Aerial Tour Instrumental

The next song on the Capitol LP of the "Magical Mystery Tour" is an instrumental/chant original written by Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starr and is one of the few instrumentals performed and written by the group during thier career entitled "Flying'. This was originally considered as incidental music for a segment of the television special where clouds are shown with different coloured filters. When the television special was shown in the UK for the first time; it was shown in black and white therefore ruining the original intention of the segment.

The song was recorded on September 08 1967 at EMI studio three with Paul on bass, Ringo on the drums, George on guitar and John on the organ. It's basically a form of a 12 bar blues with improvisation. It took six takes to complete with take 6 being the best of the bunch. Also added were backwards organ sounds which were dropped into the tune. Finally, the four track was filled so that two reductions was made taking the song into take 08. Onto take 08 went the overdubs on a mellotron keyboard as well as the chanting by all four Beatles although I really hear Ringo mixed a little forward. The song at this point ended with a dixieland type jazzy ending. The song was then mixed in mono and pressed on an acetate intended for the television special. It can be heard in this form on the CD "Unsurpassed Masters Three".

More overdubbing for the tune took place on Thursday September 28 1967 at EMI studio two. More mellotron (by John), guitar (by George) and percussion (by Ringo) were added to the song. Finally, a series of backwards mellotron sounds were compiled by John and Ringo and this was added to the end of the tune while the dixieland ending was discarded. The commercial version contains the mellotron sounds. Three mono mixes of "Flying" were completed at this session; the last one being released commercially.

The stereo mix was completed on November 07 1967 from the control room of EMI studio two.

"Flying" appears on the Parlophone 2-EP "Magical Mystery Tour" as well as the North American Capitol LP/CD "Magicaly Mystery Tour".

The Eyes (In His Head)

The next song that appears on the original Capitol LP as well as the CD is also the next song that appears in the television special of "Magical Mystery Tour". An original Lennon/McCartney composition written mainly by Paul entitled "The Fool On The Hill".

In the television special, this segment features Paul alone with a cameraman in Nice, France. Paul is "frolicking" amongst the hills and just generally standing there being filmed from different angles.

The song itself was first demoed on Wednesday September 06 1967 in EMI studio two featuring just Paul on the piano. This demo has been bootlegged for several years including being featured on the LP "Strawberry Fields Forever" and on CD in the "Ultra Rare Trax" series before being commercially available on the EMI/Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 2"

The first proper recording of "The Fool On The Hill" was commenced on Monday September 25 1967 at EMI studio two with three takes of the basic track. The instrumentation included piano, acoustic guitars and harmonicas. Take three was deemed as best so a tape reduction was completed bringing the song to take four. Onto this Paul added recorders. Drums and vocals were also added at this stage. A mono mix was also completed at this session of the work in progress for demo purposes. This take four was also released in stereo on the EMI/Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 2".

The next day on Tuesday September 26 1967 the song was re-started from the beginning with another basic track recorded and named take 5 after another tape reduction. This included the re-taping of the piano, the acoustic guitar, bass and drums. Paul also recorded a new lead vocal. This brought the song into take 6.For practical purporses, let's just say that this was basically a "re-make".

The following day on Wednesday September 17 1967 at EMI studio one, Paul added another overdubbed another vocal onto take 06. Once the overdub was complete a mono mix was conducted but the mix was never used.

Almost a month later on October 20 1967 in EMI studio three, the flutes (3 of them) were overdubbed onto take 06 of "The Fool On The Hill" and the song was complete.

Five days later on October 25 1967 from EMI studio two, three more mono mixes were completed and the song was edited to bring it's time down to under three minutes. The song was allegedly over four minutes long in it's original form !!

Finally, on November 01 1967 from Room 53 at EMI, "The Fool On The Hill" was mixed in stereo. Five attempts were conducted with the final attempt being used on the commercial version.

"The Fool On the Hill" appears on the Parlophone 2-EP "Magical Mystery Tour" as well as the North American Capitol LP/CD "Magical Mystery Tour". It is also featured on the Apple 2-LP/2-CD "The Beatles 1967-1970" and on the UK Parlophone/Capitol of Canada LP "The Beatles Ballads".

Paul McCartney and his band performed this tune on his 1989-1990 World Tour (of which I witnessed from the front row at the Montreal Forum in December 1989. Paul actually flashed me a peace sign from his rotating piano during this song! ) A performance of the song can be heard on the EMI/Capitol 3-LP/2-CD "Tripping the Live Fantastic !"

Waiting To Take You Away

The title track on the Parlophone UK EP and the North American Capitol LP is an original Lennon/McCartney song written mainly by Paul entitled "Magical Mystery Tour". This was also the title of the 1967 television special.

The concept of the song came to Paul while he was in the United States visiting the country in April 1967. The idea of a film aboard a mystery coach appealed to him and while McCartney was on route back to England in mid April 1967, he started to jot down ideas for the film. Naturally, since a film was to be made, a title track had to be written and recorded.

On Tuesday April 25 1967 at EMI studio three, Paul was seated at the piano and there were a lot of ideas and rehearsals for the song as it was being composed basically in the studio. Once the basic idea and structure of the song were settled, recording proper began with Paul at the piano, John on guitar and George on guitar and Ringo on the drums. Three takes of the basic track were recorded and take three was selected as the one to be used on the commercial version. A tape reduction of the four track into one track was done in five attempts (with McCartney assisting) bringing the basic track into take eight. Also created at this session were the bus coach noises that appear sporadically throughout the song (panning left to right or right to left on the stereo version).

The next day on April 26 1967 and once again in EMI studio three, the bass guitar played by Paul and percussion played by all members of The Beatles was overdubbed onto the previous day's basic track. Also added some background vocals by John Paul and George. All of this once again filled the four tracks so that another reduction was made bringing the song into take nine.

The next day on April 27 1967 and once again in EMI studio three, the lead vocal (by Paul) and the backing vocals (by John and George) were overdubbed onto take 09. The backing vocals were recorded while the tape was running slow so that the backing vocals would sound speeded up during the playback. At this stage of the song, four attempts at a mono mix were completed but these were mainly used as demos.

A few days later on May 03 1967 at EMI studio three, the brass overdub of four trumpets was completed for "Magical Mystery Tour". Also at this session, a glockenspeil was added for the coda section of the song.

The next day on May 04 1967, seven mono mixes were conducted from the control room of EMI studio three. One of these mixes was used at the beginning of the original mono television special (with added narration by John) but not used for the commercial EP or LP or CD releases. When the home video/ DVD was released, the mix was recreated using the original narration and separating the basic track of take eight with the vocal and brass overdubs of take nine.

Finally, on November 06 1967 from the control room of EMI studio three, a stereo mix of "Magical Mystery Tour" was completed in four attempts although it was decided to edit in a new recorded narration introduction done the following day.

On November 07 1967 from the control room of EMI studio two, it was Paul this time rather than John who recorded the introduction narration and this was then added to the track requiring new mono and stereo mixes. Two stereo mix attempts were completed with the recent mix being used on the commercial stereo versions. Three mono mix attempts were completed with the recent mix being used on the commercial mono versions.

So this is why the television special, the home video and DVD have the introduction narration by John Lennon but the recorded version which appears on vinyl and CD have the introduction narration by Paul McCartney. Also note that the voices on the mono mix are much more "phased" than the stereo mix.

"Magical Mystery Tour" appears on the Parlophone UK 2-EP set as well as the North American Capitol LP/CD "Magical Mystery Tour". The song also appears on the Apple 2-LP/2-CD "The Beatles 1967-1970" as well as the film music compilation EMI/Capitol "Reel Music". Roll up, roll up!!

A performance of the song live by Paul McCartney and his band during the 1993 "New World Tour" is available on the Parlophone CD/ UK 2-LP set "Paul Is Live".

Magical Mystery Tour

The Beatles follow up to the "Sgt. Pepper" project and also the name of their self-directed television special. The music was delivered in two separate formats: In the UK, "Magical Mystery Tour" was issued as a double EP set by Parlophone in mono (MMT-1) and in stereo (SMMT-1). The UK release was issued on December 08 1967.

In North America, however, the EP format was still a very foreign concept so the music was issued on one side of an LP with the previously released singles: "Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane", "All You Need Is Love/Baby, You're A Rich Man" as well as "Hello Goodbey" issued on side two of an LP. The LP was released in mono on Capitol MAL-2835 and released in stereo on Capitol SMAL-2835. Well, sorta stereo...since "All You Need Is Love", "Baby, You're A Rich Man" and "Penny Lane" were not available in stereo Capitol Records in it's infinite wisdom decided not to wait for stereo mixes and released the original vinyl with what they called "duophonic' mixes meaning that the high end of the song filled one speaker while the low end of the song filled the other speaker. Side two of "Magical Mystery Tour" on the original North American vinyl had the worst sound of any Beatles album. I'm amazed that Capitol did not even bother to ask for proper stereo mixes.

The EP and the LP both contained a 24 page booklet. The booklet was edited by Tony Barrow with assistance from Neil Aspinal and Mal Evans. The photography was taken by John Kelley and the cartoon drawings were drawn by Bob Gibson.

On November 19 1976, Parlophone/EMI finally disposed of the EP format for "Magical Mystery Tour" and the LP similar to the North American issue was released as Parlophone PCTC 255. When the Beatles compact discs were released in 1987, the North American format with the singles as well as the film music was released. For the September 2009 remasters, the label on the compact disc retained the same look at the 1960s Capitol records label of the time. The lyrics for the film music was available on the inside cover of the LP.

Tuned To A Natural E

The B-side of the "All You Need Is Love" single is an original Lennon/McCartney composition with the verses written mainly by John and the chorus written mainly by Paul entitled "Baby, You're A Rich Man". This song was originally recorded and intended for the upcoming Beatles project of the animated film "Yellow Submarine". Once the BBC television live satelitte show had been announced and "All You Need Is Love" to be released as a single, "Baby, You're A Rich Man" was dropped from being on the film soundtrack and delegated to the B-side of "All You Need Is Love". A snippet of "Baby, You're A Rich Man" still appears in the film however but the entire song is not and the tune was not included on the 60s soundtrack.

The entire song was recorded and mixed at Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, England on Thursday May 11 1967. The recording consisted of piano, drums and percussion. A myriad of rehearsals took place and it was decided that the "12th take" would be used for the commercial release. Overdubbed onto take 12 were Paul's bass guitar and John's lead vocals as well as the backing vocals by the other Beatles. After a tape reduction the third track added George Harrison's guitar work and the playing of a keyboard called a Clavioline by John. On the last track of the tape went more backing vocals, a bit of piano near the end and a vibraphone played by one of the engineers.

Once this was complete, "Baby, You're A Rich Man" was mixed for mono. This mono mix was released as the commercial version.

There was no stereo version of this song until 1971 so that copies of the North American "Magical Mystery Tour" LP on Capitol Records used a fake stereo known as "Duophonic" whereby the high end came out one side of the speakers while the low end came out of the other end of the speaker.

A stereo mix of "Baby, You're A Rich Man" was finally completed on October 22 1971 and issued on the German import version of "Magical Mystery Tour" (Apple/ Hor ZU-Electrola SHZE 327). The stereo mix of the song was also issued on the CD releases of "Magical Mystery Tour". The main difference between the mono and stereo mixes is that there is a "swelling" effect present on the mono mixes between the verses and choruses. This is not present on the stereo mixes. Finally, the song was mixed once again for stereo in the nineties and included on the "Yellow Submarine Songtrack" with the piano a little louder and the chorus vocals panned around the stereo spectrum.

"Baby, You're A Rich Man" can be found on the single in the UK (Parlophone R 5620) as well as the North American single (Capitol 5964) with a picture sleeve pictured above. "Baby You're A Rich Man" is also available on the North American Capitol LP/CD "Magical Mystery Tour". Finally, the song can be found on the Apple/EMI/Capitol LP/CD "Yellow Submarine Soundtrack".

The song was strummed on a guitar by George Harrison in the summer of 1967 as he walked along the Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco.

There's Nothing You Can Do That Can't Be Done

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was released in the UK in mono and stereo on Parlophone June 01 1967 (although there are claims tha the album was released on May 16 1967 depending on who you read).

The next piece of music to be officially released by The Beatles was a single 45 around the world. It was the summer of love and the purpose of the single was to enlighten the world with their special message of Love. ( It also helped that the single was released around the world almost exclusively at number one thereby making The Beatles and their related companies a lot of money). The single was "All You Need Is Love/ Baby, You're A Rich Man".

The next tune we'll be looking at is an original composition by Lennon/McCartney written mainly by John entitled "All You Need Is Love".

The song was originally commissioned for a live satelitte television special in which the Beatles would appear to represent the BBC and perform their latest single. There were a couple of song in contention (It's been said the "You're Mother Should Know" was also in the running) before selecting John's "All You Need Is Love".

The basic track for the song was recorded Wednesday June 14 1978 at Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, England at Studio one. There were 33 takes in all of the following instrumentation: Paul playing the double bass, John playing the harpsichord, George scratching a violin and Ringo on drums. Take 10 was chosen as best and a four track tape reduction was made at this point.

Five days later back at EMI studio three on June 19 1967, John added lead vocals and the backing vocals by the other Beatles was also recorded. On one track: added drums, a piano (by George Martin) was added to the basic track as well.

Two days later on June 21 1967 from EMI room 53, the basic track was mixed in mono twice. The first mix was kept in-house, while the second mix was given to the director of the BBC for reference via the upcoming television appearance by The Beatles.

Two days after that, the orchestra entered the studio (EMI studio one) on June 23 1967 and nine takes of the orchestra taped rehearsal was completed onto take 10. The same musicians on this overdub also appeared in the television broadcast.

On June 24 1967, one day before the event, there were more rehearsals with the orchestra. Four takes were rehearsed and taped.

Finally, on June 25 1967, the Beatles and the orchestra and family and friends all gathered at EMI studio one for the big event. There were three rehearsal takes (with orchestra and vocal) and four-track to four-track recording takes 51 to 58 (take 58 being the commercial version). As you can see , most of the rhythm track had already been previously recorded. The only "live" recording as witnessed on the television broadcast are: John Lennon's lead vocals (the backing vocals were mimed by Paul and George), Paul's Rickenbaker bass , George's Fender electric guitar and Ringo's drums. Once the televised signal was completed and the orchestra left, John Lennon attempted to fix some of his vocal. Ringo added the snare drum roll at the beginning of the song as an overdub.

"All You Need Is Love" was mixed for mono on June 26 1967 from the control room of EMI studio two. Nine mixes were attempted with remix four being deemed at "best". The commercial released single contains this mix.

"All You Need Is Love" was once again mixed for mono on November 01 1967 due to preparation for the "Yellow Submarine" animated film. This mix (11) was used in the original film.

Finally, "All You Need Is Love" was mixed for stereo on October 29 1968 from the control room of EMI studio three. The reason for the stereo mix was due to the inclusion of the song on the "Yellow Submarine" soundtrack. There is also a stereo mix which was conducted in the nineties whereby the vocals and orchestra tracks have been re-positioned in the stereo spectrum and this unique mix was used on the "Yellow Submarine Songtrack".

"All You Need Is Love" was originally released as the single on Parlophone R 5620 on July 07 1967 and released as the single on Capitol 5964 on ten days later on July 17 1967. The song can be found on the Capitol LP/CD "Magical Mystery Tour" as well as the Apple LP/CD "Yellow Submarine" and the Apple compilation "The Beatles 1967-1970". This song is also featured on the Theatre Projects Record UK LP "All You Need Is Love - The Story of Popular Music" as well as the EMI/Capitol compilation LP "Reel Music". It is also included on the UK and North American version of the EMI/Capitol LP "20 Greatest Hits" and the EMI/Apple/Capitol 2-LP/CD "1", the Apple/EMI/Capitol LP/CD "Yellow Submarine Soundtrack" as well as the EMI/Apple/Capitol 2-LP/CD "Love".

Nemrepus Ekil Uoy Ckuf Ll'ew

Known as "Sgt. Pepper Inner Groove", the concentric run-out groove on UK copies of the Parlophone UK "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" contains a spoken message of gibberish recorded by The Beatles on Friday April 21 1967 at EMI Studio two. At the recording stage it was known as "Edit For LP End". This consisted of noise, talking, etc by filling up two tracks of nonsense and editing it down to the length of the groove ( 3 seconds ) heard on the vinyl record ( and at the end of the CD). The vinyl record only contains the one groove playing over and over again until the stylus of your record player was lifted. If the record player was automatic, only a short burst of the groove would be heard before the needle lifted off the record. The CD contains the recording being heard over and over until it fades out.

There is also a 15 kilocycle high pitch noise heard between the end of "A Day In The Life" and the "Inner Groove" that was produced during the cutting of the mono and stereo copies of "Sgt. Pepper" . This was added at EMI studios in the cutting room by Harry Moss. The mono copy was cut on April 28 1967 and the stereo copy was cut on May 01 1967. It's been said that if you play the inner groove backwards, a nasty message is produced.

The 15 kilocycle frequency and the "Inner Groove" are available on the Parlophone UK LP/CD "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" on the mono and stereo version. The North American Capitol LP of the same name does NOT have either the high frequency nor does it contain the "Inner Groove". This item was subsequently available on the North American Capitol LP "Rarities".