That Was the Year That Was

That Was the Year That Was
Live album by
Released1965
RecordedJuly 1965
GenreSatire
Length37:11
LabelReprise/Warner Bros. Records
ProducerJimmy Hilliard
Tom Lehrer chronology
Revisited
(1960)
That Was the Year That Was
(1965)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

That Was the Year That Was (1965) is a live album recorded at the hungry i in San Francisco, containing performances by Tom Lehrer of satiric topical songs he originally wrote for the NBC television series That Was The Week That Was, known informally as TW3 (1964–65). All of the songs related to items then in the news.[2] The album peaked at #18 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums on January 8, 1966 and was on the chart for 51 weeks.[3] The album reached #5 on the Canadian GMP/AC chart.[4]

In October 2020, Lehrer transferred the music and lyrics for all songs he had ever written into the public domain.[5][6] In November 2022, he formally relinquished the copyright and performing/recording rights on his songs, making all music and lyrics composed by him free for anyone to use.[7]

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Hiltzik, Michael (9 April 2018). "A few words (wasted) about Tom Lehrer on his 90th birthday". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  3. ^ "Tom Lehrer That Was The Year That Was Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  4. ^ "RPM GMP Guide - December 6, 1965" (PDF).
  5. ^ Sanderson, David (October 22, 2020). "Copyright-busting website is invitation to have a laugh with Tom Lehrer". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  6. ^ Ho, Justin (21 October 2020). "Satirist Tom Lehrer has put his songs into the public domain". Marketplace. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Tom Lehrer Songs". Tom Lehrer. 2022-11-01. Retrieved 2022-12-16.