Release date : Jul 18, 1969
Penina / Wings Of Revenge
By Carlos Mendes • 7" Single • Part of the collection “Paul McCartney as producer, composer, or session musician in the 60s”
Last updated on April 23, 2025
Release date : Jul 18, 1969
By Carlos Mendes • 7" Single • Part of the collection “Paul McCartney as producer, composer, or session musician in the 60s”
Last updated on April 23, 2025
Previous single Jul 16, 1969 • "My Dark Hour / Song For Our Ancestors" by The Steve Miller Band released in the US
Session Jul 17, 1969 • Recording "Oh! Darling", "Octopus's Garden"
Session Jul 18, 1969 • Recording and mixing "Oh! Darling", "Octopus's Garden"
Single Jul 18, 1969 • "Penina / Wings Of Revenge" by Carlos Mendes released globally
Single Jul 18, 1969 • "My Dark Hour / Song For Our Ancestors" by The Steve Miller Band released in the UK
Interview Jul 19, 1969 • Allen Klein interview for Record Retailer
Wings Of Revenge
Studio version
“Penina” is a song written by Paul McCartney in December 1968, during a holiday in Portugal.
The Penina Hotel & Golf Resort, where Paul stayed, was home to the first golf course built in the Algarve, opened in 1966. One night during his stay, at around 1:30 a.m., Paul entered the hotel lobby to exchange five pounds for Portuguese escudos. Afterward, he wandered into the hotel bar, where the resident band Jota Herre was performing. Recognizing the world-famous musician, the band invited him to join them on stage.
The bar, which had been nearly empty and close to closing, quickly filled with hotel guests and staff once word spread. Paul sat at the piano and improvised a song titled “Penina,” delighting the crowd with an impromptu performance that turned into a lively, late-night party lasting until around 4 a.m. Paul “gave” the song to Jota Herre, who were thrilled by the gesture.
On January 9, 1969, during the “Get Back” sessions, Paul played a version of “Penina,” joined by John Lennon and Ringo Starr.
Jota Herre recorded and released the song in March 1969. That same year, Portuguese singer Carlos Mendes also recorded his own version, which was likewise released as a single.
Carlos Mendes’ version was included in the 1979 compilation album “The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away,” which contained the original artist recordings of songs composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the 1960s.
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Ken Lieck • Dec 26, 2023 • 1 year ago
D'ya think maybe it would be nice to have something here about the actual song in question rather than just the history of the Northern Songs publishing company?
If so, I've transcribed the words of Carlos Pinto from a recent YouTube video by the Almost Beatles Songs guys [https://youtu.be/lmPuujHDohw?si=DVKkOy09ioc31qnQ] in which he tells the whole story behind meeting Paul and how the song came about. You might prefer to use this in conjunction with the original Jotta Herre single entry, but over there you at least already have some quotes from Paul. Oh, and I should make this absolutely clear: I couldn't find any information whatsoever about this specific recording by Carlos Mendes (which is the version that I somehow managed to get a 45 of way back in the '70s, so it's the one I'm used to) -- In fact, I thought that he and Carlos Pinto were the same person for the longest time!
"The 28th of December 1968 was when I met Paul McCartney in Portugal. That was something incredible. I had a well-known band [called Jotta Herre] and we were playing every day for 3 hours at a bar in the Penina Hotel - a very nice place, a luxury resort.
I was playing in the band, going to University and in the Army - the three things at the same time. I remember one evening [a bandmate] said "Carlos, don't you think that is Paul McCartney? I'm going to talk to him!" and he went there, and suddenly looked at me and said "Carlos, come here!" So I said "Hello" and Paul said "I want to play piano. Can I play with you?"
When that happened it was like a fairy tale, you know? I said "Oh man, come on!" so he sat down at the piano and it was magical. Everyone in the band, we could not believe what was happening! We played Blues, jazz, American covers - [I thought] "My God! This is really happening!"
Then he said "I want to play drums!" and he played the drums beautifully. In the meantime, the bar was completely full - the word passed to everybody in the hotel; the guests, the chefs, the cooks - they were all watching us. At the same time Linda McCartney was pulling his arm and saying "Paul, let's go! It's 3:00 in the morning! Let's go!"
Then I had this idea - I said "Paul, you play beautiful piano, you play drums fantastic, but you're *really* good at composing. Why don't you compose something for us?" and he said yes, and then he started improvising a few chords, then he invented lyrics:
"I've been to Albufiera, I had a good time there.
Then I came to Penina, and I met good friends..."
It was a beautiful moment for us - something that we could never forget. At the end of the night we said goodbye, and Paul said "You do with the song whatever you want." My God, one of the Beatles just gave us a song!
After that, the newspapers started talking about it and the record company started calling us to record "the Penina record". We put it out in Portugal, Spain, France... There was a sensation that we achieved something unachievable - something that you say "This can never happen", but that was it!
When I met Paul McCartney it was something that changed my life completely, and forever opened my eyes. You know when a legend like Paul McCartney appears, maybe it's a sign, you know, that your career is probably more to music than for electronics or engineering. Every day I say "My God, I have lived such a blessed life!" -- Carlos Pinto
The PaulMcCartney Project • Dec 27, 2023 • 1 year ago
Thanks a lot, Ken ! Very helpful, and yes, there was a hiccup - I'm removing the Northern Story, which shouldn't be there !!
