MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR (UK VERSION)

Magical Mystery Tour was The Beatles' first flop. Shown on British TV at Christmas in 1967, it was their first work following the death of Brian Epstein. McCartney took charge for this free-form "event" where everyone bundled into a coach to see what happened, and the film received a critical mauling, although, to be fair it was shown in black and white!

Musically speaking however, it is one of their better works. Released in the UK as a double EP before it became an album, it contains some brilliant songs. From the Sgt. Pepper-like opener to the brilliant "Fool On The Hill", only the monotonous "Blue Jay Way" lets things down. "Your Mother Should Know" has a music hall feel to it in a similiar way to "When I'm 64", the instrumental "Flying", featuring mellotron, is the only song credited to all four Fabs, but "I am the walrus" is the major work here. It partly consists of Liverpool slang thrown in by Lennon and Pete Shotton, but is mainly Lennon's attack on figures of authority (the police, teachers etc). It also fades out to the sounds of a radio play of "King Lear".

The EP was made into a LP, mainly for the American market, with the addition of the singles released around that time e.g. "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Hello Goodbye".

Just an EP, but a welcome release only for the brilliant track " I Am The Walrus". This is one of the Beatles finest songs ever released. " Fool On The Hill' and " Blue Jay Way" are also nice tunes. They reckoned the Beatles were breaking up at this point. Thank goodness they hung in there for the epic albums " Let It Be" and " Abbey Road".

Never been a massive Beatles fan myself, though their revolutionary ground-breaking inspirational directions of pop/rock music are undisputable. From humble, early beginnings, the 'Fab Four' eventually discovered drugs (mainly pot and LSD, like most bands did...an amazing source of inspiration - so I'm told....) and always utilised the latest recording technology where applicable - even to the point of incorporating the studio as a further 'instrument' - something a lot of intelligent prog bands attempted to do, with various outcomes.... McCartney's subsequent work with band 'Wings' sometimes encroached on prog territory, though I don't own any albums by them anymore

I have the lovely little Gatefold/Booklet dbl 7 " release of this 'Magical Mystery Tour', and it has some very interesting arrangements from the boys....prime-time psychedelia, and perfect partner to The Rolling Stones' 'Satanic Majesties...', which was hammered for being 'too Sergeant Pepper's...' - go figure. The title song is quite a popular track and encompasses everything that was so in fashion at the time (not that I'd know...) the varying tempos, raunchy brass arrangements, and suggestive lyrics - "Roll Up..." (I bet, what a splendid idea !!!). The closing bars of the song always leaves me wondering - these guys could've jammed on that for ages and given Floyd a run for their money ; just a thought. 'Your Mother Should Know' is classic McCartney, melody to the fore. 'I Am The Walrus' is one of the psychedelic giants from the era, with its distorted vocal lines, string arrangements, trippy lyrics and unusual progressions. Record 2 consists of 'The Fool on the Hill', a real hippie song with recorders(or is it a Flageolet ??) and soft melodies - my least favourite track here. 'Flying', though considered as an 'instrumental', does have melodic vocal chants, but its terrific mellotron parts always make it a fond fave for prog-heads. The last bit of the track is really strange, with backwards effects and off-the-wall noises - something that would've been a surprise for many. Lastly, the Harrison led 'Blue Jay Way', features 'leslied' vocal lines, organs and a slight eastern riff, it shows off Harrison's hippie idealism and reflects his interest in India (and hashish - unsure whether they had already gone there, or if it was after this??) - never mind, these songs are definately worth 4 stars.

The UK version of "Magical Mystery Tour" (which was released through Parlophone Records in December 1967) is a double EP release by British pop/rock act The Beatles, featuring six tracks also featured in the "Magical Mystery Tour" movie. All six tracks also appear on Side 1 of the US album version of "Magical Mystery Tour" albeit in a different playing order. "Blue Jay Way" is for example the closing track on the UK version while it is the fourth track on the US album version.

No matter which order the tracks appear in they are all of high quality. Material like the title track, "I Am The Walrus", and "The Fool On The Hill" are classics but the remaining three tracks are almost as accomplished. I´ll give a special mention to the psychadelic tinged "Blue Jay Way".

While I would recommend getting the US album version of "Magical Mystery Tour" instead of this EP version (the US album version is also the blueprint for later CD reissues), I still think that this UK version is a wonderful release and the quality of the tracks more than warrants a 4 star (80%) rating. It´s probably more a hardcore fan item these days, but a double EP release was probably quite innovative and exciting in 1967.

A two EP set from THE BEATLES, which was released in November 1967. It was a bit unusual for a Rock band to release their songs in this way. But I have to say that I once saw and listened to a two EP set which had some of Beethoven's piano pieces (with "Moonlight Serenade", among them) in the house of a relative. That two EP set looked like it was released years before THE BEATLES released this two EP set with the songs they included in their "Magical Mystery Tour" film from 1967. So, maybe the idea was not very new, but the band released these songs this way because there were few songs to be released in a LP, and too many to be released in just one EP. So, they took the decision to release the six songs from the film in this 2 EP set, also including a booklet with photos from the film. (The Beethoven's 2 EP set also had a gatefold cover with notes about the musical pieces, but not a full booklet). This two EP set was available in the U.K. until 1976, I think, when EMI finally decided to release in the U.K. the U.S. version of the "Magical Mystery Tour" album (which for a time also included the booklet), which in Side One included the six songs from the film, but in the Side Two included other songs that the band released on singles during 1967, making that LP a very good collection of songs from that period of time. I don't know if this two EP set is still available in the U.K. to purchase, but I doubt it. So, this two EP set is now more a collector's item, a rarity. I never have seen a copy of this two EP set in my country. I only have seen scans of it in some websites like discogs.com and others. The two EP set was also available in Mono and Stereo versions. I only have listened to the Mono version of the U.S. "Magical Mystery Tour" LP, and it obviously has some mixing and editing differences in the songs, but not other significant differences.

The film was very criticized when it was shown on British TV (first in Black and White, on Boxing Day 1967, and then in Colour, in early 1968) due to the lack of a proper script and due to their very "surrealistic" and "psychedelic" nature. After all, it was one of the first projects that the band did without their manager Brian Epstein (who died in August 1967), with Paul McCartney having the idea to do the film, and also with him and the other members of the band trying to direct a film without being film directors. So, the film (which was done in September 1967) was mostly an amateur project that with the passing of time has been better appreciated by some people. At least I consider it as a film done with the idea to be not taken very seriously. In fact, I think that the film has some very funny moments.

The music which was included in the film is in fact very good, even if by late 1967 it was becoming clear that the quality of the music was not as good as before. Maybe 1967 was the peak of THE BEATLES as an unified band. By 1968 the band started to have some personal problems among the members and also some bussiness problems which finally led them to split in 1970. Anyway, the band say farewell in 1970 when they still were producing good albums. Anyway, the whole "Magical Mystery Tour" project, despite having some "flaws", is still very good.

Now, a song by song review from the songs included in the film and in this 2 EP set:

"Magical Mystery Tour": a good song with some orchestral arrangments which worked as the first song in the film. Composed by McCartney, it has been played in concert by him in some of his tours since the nineties.

"Your Mother Should Know": another song composed by McCartney, with him on piano and with John Lennon on organ. A song which sounds a bit similar in style (an "oldie" from previous decades, maybe from the Forties!) to "When I'm Sixty Four" from the "Sgt. Pepper's..." album. This is the last song the band included in the film (apart from a very brief reprise of the title track in the closing credits of the film) with the band appearing in the film dancing and "singing" with dancers in a very outdated way. (It even was "outdated" for 1967, I think!).

"I Am The Walrus": a song composed by Lennon which also was previously released on the Side "B" of their "Hello, Goodbye" single, but which maybe was considered as "too good" to be left out of the film. This song is maybe the best part of the two EP set and maybe the best part of the film.

"The Fool On The Hill": a very good song composed by McCartney, with recorders and harmonicas, and very good lyrics. It is also a highlight from the film. It also has been played by McCartney in his concerts since the late eighties using some videos and speeches of Martin Luther King.

"Flying": an instrumental musical piece (apart from some wordless vocals sung as chorus) credited to all the members of the band. It also has some very good images in the film.

"Blue Jay Way": a song composed by George Harrison, with a "mysterious" organ part played by him. This song has some clear differences between the Stereo and Mono mixes. It also has some very good psychedelic scenes in the film.

There were other incidental instrumental musical pieces which only were included in the film, also being psychedelic in sound, and that were not released on vinyl or in any other format.

1967. A very psychedelic year for THE BEATLES and other bands. A time when psychedelia was a fad, and maybe when it was at its peak.