Editing Penny Lane (section)

==Release==
"Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" were released as a [[double A-side]] single,{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=98}} in a fashion identical to that of the Beatles' previous single, "[[Eleanor Rigby]]" / "[[Yellow Submarine (song)|Yellow Submarine]]".{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=196}}{{sfn|Frontani|2007|p=131}} The release took place in the United States on 13 February 1967{{sfn|Castleman|Podrazik|1976|pp=61–62}} and in the United Kingdom on 17 February.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=257}} It was the first single by the Beatles to be sold with a picture sleeve in the UK, a practice rarely used there at that time.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=98}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=199}} Expectations were high for the release, since it was the band's first new music since they had decided to abandon touring,{{sfn|Turner|2012|p=131}} a decision that had led to speculation in the press in late 1966 that the group would disband.{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|pp=88, 211}}<ref name="Unterberger/AM">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-beatles-mn0000754032/biography|first=Richie|last=Unterberger|title=The Beatles|publisher=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=26 May 2019}}</ref> Comparing the two sides, author [[Clinton Heylin]] writes that McCartney was possibly "fearful of alienating fans unduly" with the more dense and experimental "Strawberry Fields Forever". He says that with "Penny Lane", McCartney was "again cast in the role of the great populariser" by providing the "more prosaic depiction of the Liverpool of their youth ... set to another of his eminently hummable melodies".{{sfn|Heylin|2007|p=72}} In his book ''Electric Shock'', [[Peter Doggett]] describes "Strawberry Fields Forever" as [[art pop]], "self-consciously excluding the mass audience", and likens "Penny Lane" to [[pop art]] in its evoking "multifaceted substance out of the everyday".{{sfn|Doggett|2015|p=373}}

The promotional films for the single presented the Beatles' moustachioed look to their audience for the first time.<ref name="Wawzenek/UCR" />{{sfn|Ingham|2006|p=165}} The new look was the focus of much scrutiny,{{sfn|Frontani|2007|p=133}} as facial hair went against convention for pop idols and implied maturation.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=393}}{{refn|group=nb|Playwright [[Joe Orton]], who wrote a screenplay for a proposed Beatles film in January 1967, said McCartney's moustache made him look like a "turn-of-the-century anarchist".{{sfn|Sounes|2010|p=167}}}} Promotion for the single and its musical content left many listeners unable to recognise the act as the Beatles.{{sfn|Courrier|2009|p=165}} In author [[Kevin Courrier]]'s description, the picture sleeve showed the Beatles dressed and posing formally as if they were "arcane artifacts from the nineteenth century", with the portrait set inside a gold picture frame. The reverse was a collage of photos of the band members as infants.{{sfn|Courrier|2009|p=165}}

The clips were first broadcast in America on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]'' and in Britain on ''[[Top of the Pops]]'',{{sfn|Greene|2016|p=34}} a day before the respective release dates in those two countries.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=200, 201}} On 25 February, they aired on ''[[The Hollywood Palace]]'', a traditional US variety program hosted by actor [[Van Johnson]], who claimed that the Beatles had created the films especially for his show.{{sfn|Frontani|2007|pp=134–35}} Amid screams from female members of the studio audience, Johnson described the "Penny Lane" clip as "the most imaginative treatment of a song I have ever seen".{{sfn|Frontani|2007|p=135}} According to Rodriguez, however, Johnson's reaction was clearly bemusement at "what youth entertainment had become", as demonstrated in his mannered introduction to "Strawberry Fields Forever".{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=201}} The films attracted a similar level of confusion on the more youth-focused ''[[American Bandstand]]'', on 11 March, where host [[Dick Clark]] invited comments from his studio audience.{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=201–02}} Clark introduced the clip with a warning that it showed a "very interesting and different looking Beatles", after which he sought opinions from his teenage audience with what author Doyle Greene describes as "an urgent solemnity as if he were discussing the [[Zapruder film]]".{{sfn|Greene|2016|p=34}} The responses were less dismissive than those given to "Strawberry Fields Forever".{{sfn|Winn|2009|pp=85, 87}}{{sfn|Courrier|2009|pp=165–66}} Male reaction was marginally more favourable than female, as the women variously focused on the "weird", "ugly" or supposedly aged appearance of the band members.{{sfn|Greene|2016|pp=34–35}} After "Penny Lane", one young man complained that the Beatles were "as bad as the Monkees",{{sfn|Greene|2016|p=34}} while another said, "They went out with [[Twist (dance)|the Twist]]."<ref name="Harris/Mojo" />

Since the Beatles usually did not include songs released as singles on their albums, both "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were left off ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''.{{sfn|Philo|2015|p=120}} With their omission, the Liverpool childhood theme that had been a loose concept behind the album was abandoned.{{sfn|Gould|2007|pp=377, 384}} Courrier describes the single as "a conceptual [[45rpm single|45]] if ever there was one".{{sfn|Courrier|2009|p=157}}{{refn|group=nb|For ''Sgt. Pepper'', McCartney instead initiated a concept he had first considered while travelling in late 1966 – that of the Beatles adopting [[alter ego]]s and recording as members of Sgt. Pepper's band.{{sfn|Clayson|2003|p=117}}<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Jim|last=Irvin|title=The Big Bang!|magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|date=March 2007|page=78}}</ref>}} Martin came to regret the decision to omit the two songs,{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=239}}{{sfn|Cunningham|1998|p=154}} describing it as "the biggest mistake of my professional life".{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|pp=197–98}}{{refn|group=nb|According to Martin, the songs would have appeared on the album instead of McCartney's "[[When I'm Sixty-Four]]" and "[[Lovely Rita]]".{{sfn|Hertsgaard|1996|p=219}}}} Against the Beatles' wishes, "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were included on the US ''[[Magical Mystery Tour]]'' album in November 1967.{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=131}}{{sfn|Greene|2016|pp=41–42}} In 2017, both songs were included on the two-disc and six-disc 50th-anniversary editions of ''Sgt. Pepper''.