[edit] The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

released on nov 27 1967

produced by George Martin Engineer: Geoff Emerick Length: 36 minutes 52 seconds

Here comes the right moment to write about Magical Mystery Tour. So here i am, comfortably sitting in my old rocking chair, remembering, and the stereo is not playing the album i try to write all that by memory, without even the help of a single archive, and i'll try to make it brief. So here we go ... Roll up Roll up !

First thing first: for me, Magical Mystery tour is the turning point, because we have to consider the fact that Brian Epstein just died, and the Beatles found themselves without a manager, and so it was kind of natural for all, that Paul stepped into his shoes and assume the role of manager.

So that's why i believe Magical Mystery Tour, has been his first project as 'pseudo-manager' ... Originally intended to be a movie to be broadcast on TV on Christmas Eve 67' ...

And that's why many had called the movie a failure, because it's been broadcast on TV which was 99 % black and white at the time. And the lack of a plot or any sense of "cohesiveness" didnt help either. It's not been designed to enhance each Beatle personality like "Help" and "A Hard Day's Night" were. It was i believe, very influnced by the recent interest the Beatles had shown to Hinduism and esoterism.

The movie is basically a one-hour description of the adventures of travelers, on an imaginary tour bus, which is taken over, and put through a weird series of events by the "sorcery" of five musicians, the Beatles, and their talented producer George Martin ... That would sum it up nicely i think.

Originally released as a double EP (perhaps the fist in it's kind), Magical was turned into an LP in the United States. I've read many reviews on that album, and many referred to it as the best Beatles album. Mine will always be SGT Pepper, but my affection for Magical Mystery Tour is HUGE ! And by the way the single contained a 24 pages liflet of the films shots.

First of all, it's a collection of the best songs signed by Lennon/Mc Cartney ... John Lennon once declared that album to be his fav in the entire Beatles catalog, and with reasons i'm certain, as 2 of his personnal gems are therein: 'I'm The Walrus' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever'; i think you'll agree with me that those two tracks have never been equaled since then, and never will be ...

What more to say about the production of that album ? well not much, as it's a sort of compilation made of various singles already released at the time, and so those tracks had been choosen to be the soundtrack of the movie, and paul had to write the title track along with some others.

Magical Mystery Tour (McCartney/Lennon) As usual with a Beatles album, it starts out fast. This is a neat song to sing along with. The brass is neat. In fact, everything is neat the vocals are simply awesome if you asked me. Such a great way to start an album 'Roll Up Roll Up' John's voice with Paul's, make a perfect blending, reminding one of SGT Peppers.

The Fool on the Hill (Paul, with John?s help) This is one of Pauls meaningful songs, in the way he usually writes them, with characters (Eleanor Rigby is another example). One of Paul's best ballad ever i believe, with that piano and how everyone think the character is a weirdo. A great moment in the film too ...

Flying (all of them) This one was an innovation it was supposed to be the first instrumental signed by the Beatles. I've always loved it for his great imagery, and was used for the best scene in the movie.

Blue Jay Way (George Harrison) A beautiful song by George, and i guess everyone knows the story behind it. He said he wrote it in Los Angeles in that old house, while waiting for some friends to show up. There was an organ in the house, and george started to play with it and came up with that melody, (the house still exists, and Blue Jay Way is famous because of the song the organ is on display i think) ...

Your Mother Should Know (mostly Paul) Very modest lyrics for a simple song. a Typical Mc Cartney tune that just can't grow old as the years pass. This Da da da da makes of it a very catchy tune, and it's awesome with headphones on ...

I Am the Walrus ( John ) Finally John shows up. This song is just awesome! Theres just so much stuff in it. The lyrics are fantastic, the melody is incredible, and all the instruments being played on it sound incredible. If there were a vote "what is the most incredible song of all times" ? well my vote would go right on the Walrus. Plus don't forget all the mystery John had made with it in the future albums (the Walrus was Paul). Awesome song ! Period ... (read the special note below).

Hello Goodbye (Paul, mostly) This was on a single with 'I Am the Walrus'. I gotta be honest, I just love this song! John said in an interwiew (just after the split) that it was a shame that this song had been choosen to be the side one for 'I'm The Walrus' and so turning the Walrus into a B side ... But let's admit it, 'Hello Goodbye' was more commercial at the time than 'I'm The Walrus' ...

Strawberry Fields Forever (John) This began what became Sgt. Pepper. The whole song is rather eerie and surreal. John did funny things with his voice, and put in loops, horns, strings, the works. He really fussed over this song, which must mean that it meant a lot to him. It starts very gently, and he really played with his voice on that one. The lyrics are simply beautiful to be honest, and the melody down right incredible. When i hear it, all kinds of sweet memories fill my mind. Let's not forget to give the credit where it's due namely Mr George Martin himself !

Penny Lane (John and Paul) Another exemple of how their voices could blend amazingly. Penny Lane is another testimony. And it shows how they remembered their childhood in Liverpool. The lyrics once again are amazing, and that tune is one of the catchiests ever when the chorus hits. When Penny Lane was released as a single, and the Beatles had moustaches on the cover, thousands of fans had grown moustaches too, not to speak of the Penny Lane signs torn apart to be kept as memorabilia ... Another awesome song (Gee that album seems to be made up of awesome songs, and i start to understand those who prefer it to SGT Peppers) ...

Baby You're a Rich Man (John & Paul) This song is very groovy! The intro is just great. . I love how John sings this song. His voice sounds so neat. The lyrics are in the form of questions/answers. Another great Lennon tune. He was talking to an entire generation of 'new people' who seemed to float into the dream of a glorious period of time.

All You Need is Love (all of them) A song that oozes peace and love. A song that's been choosen to close that incredible album. A song that's been immortalized back in the days when the Beatles sang it via satellite, in front of an audience of 200 million people. The song is quite simple and yet so beautifull a word that seems to apply for the entire album. Magical Mystery Tour is a BEAUTIFUL album made of eleven awsome tracks. No more, no less ...

I love that album the same way i've always loved the movie ...

Special notes on "I Am The Walrus

Recorded: 5th, 6th, 27th and 28th September 1967. Mixed: 5th, 6th, 28th, 29th September, 6th and 17th November 1967

Location: Abbey Road 1, London on the 5th, 27th September, and Abbey Road 2, London on the 6th and 28th September

Producer: George Martin. Engineer: Geoff Emerick

Musicians: John Lennon - double-tracked lead vocal, electric piano; Paul McCartney - backing vocal, bass guitar; George Harrison - backing vocal, lead guitar; Ringo Starr - drums; Sidney Sax, Jack Rothstein, Ralph Elman, Andrew McGee, Jack Greene, Louis Stevens, John Jezzard and Jack Richards - violins; Lionel Ross, Eldon Fox, Bram Martin and Terry Weil - cellos; Gordon Lewin - clarinet; Neil Sanders, Tony Tunstall and Morris Miller - horns; The Mike Sammes Singers (Peggie Allen, Wendy Horan, Pat Whitemore, Jill Utting, June Day, Sylvia King, Irene King, G. Mallen, Mike Redway, John O'Neill, F. Dachtler, Allan Grant, D. Griffiths, J. Smith and J. Fraser) - backing vocals

The inspiration for this came from a letter that John got from a kid at Quarry Bank, who described how he was analysing Beatles' lyrics at school. He then sat drinking beers and reminiscing with Pete Shotton. I just dipped into a sack, said Pete, and pulled out a letter which happened to be from our old school, from a pupil at Quarry Bank. He said his English teacher was getting them to read and analyse Beatles lyrics, find out hidden meanings, what they were really all about. This got John off remembering lines we used to recite when we were at school. They reeled off the 'Yellow matter custard' poem: 'Yellow matter custard, green slop pie, all mixed together with a dead dog's eye, slap it on a butty, ten foot thick, then wash it all down with a cup of cold sick.' And he threw in semolina as well, thinking of how we were forced to eat it as kids and hated it, and also pilchards. And when he finished he turned to me and said, 'Let the *bip*ers work that one out, Pete.'

Semolina pilchard may also have been a reference to Sgt. Pilcher - the cop who busted Jagger in his flat. Other characters to get a mention were the elementary penguin (which was John's way of digging Allen Ginsberg, because he was sceptical about his rapid transformation from a book-reading poet to a Hare Krishna zealot) and the Walrus. He got that from Lewis Carroll's The Walrus And The Carpenter poem, but later regretted using it, because after re-reading the poem he realised that the walrus was the bad-guy! To me, it was a beautiful poem, he said. It never occurred to me that Lewis Carroll was commenting on the capitalist and social system. I never went into that bit about what it really meant, like people are doing with Beatles work. Later I went back and looked at it and realised that the walrus was the bad guy in the story and the carpenter was the good guy. I thought, Oh *bip*, I picked the wrong guy!

The tune is made up of three different sections. The first one is the Mister City Policeman part, that was written to the rhythm of a police car siren. The second one is the sitting in a country garden section, and the third one is the part about the corn flakes. The master was stitched together just after the Sitting in an English garden section. George Martin hired The Mike Sammes Singers to sing the Ho-ho-ho, hee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha and Oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper lines, and the talking at the end was recorded straight off the radio! You can hear a couple of snatches of Shakespeare's King Lear. The bits you can hear come from Act IV, Scene VI, where Gloucester says 'Now good sir, where are you' and then Edgar says 'A most poor man, made tame by fortune's blows', and then a little later Oswald says 'Take my purse', and Edgar says 'Sit you down, father; rest you'. George Martin called the whole thing an organized piece of chaos.

The BBC ended up banning it, because they thought the line Boy you been a naughty girl/You let your knickers down was offensive! They also had their suspicions about the reference to yellow matter custard. George said: 'I thought John's line about taking her knickers down was great. Why can't we have people *bip*ing as well'? It's going on everywhere, all the time. So why can't you mention it ? It's just a word. Keep saying it - *bip-bip-bip-bip*. See - it doesn't mean a thing, so why can't you use it in a song? We will eventually. We haven't started yet. (*bip*' would eventually appear in the song 'Hey Jude' - albeit accidentally. The first deliberate use of the word was in John's solo song 'Working Class Hero'.)

Boring piece of trivia - the true-stereo version switches to 'fake stereo' at 2:03 (just after the ringing alarm clock), and the US version has got a couple of extra beats in the middle, right after the words 'I'm crying', but before the words 'yellow matter custard'. The UK version also has the intro riff repeated six times instead of four...

Notes: The Beatles: John Lennon (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, harmonica, piano, harpsichord, organ, clavioline, Mellotron, maracas, tambourine, tape loops); George Harrison (vocals, guitar, violin, harmonica, Hammond organ, timpani, congas, firebell, tambourine, tabla); Paul McCartney (vocals, guitar, flute, recorder, piano, acoustic & electric basses, bongos, congas); Ringo Starr (vocals, drums, maracas, tambourine, finger cymbals, tape loops).

Additional personnel includes: Dave Mason (piccolo, trumpet); Philip Jones (trumpet); George Martin (piano); Mal Evans (tambourine); Mick Jagger, Gary Leeds, Keith Richards, Marianne Faithfull, Jane Asher, Patti Harrison, Keith Moon, Graham Nash (background vocals).

Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Olympic Sound Studios, De Lane Lea and Chappell Recording Studios, London, England between November 24, 1966 and November 7, 1967.

Guest Artist: Mick Jagger; Keith Richards; Keith Moon; Graham Nash; George Martin; Marianne Faithfull ...

Track Listing:

1. Magical Mystery Tour 2. The Fool On The Hill 3. Flying 4. Blue Jay Way 5. Your Mother Should Know 6. I Am The Walrus 7. Hello Goodbye 8. Strawberry Fields Forever 9. Penny Lane 10. Baby You're A Rich Man 11. All You Need Is Love