''Post Card'' is the debut album by Mary Hopkin. It was produced by Paul McCartney and released by Apple Records in February 1969 in the UK and in March 1969 in the US. It reached number 3 in the UK and number 28 in the US. It also reached number 24 in Canada. The original US and Canadian versions differed from the UK version by including the hit single "

Those Were the Days Those Were the Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''Those Were the Days'' (Johnny Mathis album) (1968) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Cream album) (1997) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Dolly Parton album) (2005) * '' Those Were the Days – The Best of L ...

" instead of a cover of " Someone to Watch Over Me". The 2010 CD reissue includes both "Those Were the Days" and "Someone to Watch Over Me", as well as four bonus tracks including " Turn! Turn! Turn!", which was the B-side of "Those Were the Days", and Hopkin's second single " Goodbye", written by McCartney and credited to Lennon-McCartney, plus four versions in Italian, Spanish, German and French of "Those Were The Days" as a digital download.

Critical reception

The album included three songs written by the folk singer

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

, one of which, "

Lord of the Reedy River Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

", was deemed to be one of the album highlights by AllMusic critic Richie Unterberger. '' Rolling Stone'' critic John Mendelsohn regarded Hopkin's voice as being well-suited to the Donovan songs, although he considered the songs themselves to be "ponderous and over-long". Unterberger felt that the only problem with the album was that it contained too many pre-rock standards, in accordance with McCartney's tastes, which were not as well suited to Hopkin as more simple folk songs. Mendelsohn praised McCartney’s production as much as Hopkin’s singing. The album was launched by Hopkin at the Post Office Tower, London, on 13 February 1969. McCartney attended.

Track listing

Original UK version

Personnel

* Mary Hopkin - lead vocals, background vocals, acoustic guitar (2) * Paul McCartney - acoustic guitar (1, 8), bass (2), production * Donovan Leitch - acoustic guitar (1, 2, 8) * George Martin - piano (14) * Derek Griffiths - guitar * Jim Rodford - bass * Bernie Higginson - drums * Mike Cotton - trumpet * John Beecham - trombone * Nick Newell - saxophone * Richard Hewson - arrangement on "Those Were the Days" and "Goodbye" ;Technical * Geoff Emerick - production on "Fields of St. Etienne" * Ken Scott, Geoff Emerick &

Malcolm Toft Malcolm Toft is an audio engineer and businessman who worked at Trident Studios, first as an audio engineer, then as the studio's manager, and eventually as co-founder of recording console maker Trident Audio Developments. Toft went on to form ...

- Recording Engineers

Chart positions

Album

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1969 debut albums Apple Records albums Albums produced by Paul McCartney Albums recorded at Trident Studios Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios