ORIGINAL RELEASED AS LP APPLE SAPCOR5 (UK 1969)Mary Hopkin was born in Pontardawe, Glamorgan, Wales on May 3, 1950. At the age of 15, she mastered the guitar and began playing small clubs in South Wales and appeared on Welsh televison. With a few years experience under her belt, she tried out for stardom on the ITV's popular amateur programme "Opportunity Knocks". She eventually became a multi-time winner, taking top honours over 200 other contestans.
British model Twiggy spotted her on the show and mentioned her to Paul McCartney over the telephone one day. Paul and his fellow Beatles had just formed their own record company, Apple Records, and were now looking for new talent. Mary Hopkin was the right singer in the right place at the right time. Paul got in touch with Mary and fell in love with her voice immediately.
While at the Blue Angel Club in London a few years earlier, Paul had heard the American duo Gene and Francesca perform a tune called "Those Were The Days". Paul remembered the song fondly and felt it would be perfect for his new protégé. Originally an East European traditional folk song, Gene (Raskin), of the duo, had adapted the song for The Limeliters, a top American folk act that featured Glenn Yarbrough. They recorded it during the folk boom of the early sixties. Mary Hopkin's treatment would be quite different.
Paul recorded the song with Mary, as a creative marketing ploy, had her do additional versions sung in Italian, Spanish, French and German. Paul was determined to make the record an international hit. He succeeded.
Paul McCartney's perceptions of what Mary Hopkin should record didn't always sit well with Mary, but she was young and new to the business and went along with it. Her favourite tracks were written by Donovan, who had released his version of "Pebble And The Man (Happiness Runs)" on his "In Concert" LP, but wrote "Lord Of The Reedy River" and "Voyage Of The Moon" especially for her.
Paul and Donovan provided the back-up guitars on these recordings. Paul McCartney also contacted Harry Nilsson, a red hot singer/writer and he quickly delivered, brand new, "The Puppy Song". It was received so warmly that the label almost issued it as a single.
It was the show tunes and pop standards that Mary wasn't enamoured with. "Love Is The Sweetest Thing" was originally a hit for its writer, Ray Noble, in 1933. "Lullaby Of The Leaves" was a hit a year earlier when recorded by George Olsen. "Someone To Watch Over Me" dates back even further to 1927. There were several hit versions of the tune, including one by George Gershwin himself, who wrote it for the Broadway production "Oh, Kay". "There's No Business Like Show Business", from "Annie Get Your Gun", has been recorded many times, but is mostly associated with Ethel Merman. The last of the genre of songs is "Inch Worm", originally sung by Danny Kaye in the 1956 motion picture, "Hans Christian Andersen".
The rest of the LP is a mixed bag. "Young Love" is a remake of the 1956 Sonny James chart-topper that was also Nº1 by Tab Hunter that same year. Beatles producer George Martin is represented on the album by a song he gave Mary called "The Game". "The Honeymoon Song" has always been a favourite of Paul's. He recorded it with The Beatles for the BBC in a similar arrangement. It was originally a hit in England for Manuel And His Music Of The Mountains back in 1959. The remaining two songs were sung in foreign languages, "Prince En Avignon" in French (and a single release in France) and "Y Blodyn Gwyn" ("The White Flower") sunh in her native Welsh.
The American release of the LP (ST-3351, 1969, March 3) deleted "Someone To Watch Over Me", and put in its stead the hit single, "Those Were The Days".
