4 Facts About the Piccolo Trumpet Solo on "Penny Lane"

David Mason played the solo He was a session trumpeter for the London Symphony Orchestra, not a rock musician.

Paul McCartney discovered him on TV McCartney heard Mason playing Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 and wanted that exact high-register sound.

Mason transposed the part on the spot McCartney hummed the melody, and Mason had to write it into proper notation during the session at Abbey Road.

He earned a modest fee Mason received a standard session payment and a place in rock history for one of pop music’s most recognizable brass moments.