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Magical Mystery Tour [EP]

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Magical Mystery Tour (EP)

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Magical Mystery Tour is an double EP by The Beatles , produced by George Martin , both including the six-song soundtrack to the 1967 film of the same name . The record format released in the United Kingdom on 8 December 1967, was a six-track double EP on the Parlophone label, whilst in the United States the record, released 11 days earlier, on 27 November 1967, was an eleven-track LP created by Capitol Records , adding the band's 1967 single releases.

The US LP was later adopted as the official version of the record when The Beatles' catalogue was updated for the 1980s digital Compact Disc releases. The album was remastered 9 September 2009 for the first time since its CD release. The soundtrack was a critical and commercial success, a #1 album in the US and Grammy-nominated , despite the relative critical and commercial failure of the Magical Mystery Tour film.

• 1 Initial release formats
• 2 Track listing
• 3 Personnel
• 5 External links

Initial release formats

The number of songs used in the film posed a problem for The Beatles and their UK record company EMI , as there were too few for an LP album but too many for an EP. Template:Sfn One idea considered was to issue an EP which played at 33 ⅓ rpm but this would have caused a loss of fidelity that was deemed unacceptable. The solution chosen was to issue an innovative format of two EP's packaged in a gatefold sleeve with a 28-page booklet containing the lyrics and colour pictures. Template:Sfn Of the package, Bob Neaverson wrote "While it certainly solved the song quota problem, one suspects that it was also partly born of The Beatles' pioneering desire to experiment with conventional formats and packaging". Template:Sfn The package was released in the UK on 8 December, in time for the Christmas market.

In the US, EPs were not popular at the time so (and against The Beatles' wishes) Capitol Records decided to release the soundtrack as an LP by adding some recent non-album singles. Template:Sfn The first side of the LP was the film soundtrack (like earlier British Beatles soundtrack albums), and the second side was a collection of A-side and B-sides released in 1967, with the songs "Penny Lane", "Baby, You're a Rich Man" and "All You Need Is Love" presented in duophonic , fake "processed" stereo, sound. Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

Note that on all stereo releases of both packages, "I Am the Walrus" is in true-stereo only part way through, after which the sound becomes fake-stereo.

When standardising The Beatles' releases for the worldwide Compact Disc release in 1987, the LP version of Magical Mystery Tour (in true-stereo) was included with the otherwise British album line-up. [1]

The inclusion of the 1967 singles on CD with this album meant both that the Magical Mystery Tour CD would be of comparable length to the band's other album CDs, and that those three singles would not need to be included on Past Masters , a two-volume compilation designed to accompany the initial CD album releases and provide all non-album tracks (mostly singles) on CD format. [2]

The album (along with The Beatles' entire UK studio album catalogue) was remastered and reissued on CD in 2009. In homage to the album's conception and first release, the CD incorporates the original Capitol LP label design. The remastered CD features a mini-documentary about the album. Initial copies of the album accidentally list the mini-documentary to be one made for Let It Be .

Track listing

• " Magical Mystery Tour " " Your Mother Should Know "
• " I Am the Walrus "
• " The Fool on the Hill " " Flying "
• " Blue Jay Way "
• George Harrison  – lead and rhythm guitars , lead , harmony and backing vocals , harmonica on "The Fool on the Hill", Hammond organ on "Blue Jay Way"
• John Lennon  – lead, harmony and backing vocals, rhythm and lead guitars, acoustic and electric piano , mellotron , harmonica on "The Fool on the Hill"
• Paul McCartney  – lead, harmony and backing vocals, bass guitar , piano, mellotron, recorder on "The Fool on the Hill"
• Ringo Starr  – drums , percussion , vocals (shared with Lennon, McCartney and Harrison) on "Flying"
• Geoff Emerick & Ken Scott
• "Magical Mystery Tour" – Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall on percussion, David Mason, Elgar Howarth, Roy Copestake and John Wilbraham on trumpets
• "The Fool on the Hill" – Christoper Taylor, Richard Taylor and Jack Ellory on flute Template:Sfn
• "I Am the Walrus" – Sidney Sax, Jack Rothstein, Ralph Elman, Andrew McGee, Jack Greene, Louis Stevens, John Jezzard and Jack Richards on violins, Lionel Ross, Eldon Fox, Brian Martin and Terry Weil on cellos and Neill Sanders , Tony Tunstall and Morris Miller on horns, Peggie Allen, Wendy Horan, Pat Whitmore, Jill Utting, June Day, Sylvia King, Irene King, G. Mallen, Fred Lucas, Mike Redway, John O'Neill, F. Dachtler, Allan Grant, D. Griffiths, J. Smith and J. Fraser on backing vocals
• "Hello, Goodbye" – Ken Essex, Leo Birnbaum on violas.
• "Strawberry Fields Forever" – Mal Evans on percussion, Tony Fisher, Greg Bowen, Derek Watkins and Stanley Roderick on trumpets and John Hall, Derek Simpson, Norman Jones on cellos.
• "Penny Lane" – Ray Swinfield, P. Goody, Manny Winters and Dennis Walton on flutes, Leon Calvert, Freddy Clayton, Bert Courtley and Duncan Campbell on trumpets, Dick Morgan and Mike Winfield on English horns, Frank Clarke on double bass and David Mason on piccolo trumpet
• "Baby, You're a Rich Man" – Eddie Kramer on vibraphone
• "All You Need Is Love" – George Martin on piano, Mick Jagger , Keith Richards , Marianne Faithfull , Keith Moon , Eric Clapton , Pattie Boyd Harrison , Jane Asher , Mike McCartney , Maureen Starkey, Graham Nash and wife, Gary Leeds and Hunter Davies on backing vocals, Sidney Sax, Patrick Halling, Eric Bowie and Jack Holmes on violins, Rex Morris and Don Honeywill on sax, David Mason and Stanley Woods on trumpets, Evan Watkins and Henry Spain on horns, Jack Emblow on accordion and Brian Martin on cello
• ↑ Other US LPs were subsequently released as part of The Capitol Albums volumes 1 and 2 boxed sets, but not individually.
• ↑ Album Review: The Beatles – Past Masters [Remastered] « Consequence of Sound

External links

• Beatles comments on each song
• Recording data and notes on mono/stereo mixes and remixes
• The real Blue Jay Way
• Beatles Albums
• The Beatles EPs
• View source

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Magical mystery tour.

Release date: 27 November 1967

(Spoken lyric) Roll up, roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour. Step right this way!

Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour. Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.

Roll up, and that's an invitation, Roll up for the mystery tour. Roll up, to make a reservation, Roll up for the mystery tour.

The Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away, Waiting to take you away.

Roll up, we've got ev'rything you need Roll up for the mystery tour. Roll up, satisfaction guaranteed, Roll up for the mystery tour.

The Magical Mystery Tour is hoping to take you away, Hoping to take you away.

The mystery trip.

The Magical Mystery Tour. Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour.

The Magical Mystery Tour is coming to take you away, Coming to take you away.

The Magical Mystery Tour is dying to take you away, dying to take you away, take you today.

"Magical Mystery Tour" is a song by the Beatles, the opening track and theme song for the album, double EP and TV film of the same name. Unlike the theme songs for their other film projects, it was not released as a single.

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Magical Mystery Tour

By Scott Plagenhoef

September 9, 2009

After the death of manager Brian Epstein, the Beatles took a series of rather poor turns, the first of which was the Magical Mystery Tour film. Conceived as a low-key art project, the Beatles were oddly nonchalant about the challenges of putting together a movie. They'd assembled records, they'd worked on A Hard Day's Night and Help! -- how hard could it be? Without Epstein to advise, however, things like budgeting and time management became a challenge, and this understated experimental film turned into a sapping distraction.

Musically, however, the accompanying EP was an overwhelming success. The EP format apparently freed the band to experiment a bit, not having to fill sides of a 45 with pop songs or make the grand statements of an album. The title track is a rousing set piece, meant to introduce the travelogue concept of the film. The remaining four songs released exclusive to the EP are low-key marvels-- Paul McCartney's graceful "The Fool on the Hill" and music-hall throwback "Your Mother Should Know", George Harrison's droning "Blue Jay Way", and the percolating instrumental "Flying". Few of them are anyone's all-time favorite Beatles songs, only one had a prayer of being played on the radio, and yet this run seems to achieve a majesty in part because of that: It's a rare stretch of amazing Beatles music that can seem like a private obsession rather than a permanent part of our shared culture.

As a more laid-back release, the EP suggested the direction the band might have taken on the White Album had it remained a full band, happy to shed the outsized conceptualism and big statements and craft atmospheric, evocative pieces. In the U.S., the EP was paired with three recent double-sided singles, ballooning Magical Mystery Tour into an album-- the only instance in which a U.S. release, often mangled by Capitol, became Beatles canon. With only the EP's title track married specifically to the film's themes, the overall effect of a title track/album sleeve as shell game was in line with Sgt. Pepper ' s Lonely Hearts Club Band .

Of the three singles, the undisputed highlight is "Strawberry Fields Forever"/ "Penny Lane", John Lennon and Paul McCartney's tributes to their hometown, Liverpool. Slyly surreal, assisted by studio experimentation but not in debt to it, full of brass, harmonium, and strings, unmistakably English-- when critics call eccentric or baroque UK pop bands "Beatlesesque," this is the closest there is to a root for that adjective. There is no definitive Beatles sound, of course, but with a band that now functions as much as a common, multi-generational language as a group of musicians, it's no surprise that songs rooted in childhood-- the one experience most likely to seem shared and have common touchpoints-- are among their most universally beloved.

The rest of the singles collected here are no less familiar: Lennon's "All You Need Is Love" was initially completed up for an international TV special on BBC1-- its basic message was meant to translate to any language. Harrison's guitar solo, producer George Martin's strings, and the parade of intertextual musical references that start and close the piece elevate it above hippie hymn. Its flipside, "Baby You're a Rich Man", is less successful, a second-rate take on John Lennon's money-isn't-everything theme from the considerably stronger "And Your Bird Can Sing". It's the one lesser moment on an otherwise massively rewarding compilation.

Much better from Lennon is "I Am the Walrus", crafted for the Magical Mystery Tour film and EP but also released as a double-sided single with McCartney's "Hello Goodbye". One of Lennon's signature songs, "Walrus" channels the singer's longtime fascinations with Lewis Carroll, puns and turns of phrase, and non sequiturs. "Hello Goodbye" echoes the same contradictory logic found in the verses of "All You Need Is Love", a vague sense of disorientation that still does little to balance its relentlessly upbeat tone. McCartney excelled at selling simplistic lyrics that risk seeming cloying, though, and he again does here-- plus, the kaleidoscopic, carnival-ride melody and interplay between lead and backing vocals ensure it's a much better record than it is a song.

In almost every instance on those singles, the Beatles are either whimsical or borderline simplistic, releasing songs that don't seem sophisticated or heavy or monumental (even though most of them are). In that sense, they're all like "All You Need Is Love" or childhood memories or Lewis Carroll-- easy to love, fit for all ages, rich in multi-textual details, deceptively trippy (see Paul's "Penny Lane" in particular, with images of it raining despite blue skies, or the songs here that revel in contradictions-- "Hello Goodbye"'s title, the verses in "All You Need Is Love"). More than any other place in the band's catalogue, this is where the group seems to crack open a unique world, and for many young kids then and since this was their introduction to music as imagination, or adventure. The rest of the Magical Mystery Tour LP is the opposite of the middle four tracks on the EP-- songs so universal that, like "Yellow Submarine", they are practically implanted in your brain from birth. Seemingly innocent, completely soaked through with humor and fantasy, Magical Mystery Tour slots in my mind almost closer to the original Willy Wonka or The Wizard of Oz as it does other Beatles records or even other music-- timeless entertainment crafted with a childlike curiosity and appeal but filled with wit and wonder.

On the whole, Magical Mystery Tour is quietly one of the most rewarding listens in the Beatles' career. True, it doesn't represent some sort of forward momentum or clear new idea-- largely in part because it wasn't conceived as an album. The accompanying pieces on the EP are anomalies in the Beatles oeuvre but they aren't statements per se, or indications that the group is in any sort of transition. But if there was ever a moment in the Beatles' lifetime that listeners would have been happy to have the group just settle in and release songs as soon as possible, it was just before and after the then-interminable 10-month gap between the Revolver and *Sgt. Pepper'* s . Without that context, the results could seem slight-- a sort-of canonized version of Past Masters perhaps-- but whether it's an album, a collection of separate pieces, or whatnot matters little when the music itself is so incredible.

[ Note : Click here for an overview of the 2009 Beatles reissues, including discussion of the packaging and sound quality.]

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Why the Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ Was Scattered, but Essential

The Beatles  were on a roll in 1967.

They not only had released what many fans consider their best-ever album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , they also were writing and recording new songs at such a pace that those fans – not to mention radio and retailers – could hardly be expected to keep up with them.

In fact, six weeks after Sgt. Pepper's came out in late May 1967, the Beatles released a new single, "All You Need Is Love," backed with "Baby, You're a Rich Man." Those two songs, along with a pair of tracks recorded at the start of the Sgt. Pepper's sessions and other more recent tracks, ended up on the U.S. edition of Magical Mystery Tour , which was released on Nov. 27, 1967.

In the U.K., the 11-song LP was pared down to a six-track double EP that came out almost two weeks later, on Dec. 8, and included only the songs recorded specifically for the Magical Mystery Tour film project the group aired on British television that Christmas. The remaining five cuts, pushed to Side Two of the U.S. release, were released as singles between February 1967 and all the way up to just a few days before the album came out.

It's a tricky release history that suits the scattershot nature of Magical Mystery Tour in general.

Following the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on May 26, 1967, the Beatles – no doubt feeling invincible after the rapturous reception to the album – wanted to make a movie about themselves that included new music. The idea was to load a whole bunch of people onto a bus (including the four Beatles, John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ) and take them on a day-long trip. Along the way, they would stop so the group could perform, or rather lip-sync to, some of those new songs.

The movie, a 52-minute special that aired on the BBC on Dec. 26, 1967, was a notorious mess . There was no script, no director to speak of and no discernible point to the self-indulgence on display. There were new Beatles songs, however, and that was enough to salvage the project.

Still, as an album ,  Magical Mystery Tour  feels like a letdown after the recent creative landmarks Rubber Soul , Revolver and Sgt. Pepper – and the ones to come, like the White Album (their next proper LP released the following year) and Abbey Road . And that's mainly because it was never intended as an album, but an EP designed to tie in to a holiday TV special.

Watch the Beatles' 'Penny Lane' Video

So, while Side One of the album – which includes the title track, "The Fool on the Hill," "Flying," "Blue Jay Way," "Your Mother Should Know" and "I Am the Walrus" – flows as an occasionally spotty soundtrack, Side Two sounds like what it is: a hodgepodge of recordings the group assembled over the past year. They're all great songs, but within the LP's context, "Hello, Goodbye," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Penny Lane," "Baby, You're a Rich Man" and "All You Need Is Love" come off like one of those sketchy Beatles albums Capitol Records put together in the States from leftover U.K. singles and album tracks.

Still, Magical Mystery Tour completed fans' collections by gathering some great songs that weren't previously available on any album – especially "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane," both of which were recorded for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band but released five months before the LP came out to satisfy record-company demands for new product.

And it is an essential collection of Beatles songs, even if the concept and context is occasionally flawed when measured alongside the band's other albums from the era. Not that it mattered much to fans.  Magical Mystery Tour  shot straight up the U.S. chart and stayed at No. 1 for two months. And these days it's considered a part of the Beatles' core catalog; the U.S. album has been remastered and reissued along with the group's 11 original U.K. albums.

It belongs there. Just don't expect it to fall together as seamlessly as the others.

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• All about “Magical Mystery Tour”

Magical Mystery Tour (UK EP - Stereo)

This image is a cover of an audio recording, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the work or the artist(s) which produced the recording or cover artwork in question. It is believed that the use of low-resolution images of such covers qualifies as fair use.

Magical Mystery Tour (UK EP - Mono)

Magical Mystery Tour (US LP - Mono)

Master release

Magical Mystery Tour

By The Beatles

Related sessions

This album has been recorded during the following studio sessions

Recording "Magical Mystery Tour" #1

Apr 25, 1967

Recording "Magical Mystery Tour" #2

Apr 26, 1967

Recording "Your Mother Should Know"

Aug 22, 1967

Aug 23, 1967

Recording "I'm The Walrus"

Sep 05, 1967

Recording "I'm The Walrus", "The Fool On The Hill", "Blue Jay Way"

Sep 06, 1967

Recording "Blue Jay Way"

Sep 07, 1967

Recording and mixing "Flying"

Sep 08, 1967

Recording "The Fool On The Hill"

Sep 26, 1967

Recording "I Am The Walrus", "The Fool On The Hill", mixing "The Fool On The Hill"

Sep 27, 1967

Recording and mixing "I Am The Walrus", "Flying"

Sep 28, 1967

Recording "Your Mother Should Know", mixing "I Am The Walrus", "Your Mother Should Know"

Sep 29, 1967

Oct 06, 1967

Recording "The Fool On The Hill", "Hello, Goodbye"

Oct 20, 1967

Mixing "All You Need Is Love", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "The Fool On The Hill", recording "Hello Goodbye"

Nov 01, 1967

Mixing "Hello, Goodbye", "I Am The Walrus", "Your Mother Should Know", "Magical Mystery Tour"

Nov 06, 1967

Mixing "Blue Jay Way", "Flying", recording and mixing "Magical Mystery Tour"

Nov 07, 1967

Related albums

All You Need Is Love / Baby You're A Rich Man (UK)

Hello, Goodbye / I Am The Walrus (UK version)

Magical Mystery Tour Sessions

Magical Mystery Tour (US LP - Stereo)

Magical Mystery Tour (Mono - 2009 remaster)

Magical Mystery Tour (Stereo - 2009 remaster)

Magical Mystery Tour (Mono - 2014 vinyl)

All You Need Is Love / Baby You're A Rich Man (UK - 1976)

Hello, Goodbye / I Am The Walrus (UK - 1976)

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Written by Lennon - McCartney

2:50 • Studio version • B • Stereo

Session Recording: Apr 25, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road

Session Overdubs: Apr 25 & 26 & 27, May 3, Nov 7, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Abbey Road

Session Mixing: Nov 06, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road

Session Mixing: Nov 07, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Abbey Road

Your Mother Should Know

2:28 • Studio version • B • Stereo

Session Recording: Aug 22, 1967 Studio : Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs: Aug 23, 1967 Studio : Chappell Recording Studios, London UK

Session Overdubs: Sep 29, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

I Am the Walrus

4:33 • Studio version • B • Stereo • Stereo, and mock stereo made from [A]

Session Recording: Sep 05, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road

Session Overdubs: Sep 06, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Orchestra overdubs: Sep 27, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio One and Two, Abbey Road

Session Mixing: Sep 28-29 & Nov 06 & 17, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

The Fool on the Hill

2:59 • Studio version • B • Stereo

Session Recording: Sep 26, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Overdubs: Sep 27, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Overdubs: Oct 20, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road

Session Mixing: Nov 01, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road

Written by Paul McCartney , Ringo Starr , John Lennon , George Harrison

2:17 • Studio version • B • Stereo

Session Recording: Sep 08, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Three, Abbey Road

Session Overdubs: Sep 28, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Blue Jay Way

Written by George Harrison

3:55 • Studio version • B • Stereo

Session Recording: Sep 06, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Overdubs: Sep 07, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

Session Overdubs: Oct 06, 1967 Studio : EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

“ Magical Mystery Tour ” is the soundtrack to the Beatles television film of the same name. The film’s music was released on a double EP in the UK, released on December 8, 1967 – in both mono and stereo. In the USA, an eponymous LP, extended by five tracks, was released on November 27, 1967 – in both mono and stereo .

See “ Magical Mystery Tour (UK EP – Mono) ” for background information.

BEATLES TO RELEASE NEW SINGLE, EP A NEW Beatles single and EP may be released in Great Britain while the group is in India. The Beatles were spending all this week recording numbers for the Magical Mystery Tour TV show at EMI’s St John’s Wood studios. They are recording the title track and either four or six other numbers. These will include a composition by George Harrison titled “Blue Jay Way,” written while George was in San Francisco and named after the house he rented in the Hollywood Hills, and an instrumental number the first ever by the group. Press officer Tony Barrow told the MM: “No final decision has been made but the tracks will probably be released as a single and an EP. There is no definite release date because the final number of tracks has not been decided by the boys.” In all probability though, a single and an EP will come out while the group is in India. The group are also working closely on the editing of the TV film. As soon as this is completed, they will start work on writing and recording the incidental music. From Melody Maker – October 7, 1967

RINGO SOLO FILM – Beatles “Mystery” discs (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); BEATLE Ringo Starr is to have a solo acting role in a big-budget movie to be made by a major Hollywood company. Titled “Candy” and adapted from the best-selling satire of that name, it goes into production in the late autumn. Ringo will have the cameo role of a Mexican gardener, with other parts in the picture played by Richard Burton and Marlon Brando — but the title role has not yet been cast. The director is Christian Marquand. The location of the film has still to be announced. but it is possible that Ringo will fly to America to film his contribution. It. is also probable that he will have to curtail his meditation visit to India in order to meet filming schedules. In accepting this solo part, Ringo is following in the footsteps of fellow Beatle John Lennon, who made his solo debut in “How I Won The War”. The Beatles’ TV spectacular “Magical Mystery Tour” will include up to seven brand new compositions by the group. It is probable that two of the songs will be issued as the Beatles’ next single, with the remainder forming a special EP release. The score includes an instrumental number — the first non-vocal composed by the group since it rose to stardom five years ago. Another track is “Blue Jay Way,” written by George Harrison during his visit to Los Angeles in August. WRITING SCORE Throughout week, the Beatles have been engaged in extensive soundtrack recording for the show. They will also be writing and recording all the incidental music for the spectacular but work on this cannot begin until editing has been completed, and the group is able to see exactly what is required. The final decision on the exact number new songs in the Show has not yet been taken by the Beatles. An official statement from NEMS Enterprises says: “Apart from the title number, there will be four – perhaps – six new songs.” As previously reported, the Traffic appear in a guest spot in the show. The complicated process of preparing the incidental score is likely to take some weeks. This will probably mean that The Beatles’ meditation visit to India is even further delayed, and may not now take place until November. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The Beatles have rejected an offer of a million dollars to play two concerts at New York’s Shea Stadium. It was submitted by U.S. promoter Sidney Bernstein, who presented the previous appearances at this venue. A spokesman for the Beatles commented: “The reason is that they cannot perform on stage the kind of music they are recording now”. […] From New Musical Express – October 7, 1967

BEATLES MYSTERY TOUR DISCS OUT DECEMBER BEATLES recordings from their TV film Magical Mystery Tour are to be released in a special book on December 1 — one week after their new single “Hello, Goodbye” is released. The book will contain two 45 rpm seven inch records and 32 pages of colour and black and white illustrations. The price of the records and the book will be 19s 6d. The records will be issued in stereo (SMMT 1) and mono (MMMT 1). The titles of the recordings are: Record One, Side One, “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Your Mother Should Know”; Side Two “I Am The Walrus”; Record Two, Side One, “The Fool On The Hill” and “Flying” Side Two, “Blue Jay Way.” “Flying” is the first non-vocal Beatles’ record on Parlophone and also the first record which all four Beatles have written together. The special book will have one record in a sleeve inside the front cover and the other in a sleeve inside the back cover. It will contain colour and black and white photographs from the TV film. It will also have six pages of colour cartoons of the story of the Magical Mystery Tour, drawn by Bob Wilson with words by Tony Barrow. In the centre of the book will be a pull-out supplement giving all the lyrics of the songs. Press Officer Tony Barrow said on Monday: “The Beatles were anxious to keep the cost of the whole production under one pound and EMI co-operated in this.” In America, the songs will be released as one side of an album with five Beatle singles – “Hello, Goodbye”, “Penny Lane”, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “All You Need Is Love” and “Baby You’re A Rich Man” – on the reverse. The book will albso be published but as a separate production. From Melody Maker – November 18, 1967

Six songs in Beatles’ Christmas bonus SPECIAL two-record pack featuring six songs from the Beatles’ TV spectacular “Magical Tour,” will be issued on Friday, December 1. As there were too few songs for either a conventional EP or LP, the pack takes the form of two 7 in. 45 r.p.m. singles -available either in mono or stereo – PLUS a 32-page, full-colour book. (Catalogue numbers of the Parlophone releases are Stereo – SMMT 1, and Mono – MMT 1.) Side 1 of record 1 features “Magical Mystery Tour” and “Your Mother Should Know”; side 2 features “I Am The Walrus” — B-side of the new Beatles single out on Friday, November 24. Side 1 of record 2 features “The Fool On The Hill” and “Flying”; side 2 comprises “Blue Jay Way.” “Blue Jay Way” was written and is sung by George Harrison, who composed the piece when he was staying in Hollywood Hills outside Los Angeles at the beginning of August. He composed the piece on the electric organ in his Blue Jay Way house. “Flying” is the Beatles’ first non-vocal for Parlophone and is the first composition jointly written by all four Beatles. Remaining titles are all Lennon-McCartney compositions. The 32-page full-colour book contains a pull-out leaflet featuring the lyrics of all the songs on the two records. There are also pages in colour and black-and-white of scenes from “Magical Mystery Tour,” plus six pages in full colour featuring a strip cartoon telling in pictures and words the story of the film. Drawings are by Bob Gibson, cartoonist for the “Beatles Monthly” Book, and the story was written by NEMS press officer, Tony Barrow, who also edited the book. The record pack is being sold in the United Kingdom at the special price of 19s. 6d. Says Tony Barrow: “The Beatles wanted the package to be put out at under £1, and this has been done with the co-operation of EMI Records.” […] ‘Walrus’ words harmless — Paul A NATIONAL newspaper has already attacked “I Am The Walrus” for its controversial lyric, saying that it may cause censorship headaches at the BBC and that some American stations might ban the song. Part of the lyric goes “Crabalocker fishwife pornographic priestess boy you been a naughty girl you let your knickers down.” Says John Lennon: “The words just appeared that way. You might just as well ask me to explain how any of our lyrics come to be written.” Adds Paul: “The whole point is that this is quite a commonplace saying — to be caught with your knickers down is to be taken by surprise or to be caught on the hop. Naturally, this one line sounds different if you take it out on its own and make headlines out of it. It’s quite harmless, you know. I can’t see being shocked. Certainly, we weren’t out to create deliberate double meanings here.” From Disc And Music Echo – November 18, 1967

Beatles ‘Tour’ two EP. set sells for 19/6d! THE Beatles have again created their own rules. While fans want to know what is being done about the music of their “Magical Mystery Tour” TV show, the Beatles come up with the fact that there is not enough for an album and there is too much for one EP. So, packaged on December 1, is a two-disc 7 inch EP release, along with a 32-page colour book. And the whole thing markets at 19s. 6d. The Beatles themselves were anxious that it should sell for less than £1… and EMI made the appropriate arrangements. It comes out in stereo and mono… numbers SMMT 1 and MMT 1, respectively… the MMT standing for “Magical Mystery Tour”. Titles on the first EP: “Magical Mystery Tour”, “Your Mother Should Know” and “I Am The Walrus”. The second one: “The Fool On The Hill”, “Flying”, “Blue Jay Way’. The latter-named is George’s solo in the show, written and sung by him. He wrote it while on holiday in Los Angeles on a Hammond organ in the house he rented up in the Hollywood Hills, and near a highway called “Blue Jay Way”. The book, which will not be sold separately from the EPs, contains colour pix of the scenes from the television show, plus strip cartoon work by Bob Gibson, who is official cartoonist to the Beatles’ Monthly. The words and editing by Press Officer Tony Barrow. Incidentally, a big point is that “Flying” is the first non-vocal record yet out by Beatles on their label. From Record Mirror – November 18, 1967

Magical Beatles — in stereo SINGLES should be released in stereo. If you don’t believe it, listen to the B side of the new Beatles’ single, “I Am The Walrus,” and then hear the stereo version which is part of the two-EP Magical Mystery Tour package. The MM this week had a preview of the package — two EPs with a 32-page booklet of photos and cartoons which will be on sale at 19s 6d on December 1. They’ve done it again — six tracks which no other pop group in the world could begin to approach for originality combined with the popular touch. The set opens with “Magical Mystery Tour,” a massive, storming piece with Paul singing lead over a ten-ton beat. The effect is mainly of guitars and brass with piano taking over at the end. Next comes one of the two most instantly attractive songs, “Your Mother Should Know” like the title track, a Lennon-McCartney composition. At medium tempo it again features Paul and has a tune that sticks in the memory first time round. It includes prominent piano and steady four-to-the-bar rhythm. “I’m A Walrus,” which completes the first disc, is also a Leanon-McCartney song and bits like the cello figures sound great in stereo. The fourth Lennon-McCartney song is “The Fool On The Hill” which opens the second EP. It has immediate impact and is a typical Beatle lyrical ballad. The gimmick on this one is the highly effective use of penny whistles instead of flutes. It would make an excellent single A side. “Flying” is an instrumental with all four Beatles jointly credited as composers. A weird piece, full of organ sounds — and can it be in 7/4 time?. It ends with a touch of the Dr. Who. George Harrison wrote the final track, “Blue Jay Way,” and it has the requisite Eastern overtones. It also sounds like George singing the lead. it’s a sinister little tune and the most difficult of the six tracks to assimilate at one hearing. The stereo recording increases the effect of the Beatles harmonies and the action-packed arrangements throughout the package. Can we expect stereo singles in the near future? I’m afraid not. Some time back the record companies were producing them for stereo juke boxes, but the idea didn’t really take. The general feeling at the moment is that there is no real demand for stereo singles and too few singles buyers have the necessary equipment to play them. — BOB DAWBARN. From Melody Maker – November 25, 1967

MAGICAL MYSTERY BEATLES “MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR” is another example of a subject in which the Beatles have been able to exercise their vivid imaginations. With “Sgt. Pepper”, the effects were chiefly sound and only the album cover was visual – but with the latest project the visual side — in the shape of a TV film — has dominated the music, which comes in the form of six tunes on two EP’s in an adventurous booklet of EP size, for only 19/6. Everything from fantasy, children’s comics, acid (psychedelic) humour is included on the record and in the booklet. Depending on your involvement, you can read whatever you like into the “‘kiddies'” plots, told in the booklet with cartoons by Bob Gibson and captions by Tony Barrow. “Magical Mystery Tour” is a shouting, loud effective item with a hollow overall sound and an unusually different piano ending. “Your Mother Should Know” is medium tempo ballad with a corny sort of tune — but the atmosphere developed is fantastic. lt’s a hazy, stoned kind of sensation which reminds you of hearing old tunes, in smoky rooms… one line is “Lift up your hearts and sing me a song, that was a hit before your mother was born”. You’ve all heard “l Am The Walrus” — it sounds even better in stereo. “The Fool On The Hill” is a thoughtful reflective type of number — a ballad dealing with a perceptive person and the attitudes of those around him. Deliberately disjointed. “Flying”, the only instrumental on the EP’s is a ponderous medium pace effort which becomes strangely exhilarating and features wordless vocal backing some way through. A disturbing tuning-note closes things and the instrumentation tapers off. “Blue Jay Way”, written by George, features his dry vocals up against a swooping church organ. The storyline, dealing with a human situation is enhanced by, to paraphrase Nick Jones, a ‘seashell sound’. NORMAN JOPLING From Record Mirror – December 1, 1967

Beatles ‘Magic’ disc-book held up, gold ‘Hello’, Traffic cut from TV RELEASE of the Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” disc-book package has been delayed by one week until this Friday (8th), because EMI has been overwhelmed by 400,000 advance orders. The main hold-up has been the book, which is more difficult to reprint than the pressing of additional records. However, 750,000 copies have now been supplied and distribution is in full swing. Provided there is no disruption due to the rail go-slow earlier this week, all advance orders should be met by this weekend. Meanwhile, American sales of the “Hello Goodbye” single — it is No. 7 in “Cash Box” and No. 8 in “Billboard” this week — passed 900,000 on Tuesday, and were expected to have reached the million mark by today (Friday). In this country sales were nearing half a million on Wednesday. Transmission details of the “Mystery Tour” TV spectacular are to be announced within the next few days. Meanwhile it was learned this week that Traffic’s contribution to the show has been “edited out” in the process of cutting down the six hours of filmed material to minutes. However, the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band has a spot in the show’s strip-club sequence. The fifth annual Christmas record is being distributed to all Fan Club members within the next two weeks. Titled “Christmas Time (Is Here Again),” the EP runs over six minutes and features a specially written title song, a linked series of comedy items, and a guest appearance of “the feet and voice of Victor Spinetti”! The disc has a full-colour sleeve, including an oil painting by four-year-old Julian Lennon. It is being made available to disc-jockeys for broadcasting during the pre-Christmas week. As usual, the record is being sent free to Fan Club members in Britain and America, but is not available to the general public. FLASH! IT HAS JUST BEEN ANNOUNCED THAT THE BEATLES’ “MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR” TV SPECTACULAR WILL BE SCREENED BY BBC-1 ON BOXING DAY. IT WILL BE REPEATED IN COLOUR ON BBC-2 EARLY IN THE NEW YEAR. From New Musical Express – December 9, 1967

Beatles hit top THE Beatles grabbed number one from Long John Baldry this week with “Hello, Goodbye.” But their new “Magical Mystery Tour” recordings, released as a special disc-plus-book issue, was not in the Pop 30 chart list, even though advance orders topped 250,000. EMI cleared up the mystery when Press Officer Sid Gillingham told the MM that the Magical Mystery Tour set had not yet reached the shops. “We never announced a firm release date for it. All we said was that it would be released in the first week in December, and in fact it is going out to dealers today (Tuesday).” FAN RECORD Press officer Tony Barrow told the MM: “I think dealers are not sure how to deal with the record, because it isn’t a conventional single or album. But it should be treated as a single record.” The Beatles issue another Special Christmas record for their fan club. This record, which is not available to the public, will be released simultaneously in America and is titled “Christmas Time (Is Here Again).” It lasts six minutes and is mailed to fans in a special four colour cover. In America, “Hello, Goodbye” has sold more than 900,000 and is expected to qualify for a Gold Disc by this weekend. From Melody Maker – December 9, 1967

BEATLES TOUR SET IN POP 30 THE Beatles notched up two chart entries this week – number one with “Hello Goodbye” and number 17 with “Magical Mystery Tour EP.” The Magical Mystery Tour TV film will be screened on BBC-1 on Boxing Day at 8.35 pm in black and white. The colour version will be seen on BBC-2 within a fortnight of the Boxing Day screening. From Melody Maker – December 16, 1967

BEATLES’ TOUR MAKE £2 1/2 M BEATLES have produced a mammoth New Year bonus for Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer! Their “Magical Mystery Tour” package has caused American record buyers to shell out to the tune of $8,000,000. Which, in British money, means over two-and-a-half million pounds! In a cable to EMI chairman Sir Joseph Lockwood, American Capitol’s Voyle Gilmore said: “‘Magical Mystery Tour’ sales to date are 1,600,000.” In America, “Magical Mystery Tour” – issued in Britain in EP form – is released as an LP with other Beatles hits. Beatles single, “Hello, Goodbye”, has now hit the No. 1 slot in the American charts. From Disc And Music Echo – December 30, 1967

Last updated on August 2, 2023

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Magical Mystery Tour (Lennon/McCartney)

The title track to the EP (and later LP), Magical Mystery Tour was never intended to be anything more than a sort of “commercial” for the film. Lyrics were derived from a studio session in which Beatles assistant Mal Evans wrote down words and phrases suggested by the band associated with a tour of the sort. Two days after Paul had begun to work with the original list he brought a completed song.

Million dollar use in Indiana Jones

The Beatles’ original studio recording of “Magical Mystery Tour” was used in the 2023 film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny , in a scene set in 1969 where Indiana Jones was awoken by the song being played by his neighbors. It was reported that the licensing of the recording cost $1,000,000.

“Because those were psychedelic times it had to become a magical mystery tour, a little bit more surreal than the real ones to give us a license to do it. But it employs all the circus and fairground barkers, “Roll up! Roll up!”, which was also a reference to rolling up a joint. We were always sticking those little things in that we knew our friends would get; veiled references to drugs and to trips. “Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away ,” so that’s a kind of drug, “it’s dying to take you away” so that’s a Tibetan Book of the Dead reference … Magical Mystery Tour was the equivalent of a drug trip and we made the film based on that.” – Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now

• Paul McCartney – lead and backing vocals, piano, bass guitar, percussion
• John Lennon – lead and backing vocals, acoustic guitar, percussion
• George Harrison – harmony vocal, lead guitar, percussion
• Ringo Starr – drums, percussion
• Mal Evans – percussion
• Neil Aspinall – percussion
• David Mason – trumpet
• Elgar Howarth – trumpet
• Roy Copestake – trumpet
• John Wilbraham – trumpet

Release history

• Magical Mystery Tour  (EP) (1967)
• Magical Mystery Tour  (LP) (1967)
• 1967-1970  (1973)
• Reel Music  (1982)

Notable covers

• Cheap Trick (from Greatest Hits)

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Recording: Magical Mystery Tour

Studio Three, EMI Studios, Abbey Road Producer: George Martin Engineer: Geoff Emerick

The Beatles began work on the title track of what would become their next film and EP/LP release, ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ , recording three takes of the backing track.

The group rehearsed the song extensively in the studio before recording began, with Paul McCartney guiding the group from the piano. Eventually they taped a rhythm track of two guitars, piano and drums.

Satisfied with take three, The Beatles then oversaw five reduction mixes to free up extra tracks on the tape. The last of these, numbered take eight, was used for further overdubs on subsequent days.

The group also assembled a tape loop of traffic noises, taken from EMI’s sound effects collection Volume 36: Traffic Noise Stereo. This was added to the song during a final mixing session on 7 November 1967 .

Also on this day...

• 2017: Paul McCartney live: Nippon Budokan, Tokyo
• 2015: Paul McCartney live: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
• 2014: Paul McCartney live: Estadio Nacional, Lima
• 2012: Paul McCartney live: Estádio da Ressacada, Florianópolis
• 2003: Paul McCartney live: GelreDome, Arnhem
• 1976: John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s final meeting
• 1969: Mixing: Two Of Us
• 1966: Mixing: Got To Get You Into My Life
• 1964: Rehearsal: Around The Beatles
• 1963: The Beatles live: Mersey Beat Showcase, Croydon
• 1963: The Beatles are photographed by Fiona Adams
• 1962: The Beatles live: Star-Club, Hamburg
• 1961: The Beatles live: Top Ten Club, Hamburg

Want more? Visit the Beatles history section .

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