterberger felt that the only problem with the album was that it contained too many pre-rock standards, in accordance with McCartney's tastes, which were not as well suited to Hopkin as more simple folk songs.[12] Mendelsohn praised McCartney's production as much as Hopkin's singing.[23]

Track listing

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Original UK version

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lord of the Reedy River"Donovan2:37
2."Happiness Runs (Pebble and the Man)"Donovan2:03
3."Love Is the Sweetest Thing"Ray Noble3:43
4."Y Blodyn Gwyn"Richard H. Jones, Edward John Hughes3:08
5."The Honeymoon Song"William Sansom, Mikis Theodorakis2:07
6."The Puppy Song"Harry Nilsson2:42
7."Inchworm"Frank Loesser2:33
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Voyage of the Moon"Donovan5:52
9."Lullaby of the Leaves"Bernice Petkere, Joe Young2:33
10."Young Love"Ric Cartey, Carole Joyner2:11
11."Someone to Watch Over Me"George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin2:02
12."Prince en Avignon"Jean-Pierre Bourtayre3:20
13."The Game"George Martin2:40
14."There's No Business Like Show Business"Irving Berlin4:03
Total length:41:34

Original US version

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lord of the Reedy River"Donovan2:33
2."Happiness Runs (Pebble and the Man)"Donovan2:01
3."Love Is the Sweetest Thing"Noble3:42
4."Y Blodyn Gwyn"Jones, Hughes3:06
5."The Honeymoon Song"Sansom, Theodorakis2:05
6."The Puppy Song"Nilsson2:42
7."Inchworm"Loesser2:31
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
8."Voyage of the Moon"Donovan5:52
9."Lullaby of the Leaves"Petkere, Young2:32
10."Young Love"Cartey, Joyner2:09
11."Those Were the Days"Gene Raskin5:07
12."Prince en Avignon"Bourtayre3:19
13."The Game"Martin2:37
14."There's No Business Like Show Business"Berlin4:01
Total length:44:17

2010 bonus track version

[edit]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Those Were the Days"Raskin5:10
2."Lord of the Reedy River"Donovan2:39
3."Happiness Runs (Pebble and the Man)"Donovan2:05
4."Love Is the Sweetest Thing"Noble3:46
5."Y Blodyn Gwyn"Jones, Hughes3:11
6."The Honeymoon Song"Sansom, Theodorakis2:09
7."The Puppy Song"Nilsson2:44
8."Inchworm"Loesser2:37
9."Voyage of the Moon"Donovan5:56
10."Lullaby of the Leaves"Petkere, Young2:36
11."Young Love"Cartey, Joyner2:15
12."Someone to Watch Over Me"Gershwin, Gershwin2:06
13."Prince en Avignon"Bourtayre3:23
14."The Game"Martin2:43
15."There's No Business Like Show Business"Berlin4:13
16."Turn! Turn! Turn!" ("Those Were the Days" B-side)Pete Seeger2:51
17."Goodbye"John Lennon, Paul McCartney2:27
18."Sparrow" ("Goodbye" B-side)Benny Gallagher, Graham Lyle3:12
19."Fields Of St. Etienne" (previously unreleased version)Gallagher, Lyle3:48
20."Quelli erano giorni" (digital download)Raskin, Diano5:11
21."Que tiempo tan feliz" (digital download)Raskin, José Carreras Moysi5:10
22."An jenam Tag" (digital download)Raskin, Heinz Korn5:10
23."Le temps des fleurs" (digital download)Raskin, Eddy Marnay5:09
Total length:80:31

Personnel

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Musicians

  • Mary Hopkin – lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar (2)
  • Paul McCartney – acoustic guitar (1, 8), bass (2, 11)
  • Donovan – acoustic guitar (1, 2, 8)
  • George Martin – piano (14)
  • Derek Griffiths – guitar
  • Jim Rodford – bass
  • Bernie Higginson – drums
  • Mike Cotton – trumpet
  • John Beecham – trombone
  • Nick Newell – saxophone
  • London Welsh Choir – choir (10)

Technical

Charts

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Chart (1969) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[24] 24
UK Albums (OCC)[2] 3
US Billboard 200[3] 28

References

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  1. ^ a b c Miles, Barry (27 October 2009). The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-000-7.
  2. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Mary Hopkin Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Mary Hopkin appears on "Opportunity Knocks" TV show". The Paul McCartney project. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  5. ^ Sexton, Paul (21 February 2024). "'Post Card': Mary Hopkin Sends A Musical Message Via Paul McCartney". uDiscover Music. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Mary to Record Beatle Songs" (PDF). Melody Maker. 12 October 1968. p. 4. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Mary Finishes Album" (PDF). Melody Maker. 12 December 1968. p. 3. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  8. ^ a b c ""Post Card" sessions (Early October 1968 to early December 1968)". The Paul McCartney project. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d Post Card (booklet). Apple. 2010. 5099990580925.
  10. ^ "Mary Hopkin Gets a Little Help from Her Friends" (PDF). Melody Maker. 28 December 1968. p. 9. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b c "You'll either love or loathe LP" (PDF). New Musical Express. 22 February 1969. pp. 12–14. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  12. ^ a b c Unterberger, Richie. "Mary Hopkin Postcard". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  13. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
  14. ^ Harris, John (November 2010). "Strange Fruit: Various, Original Apple albums, 1969–73". Mojo. p. 116.
  15. ^ Mendelsohn, John (17 May 1969). "Records". Rolling Stone. No. 33. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. p. 17.
  16. ^ Hull, Tom (December 2010). "Recycled Goods". Static Multimedia. Retrieved 8 July 2020 – via tomhull.com.
  17. ^ "Mary's follow-up due this year" (PDF). Melody Maker. 9 November 1968. p. 2. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  18. ^ "McCartney, Donovan on Mary Hopkin debut LP" (PDF). New Musical Express. 15 February 1969. p. 8. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  19. ^ "Launch party for Mary Hopkin's album "Post Card"". The Paul McCartney project. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  20. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Post Card [2010 Bonus Tracks]". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  21. ^ "Apple Records".
  22. ^ Hill, S. (2011). "Mary Hopkin and the Deep Throat of Culture". In Stras, L. (ed.). She's So Fine: Reflections on Whiteness, Femininity, Adolescence and Class in 1960s Music. Ashgate. pp. 174–76. ISBN 9781409436652.
  23. ^ "Post Card". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  24. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 5938". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
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