"Those Were the Days" (Gene Raskin), is a Russian song called "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" (Boris Fomin, Konstantin Podrevskii). One of the first recordings from the twenties featured Alexander Vertinsky.

Gene Raskin played the folk circuit in 1960s New York and there the Limeliters heard the tune.

Raskin and his wife played London's "Blue Angel" every year, always closing their show with the song. Paul McCartney frequented the club and, after the formation of The Beatles' Apple Records label, recorded the song with Mary Hopkin in 1968, McCartney's agent having purchased the song rights from Raskin's. (Wikipedia)