Goodbye / Sparrow

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Mary Hopkin’s next single will almost certainly be a Paul McCartney composition – thought to be a ballad – which she recorded as one of several titles at the weekend.

There is the possibility that this long-awaited follow-up to Mary’s three-million selling “Those Were The Days” will be released before the end of this month, although it could be held up because her tour with Engelbert Humperdinck would cut across promotion plans.

An Apple spokesman said that sales of the Mary Hopkin debut LP, “Post Card”, were now in the region of 10,000 a day.

From New Musical Express, March 8, 1969

Mary Hopkin’s long-awaited follow-up to her world debut hit, “Those Were The Days”, is to be a Paul McCartney song called “Goodbye”. And on the record, she and Paul duet on guitar.

The record will be released by the Apple label on March 28, and comes soon after the success of Mary’s first LP “Post Card” currently N°6 in the NME LP Chart.

Mary describes the new single as “slightly faster” than the chorus of “Those Were The Days”. She added “It’s very catchy – Paul told me he’d written it about four weeks ago”.

Coupling of “Goodbye” is “Sparrow” and there is a possibility the record will be promoted as a double A side. Apple Press office Mavis Smith told the NME it had been written by two young Scottish writers, Graham Lyle and Benny Gallagher, in whom the label’s publishing division had great faith.

From New Musical Express, March 15, 1969

Mary Hopkin’s long-awaited follow-up to “Those Were The Days” will be a double A-side release. One side will be a Paul McCartney composition titled “Goodbye” and the other will be “The Sparrow” by two writers signed to Apple named Gallagher and Lyle. The record is released on March 28. Mary Hopkin flies to America on April 14 for concerts and TV dates. […]

From Melody Maker, March 15, 1969

And this week’s 64,000-dollar question is – can Mary Hopkin do it again? If you answered “yes”, you win the jackpot. If your reply was “no” – well, just wait until you’ve heard this record, and I’m sure you’ll change your mind. Simplicity is the keyword here – a simple melody, simply sung and set to a simple backing.

And the end product is Commerciality with a capital C. It’s a Lennon-McCartney song with a catchy little tune and a pleasantly jogging beat. And it’s so obviously a Beatles song that it’s not difficult to imagine the quarter singing it!

Mary’s delivery is thoroughly charming and uncomplicated, and glides smoothly over the strumming guitars behind her.

She could do with a little more instruction in breath control, as she does tend to gasp occasionally, but it doesn’t detract from the overall effect.

From New Musical Express, March 29, 1969

Last updated on October 4, 2023