Those were the days (Mary Hopkins) (LP 431 - 433)

Mary Hopkin Postcard (Vinyl, Apple Records, 1968) **

Mary Hopkin Earth Song/ Ocean Song (Vinyl, Apple Records, 1971) *****

Mary Hopkin Live At The Royal Festival Hall 1972 (CD, Mary Hopkin Music, 2005) ***   

Genre: Apple, Dark Horse catalogue

Places I remember: The vinyl - Marbecks Records, The live CD HMV East Croyden

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Water Paper and Clay (From Earth Song/ Ocean Song)

Gear costume:  Martha, Streets Of London (From Earth Song/ Ocean Song)  

Active compensatory factors: The first one, Postcard, is a mess really - Paul McCartney was trying to provide/impose all sorts of styles on his discovery - which is why we get things like folk songs sung in Welsh, pre-rock standards like Show Business, and twee Donovan offerings along the way. 

Side two is more cohesive, but really Postcard says more about Macca's taste than Mary's.

Earth Song/ Ocean Song is a real triumph in comparison, as Mary sings material more suited to her folky approach. The backings are lovely (Toni Visconti in charge really helped) and her voice is now more mature. Her version of Streets Of London is sublime.

It's a brilliant record!

The live one is interesting for me as it is a record of her live performance just as she left Apple Records, but still singing material from her Apple years. 

It's a lovely performance too. Her innocent, winning personality is an honest one and her singing is wonderful throughout.

Where do they all belong? I may not have ever bought a Mary Hopkin album if it wasn't released on Apple Records, but I'm still very glad I heard Earth Song/ Ocean Song.

Songs that lingered on my lips excite me now (Mary Hopkin) #161 - 166

Mary Hopkin Those Were The Days/ Turn Turn Turn (Parlophone, NZP 3295, 1968)

Mary Hopkin Those Were The Days/ Turn Turn Turn (Apple, Apple 2, 1968)

Mary Hopkin Goodbye/ Sparrow (Apple, Apple 10, 1969)

Mary Hopkin Temma Harbour/ Lontano Dagli Occhi (Apple, Apple 22, 1970)

Mary Hopkin Knock Knock Who's There/ I'm Going To Fall In Love Again (3 copies - NZ/ Australia/ South Africa Apple, Apple 26 NZ; Apple 9105; AP 26, 1970)

I'm sure by now regular readers will have realised my obsession with Apple Records. I'm a Beatles fan/ obsessive and that means by extension that I'm an Apple Records completist as well.

Most Apple product had a Beatle connection of some sort - whether it had a Beatle producing, writing or playing on the song.

Paul McCartney did all three for Mary Hopkin.

Mary was a Paul McCartney 'discovery' in that Twiggy recommended her to Paul after Mary had won Opportunity Knocks (the Britain's Got Talent of the sixties). He then took it upon himself to produce her (Those Were The Days and Goodbye), give her a hit song (Goodbye), and perform on individual tracks (he plays guitar and keyboards on Goodbye).




Helps that she has a great voice too so songs like Those Were The Days, Goodbye and Temma Harbour have a lovely freshness to them, even now. It's no hardship collecting Mary's Apple product!

Knock Knock is one of those songs that appears to have been foist upon her. Mickie Most is the producer and he's a pop man through and through. The song was an entry in the Eurovision song competition which pretty much guarantees blow back.  




It wasn't until the great Toni Visconti arrived in the producer's chair that a sympathetic ear gave Mary the chance to really shine (see my next post).

Hidden gems: The B sides largely provide a folksy side to Mary - with songs by Pete Seeger, and Gallagher/Lyle. I'm Going...Again is a Mickie Most production, though, that doesn't do Mary's remarkable talent justice. Her version of Turn Turn Turn is a little twee. To me her voice at that time was too young to get the gravitas required to properly sell this song. I can imagine Joan Baez singing this with a heavier feel. Sparrow doesn't do much for me and Lontano is sung in Italian and I have no idea what type of genre it is. Again - it doesn't float my boat much but as I said - I'm a completist!