Le Temps Des Fleurs /
Turn Turn Turn

This French version of "Those Were The Days" (recorded for French markets around the world) was issued in eastern Canada for the French Canadian market in the province of Québec. It holds the UK "APPLE 2" number, unlike the regular English version.

Availability

45.APPLE2.5.1 was available in Canada as a special regional release in 1968 along with its regular English version on Apple 1801. Being distributed only in Québec (Eastern Canada), most Canadians collectors had rarely seen a copy surface in the Western part of the country, and was therefore thought to be extremely rare until the late 1990s, when (with the advent of internet collecting communities) it was soon realized that it was a very popular release in Québec and that many more copies were available than original thought.

At one point, this 45 was marked at around 1500$ in the 1990s, to be sold around 200$ in the 2000s, and can now be found online between 50$-100$. It is a unique peculiar release that is not "common", but that is not as rare as it was originally speculated.

General Information

Mary Hopkin recorded her biggest hit (Those Were The Days) in different languages to appeal to different countries. Namely, "Que Tiempo Tan Feliz", sung in Spanish, "Quelli Erano Giorni" in Italian and "An Jenem Tag" in German.

A French version was also recorded for francophone regions of the world, and Canada having a province whose first language is French, her "Le Temps Des Fleurs" rendition was released (only) in the province of Québec in 1968, under the UK "Apple 2" catalogue number (the only North American release to bear a UK catalogue number). This makes a total of 5 different versions produced by Paul McCartney (only two of which were released in Canada).

Pressing Information

This record was pressed only once. It was initially thought that very few copies were pressed; numbers have since been revised as many copies have surfaced in recent years and what was considered "one of the rarest Canadian Apple singles" is now seen as an interesting variation that is easy to find. It is not known exactly how many copies were pressed, but a few thousand copies is a realistic number (3000-5000).

Matrix Numbers are found as follows:

Side A: Apple 2A
Side B: Apple 2B

Note that the B side features the same English track as the regular English pressing (1801), but features the Apple 2 number instead.

Packaging

This single was released in the unique Canadian white matte paper Apple Sleeve

Sales

Although sales numbers are unknown, this record sold in large numbers on the East Coast of Canada (mostly Québec); it is much scarcer on the West Coast. The released was aimed at the French Canadian market.