Those Were The Days - Remastered

Not to be confused with the All In The Family theme song, "Those Were The Days" has its origins in a Russian song from the 1920s called "Dorogoi Dlinnoyu" ("The Long Road"), which is typically played on accordion. That song, with music by composer Boris Fomin and lyrics by poet Konstantin Podrevsky (both Russian), tells the story of a journey on a horse-drawn sleigh with the singer seeking music and romance. An American writer of Russian descent named Eugene Raskin put English lyrics to the song, making it the story of a person in a tavern ruminating on the glory days of their youth. He copyrighted the song in 1962 and sometimes performed it with his wife Francesca. A folk trio called The Limeliters recorded it that year. Paul McCartney heard it at a London club called The Blue Angel, where he saw Raskin and his wife perform it. He sent to America to get a demo of the song and had Mary Hopkin, a singer from Wales, record it after she signed to the Beatles' label, Apple Records. Released as her first single, it was a huge hit, going to #2 in America and on September 25, 1968, taking the top spot in the UK.

Mary Hopkin got her big break when, just after turning 18, she performed on the UK TV talent competition Opportunity Knocks and wowed the audience with her sweet soprano. Registering their approval on a device called a Clapometer, they voted Hopkin the winner by a landslide. The British model Twiggy saw the show and telephoned Paul McCartney to tell him. He contacted Hopkin, and when he auditioned her for Apple Records, he liked what he heard and signed her. McCartney then produced her first session, recording "Those Were The Days" along with a cover of "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)," which was used as the B-side of the single.

The song has been recorded in many different languages, including one in Finnish by Annikki Tähti in the '50s. Mary Hopkin also recorded versions in Spanish, French, Italian and German.