Magical Mystery Tour (song)
Encyclopedia
"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.
. McCartney said it was co-written. John Lennon
said, "Paul's song. Maybe I did part of it, but it was his concept.". In 1972, Lennon said, "Paul wrote it. I helped with some of the lyric."
McCartney said the "Roll up! Roll up!" introduction was inspired by a barker
. The remaining lyrics explain in a general way the premise of the film: a mystery tour
of the type that was popular in Britain
when the Beatles were young. Lennon and McCartney expanded the tour to make it magical, which allowed it to be "a little more surreal than the real ones."
. The song was not complete when the session began and much of the evening was spent in rehearsals, but by the end of the evening the basic rhythm track was complete. The Beatles added bass guitar and vocal overdubs
on 26 and 27 April. On 3 May, the brass
fanfare and other parts were added in a disorganized session where the trumpet players began the evening without a score
. According to Philip Jones, a friend of one of the players who was present, one of the players eventually took matters into his own hands and wrote a score out for them.
in the United Kingdom on 8 December 1967. In the United States the double EP was stretched to an LP
by including five songs previously released as singles. During the CD era, the LP version was issued on CD in both countries.
Richie Unterberger
of Allmusic called it "a pleasant, get-up-and-go tune, but not one of the Beatles' very best songs."
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, the opening track and theme song for the album
Magical Mystery Tour (album)
The soundtrack was far more favourably received than the film. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for best album in 1968 and reached number 1 in the US for eight weeks...
, double EP and TV film of the same name
Magical Mystery Tour (film)
Magical Mystery Tour is an hour-long British television film starring The Beatles that originally aired on BBC1 on 26 December 1967...
. Unlike the theme songs for their other film projects, it was not released as a single.
Composition
The song is credited to Lennon–McCartney, though written primarily by Paul McCartneyPaul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
. McCartney said it was co-written. John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
said, "Paul's song. Maybe I did part of it, but it was his concept.". In 1972, Lennon said, "Paul wrote it. I helped with some of the lyric."
McCartney said the "Roll up! Roll up!" introduction was inspired by a barker
Barker (occupation)
A barker is a person who attempts to attract patrons to entertainment events, such as a circus or funfair, by exhorting passing public, describing attractions of show and emphasizing variety, novelty, beauty, or some other feature believed to incite listeners to attend entertainment...
. The remaining lyrics explain in a general way the premise of the film: a mystery tour
Charabanc
A charabanc or "char-à-banc" is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early motor coach, usually open-topped, common in Britain during the early part of the 20th century. It was especially popular for sight-seeing or "works outings" to the country or the seaside, organised by businesses once a year...
of the type that was popular in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
when the Beatles were young. Lennon and McCartney expanded the tour to make it magical, which allowed it to be "a little more surreal than the real ones."
Recording
Recording began on 25 April 1967, less than a week after the final sessions for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club BandSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...
. The song was not complete when the session began and much of the evening was spent in rehearsals, but by the end of the evening the basic rhythm track was complete. The Beatles added bass guitar and vocal overdubs
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
on 26 and 27 April. On 3 May, the brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
fanfare and other parts were added in a disorganized session where the trumpet players began the evening without a score
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
. According to Philip Jones, a friend of one of the players who was present, one of the players eventually took matters into his own hands and wrote a score out for them.
Release and reception
"Magical Mystery Tour" was released on a six-song double EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
in the United Kingdom on 8 December 1967. In the United States the double EP was stretched to an LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
by including five songs previously released as singles. During the CD era, the LP version was issued on CD in both countries.
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger is a US author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.-Life and writing:Having worked as a DJ at WXPN in Philadelphia, he started reviewing records for Op magazine in 1983...
of Allmusic called it "a pleasant, get-up-and-go tune, but not one of the Beatles' very best songs."
Personnel
- Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
– lead vocals, piano, bass - John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
– vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar, percussion - George HarrisonGeorge HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
– vocals, lead guitar, percussion - Ringo StarrRingo StarrRichard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
– drums, percussion - Mal EvansMal EvansMalcolm Frederick 'Mal' Evans was best known as the road manager, assistant, and a friend of The Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr....
– percussion - Neil AspinallNeil AspinallNeil Stanley Aspinall was a British music industry executive. A school friend of Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he went on to head The Beatles' company Apple Corps....
– percussion - David Mason – trumpet
- Elgar HowarthElgar HowarthElgar Howarth is an English conductor and composer.Howarth was educated in the 1950s at Manchester University and the Royal Manchester College of Music , where his fellow students included the composers Harrison Birtwistle, Alexander Goehr, Peter Maxwell Davies, and the...
– trumpet - Roy Copestake – trumpet
- John Wilbraham – trumpet
- Personnel per The Beatles Bible
Cover versions
| Year | Artist | Release | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Ambrosia Ambrosia (band) Ambrosia is an American rock band formed in southern California in 1970. Ambrosia had five Top Forty hit singles between 1975 and 1980.-Formation and inspiration:... |
All This and World War II All This and World War II All This and World War II is a 1976 musical documentary that juxtaposes Beatles songs, performed by a number of musicians, with World War II newsreel footage and 20th Century Fox films from the 1940s... |
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| 1991 | Cheap Trick Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. The band consists of members Robin Zander , Rick Nielsen , Tom Petersson , and Bun E... |
Greatest Hits The Greatest Hits (Cheap Trick album) The Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by Cheap Trick. It contains many of Cheap Trick's popular songs, as well as a previously unreleased cover version of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour, which according to the liner notes, was an outtake from the Lap of Luxury album... |
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| 2001 | Transatlantic Transatlantic (band) Transatlantic is a progressive rock supergroup consisting of Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings, Pete Trewavas of Marillion, Mike Portnoy formerly of Dream Theater and Neal Morse formerly of Spock's Beard. They formed in 1999 as a side project to their full time bands until 2002... |
Live in America | Live; Part of a medley with "Mystery Train" and "Strawberry Fields Forever Strawberry Fields Forever "Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song by The Beatles, written by John Lennon and attributed to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. It was inspired by Lennon's memories of playing in the garden of a Salvation Army house named "Strawberry Field" near his childhood home."Strawberry Fields... " |
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| 2003 | The Punkles The Punkles The Punkles were a band performing songs by The Beatles in punk style. They formed in 1998 in Hamburg, Germany and it was actually a side project of Prollhead!.... |
Pistol | ||
| 2006 | Yngwie Malmsteen | Butchering The Beatles | With vocalist Jeff Scott Soto Jeff Scott Soto Jeff Scott Soto is an American rock singer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for being the lead singer for the group Talisman from 1990 till the end of Talisman in 2007, the vocalist on Yngwie Malmsteen's first two albums, and for stepping up to the job of lead vocalist for Journey on... , bassist Jeff Pilson Jeff Pilson Jeff Pilson is an American bass guitarist, best known for his stint in the heavy metal band Dokken... , drummer Frankie Banali Frankie Banali Frankie Banali is an American rock drummer, best known for his work with multi-platinum heavy metal band Quiet Riot. He has been the band's manager during since 1994. He played drums in the heavy metal band W.A.S.P., as well as with Billy Idol... and guitarist Bob Kulick Bob Kulick Bob Kulick is an American guitarist and Grammy Award-winning record producer, best known for his studio work with Kiss. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and is the older brother of former Kiss lead guitarist Bruce Kulick, whom he suggested Kiss hire.... . |
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| 2007 | Bonnie Pink Bonnie Pink , known by her stage name , is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician. She lived in New York during 1998 and speaks English . She writes and composes all her songs, and plays guitar and piano... |
Water Me Water Me "Water Me" is Bonnie Pink's twenty-eighth single from the album Thinking Out Loud. The single was released under the Warner Music Japan label on June 6, 2007... |
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| 2009 | Beelzebubs Beelzebubs The Beelzebubs, frequently referred to as "The Bubs", are an all-male a cappella group from Tufts University that performs a mix of pop, rock, R&B, and other types of music while spreading their motto of "Fun through Song." They have toured in Europe, Asia, and North America, and they competed in... |
The Sing-Off The Sing-Off The Sing-Off is an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It premiered on NBC on December 14, 2009, and is produced by Sony Pictures Television.... |