Magical Mystery Tour
Occupation
- Song: all
- Guitar: George Harrison
- Guitar: John Lennon
- Bass by Paul McCartney
- Drums: Ringo Starr
Magical Mystery Tour is the soundtrack to the television movie of the Beatles. The music for the film was released in the UK on a double EP, which was released on December 8, 1967. In the U.S., already appeared on 27 November 1967, a same - to some titles Advanced - LP.
The recordings
The first recordings for later soundtrack of the film have already taken place shortly after the completion of the album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Based on Paul McCartney's concept of a " mysterious bus tour of England," the group began on 25 April 1967 in Abbey Road Studios with the work on the title track of Magical Mystery Tour. In the following days the work on this item was continued. After the beginning of May 1967 further passages were added and mixtures had first occurred, followed by a longer pause before the next piece of the soundtrack was tackled.
On 22 and 23 August 1967, the first recordings for the McCartney composition Your Mother Should Know took place. Since the Abbey Road studios were booked, the group dodged into the Chappell Recording Studios. A few days after these recordings, the Beatles received the news of the death of Brian Epstein. The group met on September 1, 1967 to discuss the future of the Beatles. A decision that was taken was to advance the film Magical Mystery Tour.
So September 5, 1967 marked the real starting point for the Magical Mystery Tour project. Until then, the group had drawn their attention to different tasks. So in May, the first songs were recorded for the movie Yellow Submarine, while a large part of June 1967 was dedicated to the play All You Need Is Love. On 5 and 6 September, the group focused on the Lennon composition I Am the Walrus. On September 6, also take one of Blue Jay Way was taken, George Harrison's contribution to the soundtrack. The following day the work on this song was continued. On September 8, the instrumental Flying participated in first form, which still bore the working title Aerial Tour Instrumental at the time.
After a long break - the Beatles were for the shooting with the film crew on the road - the group came on 26 and 27 September 1967 in the recording studios in Abbey Road, to accommodate the McCartney composition The Fool on the Hill. For a sound track in principle was finished, it took place in the following years, however, still several overdubs on most pieces instead. The final mix was completed in mid-November 1967.
Two more instrumentals were recorded during the work on the soundtrack, both of which were not published in the recorded music. The first piece was titled Shirley 's Wild Accordion and came from Lennon / McCartney. Recorded it was of the accordion players Shirley Evans and Reg Wale. The second piece was awarded the title Jessie 's Dream. As a composer, all four Beatles were called. This song was used as background music in one of the dream sequences in the film.
EP
Magical Mystery Tour was the thirteenth and final EP of The Beatles, which was published in the UK. The double EP contained a 24-page booklet with pictures and information about the film, which had been compiled by Tony Barrow, the spokesman for the Beatles. The best position in the singles chart of the NME was the second place - behind the Beatles' single Hello, Goodbye / I Am the Walrus. In the hit parade of the Melody Maker EP reached the top spot, she held four weeks.
LP
Occupation
- Song: all
- Guitar: George Harrison
- Guitar: John Lennon
- Bass by Paul McCartney
- Drums: Ringo Starr
In the U.S. Magical Mystery Tour was released as LP. The local record company, Capitol Records did not agree with an EP publication, since this format is not as good as sold Beatles singles and albums. The missing title for an album release was quickly found. The six pieces of the soundtrack recordings were supplemented by four pieces that had previously appeared only as a single in 1967 and Hello, Goodbye, the A- side of the same time as Magical Mystery Tour released single.
The concept proved to be successful. The album reached number one in the U.S. Billboard charts and held this position for eight weeks. On December 15, 1967, the album was awarded a gold record. By Christmas 1967 1.5 million units of the album had already been sold.
In Germany the recordings in the U.S. LP version first appeared in 1971 in a collaboration between Apple Records and the Hörzu Vinyl Edition. This version represents the world's first true stereo release of the album and the pieces contained therein; EPs and singles at that time were available only in mono, and the U.S. The album was created by means of an artificial stereo method from the Monoabmischungen for the EP and the additional singles. Only the song I Am the Walrus was in the last part ( starting with the line: "Sitting in an English garden ...") included on this German release in simulated stereo, what was that during the production of the play a recording of the play King Lear was live and therefore unrepeatable played by William Shakespeare, which has just been transferred from the BBC on the radio, in the mix on a single mono master track.
The true stereo mixes ( with the semi-artificial I Am the Walrus ) of the German Apple / Hörzu publication formed the basis for all further stereo releases of the album, including the widespread CD version of 1987 and the geremasterten version from the year 2009. I Am the Walrus was published in full only in 2006 on the official mashup album Love the Beatles in true stereo, as for the production of this album, the original King Lear radio version was provided by the BBC available.