1967 was an outstanding year in The Beatles career. To the tremendous
impact of the Sgt. Pepper's and the release of Strawberry Fields Forever
and Penny Lane, they performed All You Need Is Love in the first worldwide
television transmission by satellite.
But even with the Pepper project on its way, Paul had conceived a new
project that would take The Beatles talent to other fields, film making in
particular. The idea was to start a trip through the English countryside
in a bus full of friends, actors and all sorts of strange characters
without a clear or rigid script. It was quite obvious that it more than
interesting situations would develop from such a trip which would make a
great movie.
The project turned onto a 1 hour TV special for which The Beatles started
recording new songs as soon as they were done with Pepper. However, what
was supposed to be an exciting trip turned out to be quite dull, and for
most of the time nothing special happened. The Beatles insisted in
directing, acting, writing the script and the music. They were supposed to
edit the film as well. the final result, was extremely disappointing. The
television special broadcasted by the BBC was one of the greatest
commercial failures of the Fabs. The truth is that the film is only
bearable by those of us that enjoy anything Beatles, but for the average
viewer is far too weird and lacks of almost any charm.
However, the soundtrack did not fail them as the film did. Magical Mystery
Tour was issued as a double EP in Britain (6 songs were too many for a
single EP, and too few for a standard LP) In the USA, Capitol decided that
the format was not adequate for the American market and released the 6
songs together with 5 other Beatles songs recorded in 1967 to complete an
album. After 6 years of imports of the album being sold in Britain,
Parlophone also released the album. in the CD's collection it also was
issued as an album, and that's why it's presented in this section along
with the rest of Beatles LPs.
Musically, Magical Mystery Tour is an outstanding piece of work. Mainly
because along some exceptional songs recorded for the film (I am the
walrus, one of their masterpieces was among them), it included two of The
Beatles best songs ever (Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane) and the
magnificent All You Need Is Love. So if we forget that all of these had
previously been released as singles, the album was full of Beatles
quality. And so was believed by fans worldwide that hadn't still recovered
from the Pepper shock.
- Magical Mystery Tour
- Recording Dates April 25th 1967 - November 2nd 1967
- Release Date: 27 November, 1967 (US)
McCartney
John:Acoustic Guitar and Backing Vocal
Paul:Piano, Bass Guitar and Lead Vocal
George:Lead Guitar and Backing Vocal
Ringo:Drums and Tambourine
Elgar (Gary) Howarth, Roy Copestake and John Wilbraham: Trumpets
Roll up, roll up for this excellent album announces the title track as
soon as the Beatles join in, singing superb harmonies. Two weeks after
Paul was back from the USA (where he had thought about the MMT project)
The Beatles were at Abbey Road laying down the basic track of the main
title song for their project. The truth is that Paul had only the opening
line and the melody, and that day they were supposed to get the rest of
the lyrics by using catchy phrases as in a commercial. In Britain, the
"mistery tours" where only the bus driver knew the destination, were quite
common. Two days afterwards, the lyrics were completed.
Specially
characteristic of the song are the 3 trumpets used throughout. They give
the tune the strength it needs to convince us all to join such a tour. The
arrangement, came partly from one of the trumpet players ideas, who got
fed up with Paul's method of working out arrangements (he usually hummed
or sung the parts he wanted for the song to the session musicians, and
George Martin helped in)
McCartney
Paul: Piano, Recorders and Lead Vocal
John:Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica and Maracas
George:Lead Guitar and Harmonica
Ringo:Drums, Finger Cymbals
Christopher Taylor, Richard Taylor, Jack Ellory: Flutes
Paul and John were writing With A Little Help From My Friends when during
one of the breaks, Paul started playing what was to be The Fool on The
Hill. The song was already about a foolish man on a hill, but the words
weren't yet clear. John told Paul to write what he had down so he would
not forget, and Paul replied that he wasn't going to forget the lyrics. It
took almost half a year for The Beatles to start to record the song.
The most characteristic sound of
the tune, are the flutes in it. While the ones that appear along the song
accompanying the piano and percussion are flutes played by session
musicians, the solos are in fact played with a recorder. It was Paul who
played such instrument, and you can easily tell it apart from the other
flutes because the sound is not so clear, and the notes are not easily
maintained oscillating a little.
Harrison-Lennon-McCartney-Starkey
Working Title:Aerial Tour Instrumental
John:Mellotron and Vocals
Paul:Several Guitars and Vocals
George:Several Guitars and Vocals
Ringo:Drums, Percussion and Vocals
The first instrumental song by The Beatles to be published by EMI was
Flying. Although the fabs had already tried to get an instrumental with 12
Bar Original (Anthology 2) this composition by
ALL four Beatles was the first one to make it into a record. Several other
tunes (such as "Jessie's Dream") were taped for the incidental music of
the film. However, only Flying was released in the LP. The Beatles once
again experiment with backward loops and tapes (selected by Ringo and
George) and the feeling of the song is quite ethereal and light. Although
all four Beatles use their voices in the track, is still can be considered
as an instrumental song. What they're really doing is chanting, and no
words are sung.
Blue Jay Way
Harrison
John: Tambourine
Paul:Bass Guitar and Backing Vocal
George:Hammond Organ and Vocals
Ringo Starr:Drums
Session Musician: Cello
On August 1st 1967, George was in L.A. in a visit to California. He had
rented a house in Blue Jay Way, and was expecting Derek Taylor (former
Beatles' press officer, at the time a publicist in L.A. and nowadays
working again for Apple). Taylor however got lost and was delayed for a
while. George used a Hammond Organ in the house to write this enigmatic
song which simply tells the story. By the time Taylor got to Blue Jay Way,
the song was finished. To give the song the misty atmosphere needed, a
flangered vocal with heavy ADT was used with backwards taped choruses.
Your Mother Should Know
McCartney
John: Organ and Backing Vocal
Paul:Bass Guitar, Piano and Lead Vocal
George:Tambourine, Tabla and Backing Vocal
Ringo:Drums
Paul's interest in the music of the 20's and 30's was mainly influenced by
his father. Jim McCartney had had his own Ragtime band, and Paul had grown
up listening these kind of tunes in the piano. Throughout The Beatles
discography there are several examples of Paul's tastes. When I'm Sixty
Four and Honey Pie are clear examples.
Musically the song is delightful. Maybe it lacks from a
chorus that breaks in two the delicious melody, greatly underlined by a
bouncy piano and magnificent backing vocals by all three Beatles. However
only an organ intermission from John breaks the inspired melody of the
song.
I am The Walrus
Lennon
John: Mellotron and Lead Vocal
Paul: Electric Piano, Bass Guitar and Backing Vocal
George: Tambourine and Backing Vocal
Ringo: 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 Lewins: Clarinet
Neil Sanders, Tony Tunstall and Morris Miller: 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 (Mike Sammes Singers): Choir
If one song deserved a spot on its own in this section dedicated to the
creation of songs, the Walrus would definitely be it, with little contest
from Strawberry Fields Forever. Few songs have so rich of a story o so
long of a preparation prior to their final mixing. The walrus itself
(which was referenced by John in at least 2 songs later in his career,
being either him or Paul) came from Lewis Carroll's poem "The Walrus and
the Carpenter" but the lyrics f the song have several origins. At least
three different projects of a song were mixed into the walrus, the
"plice-man", the garden bit and finally one about sitting on a
corn-flake.
The lyrics of the song, are a constant nonsense, with words made up by
John with no meaning but a great plasticity. John tried to finally
demonstrate the world that maybe their lyrics were not so important. They
were being analyzed from every point of vies (even in their old Quarry
Bank School as one pupil wrote him) and I am The Walrus turned into a way
to make a fool of all the people trying to interpret The Beatles even
further than they did themselves.
Technically, I am The Walrus is a
prodigy of a song. Musically, breathtaking. The fact that this was
recorded using again 4-track machines reveals the magic of the staff at
EMI. The basic track of the walrus, with the characteristic Mellotron
played by John (that differentiates most of the different remixes of the
song issued) did not capture the atmosphere. The song had to allow to
picture Semolina Pilchard climbing up the Eiffel Tower, and the Joker
laughing at you. George Martin's magnificent score, with 16 instruments (8
violins, 4 cellos, 3 horns and a clarinet) fits the song perfectly. The
voices of 16 singers just appearing as instruments with "Whooooas" and
laughs also orchestrated by Martin set the perfect frame for John's vocal,
out of this world.
But the song wasn't finished yet. John still had to add his personal touch
in the remix of the song. And just as Lewisohn reveals in the Recording
Sessions (once again an endless source of information) Shakespeare's King
Lear was to give it to the song. The voices and the radio dial being tuned
heard in the song were mixed live from the BBC Third Programme, and the
lines that can be heard in one of the chorus are "Now, good Sir (...what
are you?)" and "(.. a most poor man...) made tame by fortune's (blows )".
At the end of the song a whole passage is mixed and can be heard in
intervals with the following text:
-take my purse:
If ever thou will thrive, bury my body;
And give the letters which thou find'st about me
To Edmund Earl of Gloster; seek him out
Upon the British party:- Oh untimely death
-I know thee well: a serviceable villain;
as duteous to the vices of my mistress
As badness would desire.
-What, is he dead?
-Sit you down, father; rest you
And best of all, is that all these elements weld perfectly into a song
with no individual parts, a masterpiece, a work of pure genius.
Hello, Goodbye
McCartney
Working Title: Hello, Hello
John: Lead Guitar, Organ and Backing Vocal
Paul: Bass Guitar, Piano, Bongos, Conga Drum and Lead Vocal
George: Lead Guitar, Tambourine and Backing Vocal
Ringo: Drums and Maracas
Ken Essex, Leo Birnbaum: Violas
Hello, Goodbye, a song of opposites, was released by The Beatles on
November 24th 1967 as a single, just shortly before both the EP (In
Britain) and the LP (in USA) were released. The song is very McCartney and
features simple lyrics with a fantastic tune. Allistair Taylor, who worked
for Brian Epstein attended once a demonstration by Paul on writing songs,
where he had to say the opposite to what Paul was saying. Whether Paul had
already thought of "Hello, Hello" or the idea was born there it's not
clear. The famous "maori finale" with the hey-las-alohas (which featured
"hawaiian" dancers in the promo video) was not as improvised as some
authors claim, and it was recorded in all takes including the first one.
Strawberry Fields Forever
Lennon
John: Guitars and Lead Vocal
Paul: Mellotron, Bass Guitar, Piano and Backing Vocal
George: Lead Guitar, bongos, swordmandel, Timpani and Backing Vocal
Ringo Starr: Drums, Reverse Cymbals
Mal Evans:Tambourine
Tony Fisher, Greg Bowen, Derek Watkins and Stanley Roderick:Trumpets
John Hall, Derek Simpson, Norman Jones: Cellos
If I am The Walrus should claim a place of its own in this section,
Strawberry Fields Forever shouldn't do less. Acclaimed by many as the best
Beatles song and voted best Pop song ever, everything surrounding its
conception is magical. First of all, because Strawberry Fields was
composed in a wonderful sunny country called Spain. John was filming "How
I won the War" in Almeria, a southern province of Spain, and while
relaxing in the beach the idea of the song came to his head. Afterwards,
he completed his masterpiece in a "cortijo" (typical large house in the
South of Spain, with a patio and some land about) which he had rented
The song title comes from a Salvation Army orphanage which can still be found nowadays in Liverpool. Although the
name of the orphanage was really Strawberry Field,
he changed it in the song. John used to go there in summer fetes to play
around and the song brings back some of those memories.
However, most of the myth of the song comes from its recording. Now that
most of you will have heard the several versions in the Anthology series,
the truth is that most of the mistery is revealed. When John first played
a demo of the song with his acoustic guitar, it was quite simple and far
away from the final result of every take. The truth is that John often
said that he wasn't satisfied with the song, and he even criticised the
production George Martin had done in it. Nevertheless, Strawberry Fields
is a masterpiece the way we hear it now. No one really knows what John
would have changed in the song, and no one will ever know if he would have
improved.
The final song was the result of mixing to different takes.
The first one was a basic rhythm track with all four Beatles playing and
quite faster than the final result. However, the version was quite solid
and John didn't quite like it. After several days, he came ack to George
Martin and suggested to do another version. the second one, involved
several session musicians playing 4 trumpets and 3 cellos, and the superb,
magnificent, outstanding, score of George Martin (how many songs would
other producers
have ruined?) Ringo played drums and Lennon delivered another thrilling
vocal. And yet, John had the doubt. He liked both versions, and maybe he
didn't like any of them best. But his idea was to melt them together,
starting with one and finishing with the other one. He asked Martin if
this was possible... Martin could hardly say it was. Both takes were at
different speed (this would immediately show in a remix) and most
distressing, they were in different keys. At this point every single
author points out Martin's genius in bringing both together,... but few
appeal to luck. They were indeed lucky, since slowing down one of the
takes and speeding up the other, not only similar speeds were reached BUT
also the same key was achieved.
The other myth about Strawberry Fields died with the release of the Anthology 2. After the song has faded away, there's
a reprise of the music with heavy drumming by Ringo, reverse cymbals and a
voice muttering what many claimed to be "I buried Paul" This of course fed
the hoax of the death of Paul McCartney in a car accident. As the voice is
quite distant, the real words can't be heard. However, the guys at Apple,
made sure that in the Anthology remixes, the voice was heard clearly and
it was John repeating several times "cranberry sauce".Finally, it is Jeff
Russell who points that at the beginning of the song, just after the first
"Let me take you down..." there seems to be a Morse message. The letters
apparently spelt are JL (if anyone who knows Morse can confirm this, we'd
be delighted. The problem is to note down dots and lines)
Penny Lane
McCartney
Working Title: Untitled
John: 2 Pianos, Rhythm Guitar, Conga Drums, and Backing Vocal
Paul:Bass Guitar, 3 Pianos, Harmonium, Tambourine and Lead Vocal
George: Lead Guitar and Backing Vocal
Ringo:Drums
George Martin: Piano
Ray Swinfield, P. Goody, Manny Winters and Dennis Walton: 4 Flutes and 2 piccolo flutes
Leon Calvert, Freddy Clayton, Bert Courtley and Duncan Campbell: 4 Trumpets and a Flügelhorn
Dick Morgan and Mike Winfield: Oboe and Cor Anglais
Frank Clarke: Double Bass
David Mason: Piccolo Trumpet Solo
Penny Lane is now probably the most famous street
in Liverpool. However, for Paul it was just an area, full of nostalgic
memories. This song was Paul's contribution to a very Liverpudlian single
The Beatles were about to release.
The double side-A "Strawberry Fields Forever-Penny Lane" (issued before
Sgt. Pepper). Most of the things mentioned in the song are nowadays
changed, and many of the characters described by Paul weren't even real.
But of course there was lots of truth in the form of impressions and
memories in the barber, the nurse, the fireman and the banker.
Technically, Penny Lane was also quite demanding. Up to
6 pianos were recorded with different speeds, effects and even played
through a Vox guitar amplifier, to achieve the bouncy style we inmediately
identify with the song. Almost no instrument in the song was recorded at
the normal speed, except the wind section masterfully scored by George
Martin. The trumpet solo, was the result of Paul being impressed with the
Brandenburg Concerto Number 2 (J.S. Bach). He saw David Mason playing in
it, and decided that Penny Lane should have some of that high pitched
trumpet in it. The notes to be played were decided by Mason, Martin and
McCartney as often was done with session musicians. At the end of the
song, Mason played several notes more. These were edited out for the
single release, but not for promotional radio copies... which made them
rather valuable.
Baby You're a Rich Man
Lennon-McCartney
John: Clavioline, Piano and Lead Vocal
Paul: Bass Guitar, Piano and Backing Vocal
George: Lead Guitar, Handclapping, Backing Vocal
Ringo:Drums, Tambourine and Handclapping
Eddie Krammer: Vibraphone
Once again the talents of John and Paul got together to create a single
song. Baby You're a Rich Man was originally an Unfinished McCartney song,
while John had his "One of the Beautiful People". Combining both, The
Beatles recorded it at the Olympic Sound Studios in barely 6 hours (the
first time a song was completed totally outside Abbey Road). The track was
intended originally for the Yellow Submarine project. However, it was soon
included in the All You Need is Love single and didn't make it to the
Yellow Submarine soundtrack. Nevertheless, the song does appear in the
film, as John sings "how does it feel to be one of the beautiful people".
One of the Beautiful People, was a song written by John referring to the
new generation of hippies that had a positive way of thinking towards
life. Everything was beautiful in a sense, and as Paul said in an
interview "everything's great and there's no bad ever if I can think of it
as great". The other song, Baby You're a Rich Man, was in fact about Brian
Epstein, and the sense of the lyrics according to John were clear: "stop
moaning, you're a rich man..." In a demo version of the song John even
sung "baby you're a rich fag jew"
All You Need Is Love
Lennon
John: Harpsichord, Banjo and Lead Vocal
Paul: Double Bass, Bass Guitar and Backing Vocal
George: Violin, Lead Guitar and Backing Vocal
Ringo:Drums
George Martin: Piano
Mick Jaegger, Keith Richard, Marianne Faithful, Keith Moon, Eric Clapton, Pattie Harrison, Jane Asher, Mike McCartney, Graham Nash and wife, Gary Leeds and Hunter Davies
4 violins, 2 cellos, 2 saxophones, 2 trombones, 1 accordion, 2 trumpets (see Lewisohn's Recording Sessions for details)
It had to be that way. The BBC faced the Our World broadcast, the first
ever global television link, with 26 countries participating, and had to
present an act. The obvious choice was The Beatles. Any other group would
have been preparing the event moths in advance, however, John came with
the song shortly before it was due. Just ten days before the broadcast
(which took place on June 25th 1967), The Beatles started recording the
basic rhythm track of the song. The rest was to be played live in front of
the cameras at Studio One in Abbey Road, just like if The Beatles were
recording a new song and had been caught by the cameras.
The Beatles got dressed up in their most colorful clothes to spread the
message of love to the world. The lead vocal, Paul's bass, George's guitar
solo and Ringo's drumming were recorded live along with the 13 piece
orchestra. Everything went into the 4 track machine together with the
previously recorded tracks, Geoff Emerick and George Martin were to mix it
LIVE to broadcast it all over the world. The message had to be simple for
the world ot understand, and Lennon once more hit the bull's eye. HE
delivered an anthem for the summer of love, with just four letters in
mind: love. Several famous musical bits were played by the orchestra
during the song: The Marsellaise (France's national anthem), Greensleaves,
She Loves You and In The Mood (Glenn Miller). Including this last bit,
still copyrighted forced EMI to grant a royalty agreement.
The fade out was a huge sing-along, with some of The Beatles friends
singing that love was all we needed. Once the broadcast was over, The
Beatles remained in the studio to give the song the finishing touches.
John re-sung part of his lead vocal, and Ringo added the drum roll that
introes the song. In less than 2 weeks, the single was out (Baby You're a
Rich Man on side B) and The Beatles had set yet another milestone in the
history of music.
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