Cover artwork
The artwork for the UK and US editions of Magical Mystery Tour were largely the same, although the Capitol Records version had a yellow border and the song titles on the front cover. It also bore the words: “Includes 24-page full color picture book”.The UK double EP had a gatefold cover, inside which was a 24-page booklet with photographs from the filming of Magical Mystery Tour, and a cartoon strip telling the story. A four-page lyrics section was also included in the centre of the booklet.
The US version had the lyrics in the gatefold, but the LP-sized booklet was a pull-out inside the album. The booklet was otherwise identical to the UK version, and made no mention of the five extra songs on the second side of the vinyl.
Both versions had the words “Apple presents” and an early version of the Apple logo on the inside of the gatefold. They also carried the credit: “Produced by Big George Martin”.
The walrus was… whom?
The front cover photograph featured The Beatles in the animal costumes they wore in the film: John Lennon as a walrus, Paul McCartney as a hippopotamus, George Harrison as a rabbit, and Ringo Starr as a chicken.
It was later claimed that it was, in fact, McCartney in the walrus costume, and that this accounted for Lennon’s line that “the walrus was Paul” in ‘Glass Onion’. However, the Magical Mystery Tour film clearly shows McCartney playing bass while wearing the hippo costume, and Lennon seated at the piano dressed as a walrus.
It has been claimed that McCartney wore the walrus costume as it fit him better than it did Lennon. However, both men were the same height and build. Furthermore, McCartney’s miming of his bass part in the film is in the same style in both the scenes with the group in costume and without, suggesting that no such switch took place.
Adding fuel to the imaginary fire, beneath the title ‘I Am The Walrus’ in the song listing is a handwritten “(“No you’re not!” said Little Nicola)”, a reference to Nicola Hale, a five-year-old girl who appeared in the film. This was likely an off-the-cuff comment of little significance.
As a further red herring, Starr wears Lennon’s granny glasses in the cover photograph, prompting some to believe that Lennon was, in fact, wearing the chicken suit.
The ‘Paul is dead’ myth
Various ‘clues’ in the Magical Mystery Tour songs and artwork were said to be a part of the ‘Paul is dead’ myth, which emerged in 1969.
- The front cover spelt the word ‘Beatles’ in stars. Held up to a mirror, this reveals a telephone number, 2317438, said to have belonged to a London mortuary.
- A number of photos in the booklet show McCartney without shoes, said to signify death: people tend to be buried without them.
- McCartney is shown in military uniform in one picture, behind a desk on which sits a sign saying “I was”.
- Ringo Starr’s drum head, in a still from the ‘I Am The Walrus’ sequence, appears to say “Love the 3 Beatles”. Next to the kit are McCartney’s boots (as on Abbey Road, he is barefoot), covered in what appear to be blood stains.
- A still from the ‘Your Mother Should Know’ sequence shows all four Beatles in white suits, dancing. McCartney is the only one to have a black carnation in his lapel; the others all have red ones.
- A cartoon of Paul labelled ‘The Fool on the Hill’ shows him with a crack in his head.
- At the end of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, John Lennon can be heard twice muttering ‘cranberry sauce’. This was misheard as ‘I buried Paul’.
The legacy
While the Magical Mystery Tour film was almost universally slated by critics and the public, the soundtrack was far more warmly received. Aside from being a commercial success, it found favour with music critics of the day.
Although considered in some quarters to be a ‘poor man’s Sgt Pepper’, Magical Mystery Tour showed The Beatles at their most psychedelic. It was equally clear, however, that the drugs, fashions and experimentation never got in the way of their ability to write strong material, and some of The Beatles’ best moments – most notably ‘The Fool On The Hill’ and ‘I Am The Walrus’ – can be found on the collection.
Interestingly, Magical Mystery Tour is perhaps the only instance where Capitol Records’ decision to tamper with The Beatles’ output yielded undeniably positive results. The quality of the full-length offering was beyond dispute, and the title has become one of The Beatles’ truly essential releases.
Magical Mystery Tour is one of my favourite albums, because it was so weird. ‘I Am The Walrus’ is also one of my favourite tracks – because I did it, of course, but also because it’s one of those that has enough little bitties going to keep you interested even a hundred years later.
Absolutely underrated in so many ways.
Problem is… it’s not really an album. Just a collection of songs already recorded
But isn’t that what the definition of an album is? A collection of songs already recorded?
Kind of hard to make an album if none of the songs have been recorded already.
The idea is that if you for example compare it to Sgt. Peppers, there is no feeling of a “string” guiding you through the album. MMT seems very convoluted to me. Side 1 & 2 seem to me like they are from different albums and mindsets. In almost every album theres a definite feel of “This is their idea of music at this point”. This doesn’t happen for me in Magical Mystery Tour.
best beatle album
a collection of hits
Such a master piece, along with revolver, rubber soul, sgt pepper, and white album
and help.
and a hard days night
and well all beatle music.
The only Capitol release that improved upon a British release. (Or even equalled it, for that matter, since the UK “Pepper” was ever-so slightly better than the US version, which excluded the inner-groove gibberish and for-dogs-only tone.)
Yep, I agree that Capitol finally did the Beatles right by adding all those wonderful 1967 singles. For once they didn’t butcher the EP, (like all the previous LP’s) they just added to it. But I also really love the EP for what it is. Never saw it growing up in Canada until I finally got my own UK EP import.
How can you not love MMT? It gives me a warm, magical, mysterious feeling just thinking about it. The only downer is Blue Jay Way which is tough to get all the way through. They should have put “It’s All Too Much” on this instead of Yellow Submarine. Then it would be spotless!
Yellow Submarine isn’t on Magical Mystery Tour. Did you mean Blue Jay Way?
I think he means they shoud have put the song It’s All Too Much on the album MMT istead of the album Yellow Submarine.
I agree with you about MMT being a supreme beatles album , but i dont agree about blue jay way … when you consider how hari wrote it , he was took out to a friends house in (america i think) by whoever and the friend was not at home so george waited at the house entrance while (whoever) went to look for the friend or a phone …. it was getting towards dusk a little dark and george being on his own in the unfamiliar surroundings of a foreign country got a little scared and the lane/road was called Blue Jay Way and the song was born…. you might say written with the help of fear !!!
Blue Jay Way was not meant to be a Top 40 hit. It was first & foremost a vehicle to tell us the story of Paul’s death, and its video was likewise a vehicle to show you quick flashes of his corpse, his damaged face after the accident, and even his displaced jawbone flying around. These grisly images are presented against a busy background of people dancing & darting across the scene, so you must freeze frames to see them. But they are all there to tell the story as The Beatles intended.
Nonsense.
Pure bullocks. George told the story many times as to what this song is about. You simply haven’t a clue I’m afraid.
Just another fool on the hill.
Is it the EP you’re referring to? Blue Jay Way although lengthy is a significant Harrison piece, instrumentation-wise, which I find quite soothing when listened to. You don’t have a complete MMT experience without this song.
Blue Jay Way may be the only song on all of The Beatles albums that I skip every single time.
I love all the Beatle albums, but between this one and Beatles for sale, they are my least favorite.I find it suprising that John Lennon said it was his favorite.I heard that in the Anthology DVD and I assumed it was from an interview at the time of MMT’s release but on here it says from a Rolling Stone 1974 interview.I am the Walrus is definetly one of Lennons best works, but the album as a whole just doesnt stand up there for me.It’s still a great record, just not one of their better ones in my opinion.
In the states, MMT was a Christmas release, 6 months after Sgt. P. It was seen as the next Beatles album, when in fact it was an extension of Sgt. P. That the White Album was in fact the next Beatles album has been lost on the American public’s consciousness.
One has to wonder what might have happened if they didn’t feel the need or succumb to the pressure to churn out album after album in the wake of Brian’s death. The massive White Album, then 5 months later convening for Get BAck/Let It Be… then Abbey Road right after. Bands today could never maintain the pace of recording/movies/business pressures as did the Beatles. Perhaps, if… they might have… oh well. There are a lot of “perhaps’ ” in the history of the Beatles.
Yeah, it’s UNCANNY (and terribly stupid on their part) that less than ONE MONTH AND A HALF after releasing the White Album, these crazy workaholics should convene again for the drudgery of more recording AND filming. Even without the alleged “tensions” attending the recording of The Beatles, any four human beings should have been exhausted after such strenuous work. Why not wait at least until spring/early summer to resume work, have a good rest of writing/rehearsing/recording (and putting up with each other!), and then “get back” with renewed energy? I’m sure The Beatles wouldn’t have split up if they had respected themselves a little bit more. They seemed to have gotten caught up into a masochistic groove: what sense does it make to play LIVE in the middle of the winter on a windswept rooftop in London!!!? That, despite all the odds, that performance should have been SO good is yet another proof of how great The Beatles were, but they simply seem to have stretched human nature too far…. What a waste!
The band had a very work a day attitude to what they did. Essentially they saw being recording artists the same way as being a Teacher,Nurse,Engineer, Postman or any other job. You went to work everyday and had some days off for weekends or holidays. Paul particularly had this attitude. Although their hours of work were unusual they were more like shift workers working a backshift.
It continued after they split up as well. After recording TWO Albums in 1969, they immediately dived into solo singles and albums.
Ringo releasing 2 albums in 1970, Paul 1 in 1970 and 2 in 1971, George a triple album in 1970, John releasing albums in 1970 and 1971.
The Beatles got it right. They split up while they were a YOUNG band & will always be remembered as such……Unlike the rolling stones.
It is very simple why they did so much work in November 1966 to August 1969 in the studio. They were not touring and could spend the time recording as much material as they could release.
I live in the US and close to 40 years ago read that the White Album was meant as a follow-up to Sgt. Pepper’s, with the stark cover and relative simplicity of the songs countering the extravagance and complexity of Pepper.
well, bear in mind that side 2 was mostly songs that had gotten lots of radio play during the year before, so even in the U.S. it was clear to me, as an 11 year old, that it included a lot of re-packaged material. Compared to my experience of the White Album which was like getting this amazing toy chest, every single song was unfamiliar, the whole thing had a vibe, and what a treat to discover them all from scratch. And there was an obvious difference between the fun but ultimately kind of commercial comic book in MMT and the much more interesting packaging of the White Album and Sgt Pepper. Kind of the same thing with Let It Be…when I got THAT for Christmas it was exciting to have a new bit of Beatles product and i gleaned pleasure from various tracks. But every single thing about it signaled that it wasn’t a major work in the canon. Starting with the banal packaging.
I concur wholeheartedly. The albums’ and singles’ releasing frequency was imo also a bad business decision altogether on part of the parts involved. It sort of unnecessarily saturated the Fab4 market, with the exception of the hardcore fans worldwide.
Not at all. Their creativity had multiplied and they wanted to keep the box open as they weren’t planning any tours; MMT was to be broadcast in MondoVison, exploring a new format it turned out to be more than an interlude, quite magically. Meanwhile the affiliated record companies had been releasing as much as possible already, clearly Apple was created to keep them letting it get so out of control, as well as an outlet for whatever the Beatles would fancy.
This album has its similarities to the white album not pepper think about it The Fool On The Hill and Mother Natures Son or Flying and Wild Honey Pie, Strawberry Fields Forever and Glass Onion, Baby Your A Rich Man and Happiness Is A Warm Gun!!
strawberry fields forever was originally wrote for pepper penny lane also but the big wigs moneymen who all but owned the Beatles were impatient pepper took so long to make that they demanded a release so EMI released SFF/PL so it does have similarities to pepper. the information can be found in the “complete abbey road recordings” which was put out by EMI/HAMLIN.
I saw ‘MMT’, the color version, in a small ‘art’ theatre in my city in early 1968…I was quite intrigued as it had a dreamlike and slightly ‘down’ air about it, quite different from ‘HDN’ & ‘Help’.
I can only imagine what the UK Boxing Day audience who saw the black & white version thought.
Very ‘surrealistic’ and way ahead of later MTV rubbish.
MMT was not distributed in North America until late 1968-early 1969 in small theatres with Eric Anderson doing a short concert as well as introducing the movie.
The MMT movie best moment is definettly Jonh serving sppaghetti to the big lady! That’s so genius!. I like the album very very much! Except for “Hello Goodbye”(I hate it, but fits the purposes of the movie/album I guess), all the songs are great and fit within The Beatles best work!
Outstanding album; really better than other higher-profile albums like SPLHCB.
This has to be said: MMT is NOT a Beatles album. It is an American COMPILATION of Beatles music. Nothing to do with them apart from that.
Since its entry to the “official canon” the attitude seems to have grown that it should be considered as if one of the UK albums that they put so much thought and effort into. Comparing it to those albums is just wrong.
I love the album. It is one the great COMPILATION albums – but to see how the group wanted the music on it presented at the time, look to the UK double-ep (which is a fantastic package) and the relevant singles.
However much I love it as an album, one of my big disappointments is that it made the original CD reissue series in the ’80s. That gave the impression there were 13 albums instead of 12.
What would Mark have done? I would have had “Past Masters” live up to its job description – to collect ALL recordings not featured on the 12 albums they recorded and released as they envisioned them. You could then have a “Past Masters” that made sense, instead of having a big 1967-shaped hole at its centre.
And if anyone’s wondering, it would easily fit. “Past Masters” is about 94 minutes, MMT 36, giving a “Past Masters” that would be around 130 minutes. Volume/Disc 1: 1962-66, Volume/Disc 2: 1967-70 (think I’ve heard that split somewhere before).
A later release of MMT could have been done later, as has happened with other Capitol albums.
Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t dislike the album or anything, I just dislike it’s elevated status alongside the 12 albums they did record.
I dread the day when I come across a comment telling me that The Beatles never recorded a better album than “1”!
It’s a nice idea. However, having MMT incorporated into Past Masters may have meant we didn’t get the MMT artwork – the booklet is really worth having. Personally I’m glad they kept it as a standalone release, but it’s all personal preference. I do think there’s quite a big hole in PM because MMT hoovered up all the amazing 1967 singles.
True it’s technically not a Beatles album although I believe Parlophone did decide to start pressing copies of it in the U.K. at some point like it was a Beatles album. It’s a great companion album to Sgt. Pepper since those two albums basically give you 99% of their 67 output.
I totally agree, it was an EP and should have gone down in history as an EP. When they released the new 2014 mono LP set, they should included the EP and put the remaining singles Past Masters.
No I think they got it right releasing it as an album when it came time to standardise the albums throughout the world as there was packaging especially for it, and for once Capitol got it right in putting all the 1967 singles on the second side, It would have left Past/Mono Masters as lop sided from 1965 onwards with the 11 songs that are on the album.
However i do agree that they could release Magical Mystery Tour as a stand alone Double EP in both stereo and mono, and maybe release it as a twelve inch singles as well in stereo and mono. So you could have four options in which to buy it.
It’s an album. It exists today as an album because that’s what it is.
So, in other words: The Beatles were wrong and Capitol was right. They knew it was an album, and it is!
Another detail to clarify who wore which animal suit…look for the wristwatch.
I got this album in June 1980. It is great that the songs on the British EP and the1967 singles and Bsides could be included on one album. It compliments Sgt Pepper in that regard. I Am The Walrus is one of my favorite songs of all time and a great example of John Lennons offbeat genius. And for that matter The Fool On The Hill is one of McCartneys finest. And then you have other masterpieces like All You Need Is Love, Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever on side two. Thats not to forget Baby Youre A Rich Man.
Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane belong on Sgt Pepper, but as usual EMI couldn’t wait and needed a single before Pepper was finished. and the Beatles didn’t put their singles on albums to that point.The iconic album would have been truly awesome with.their best two songs of 1967
Agreed, what I have done is make my own albums, So Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane are on my version of Pepper, likewise I added Rain to Revolver and removed Yellow Submarine.
I’ve done the same. Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine get spliced together as the great psychedelic afterbirth that follows Sergeant P.
My version runs: Magical Mystery Tour,
Baby You’re a Rich Man,
Only a Northern Song,
Hello Goodbye,
All You Need Is Love,
Flying,
Your Mother Should Know,
The Inner Light,
Hey Bulldog,
Blue Jay Way,
All Together Now,
I Am the Walrus,
The Fool on the Hill and
It’s All Too Much.
I was inspired by the great article “Playing God” by Todd Burns and have similarly chopped and changed all the albums to include singles from each period. I’ve only just noticed that You Know My Name (LUTN) is missing. That might go last.
I’m interested in hearing about other versions or improvements!
Havent seen the mmt movie, but excluding hello goodbye, & blue jay way its great back to back
I have the original 1967 MMT EMI in mint condition, can some one tell me the value of this record?
Thanks!
Check around a little bit but I have seen a quote of up to $750 on moneymusic.com
If we allow that MMT is indeed a Beatles album, then it clearly is in their very top-most in the canon. It has at least 5 of what would be considered universally accepted of the top 25 Beatles songs of all time. SFF, AYNIL, IATW, PL, and FOTH
The first Beatle album I ever owned at the age of 13 and for that it will also have a nostalgic place in my heart.
It is fabulous.
Just brilliant.
Frankly, it should be seen for what it is, very serious music.
Because “Strawberry Fields Forever” is so good, I really think that this is the best album of all, well, I suppose, along with “Sgt. Pepper”.
“I Am the Walrus” and “Fool on the Hill’ are so good that I find myself playing this more than any other of their albums. Yes, I prefer the old vinyl one though I also have the CD and I believe the EP somewhere as well.
If it is serious music you want, and not necessarily pop entertainment, then this one really stands out.
Forget about the costumes, the movie, the inside information, and just focus on the 11 songs.
I have no problem with any of the songs that people who have commented on dislike. It’s all great.
The album version stated here to not be released was everywhere in the U. K., yes, everywhere as soon as 1968 and all through the 70’s. Import? That’s silly, since it’s their album. The cover maybe, perhaps, but certainly not the music. It’s a bit like saying an American printing of a Shakespeare play is American when the play isn’t.
As for the reason I find this to be their best, well it certainly has nothing to do with the film. I’ve never seen it and that’s all right.
It’s all about the brilliant music herein.
Cheers!
Yeah but my question is, where are the costumes and masks today? Were they donated or does the current Beatle members have it?
A lot of you guys doesn’t have a clue about MMT.
The US album was fully supported by The Beatles. Before 1967 they couldn’t do anything about Capitol’s releases, but by renewing their contract with EMI, one of their demands was that they could control releases overseas. If the Beatles had put their foot down before Capitol, the US album would not have happend. They did not.
The whole movie was a rent party. The bus, the sets, actors, costumes; all rented.Only the music was bought and paid for…by the fans. And we (Americans) didn’t even get to see the movie.
Nigel – the movie did play here in the states but probably in sporadic and random theaters. I saw it somewhere in Connecticut in the 70’s.
I was totally nuts about “I Am The Walrus” when it came out and it’s still a favorite. But beyond that I feel that the other songs from the movie (Side “A” of the US album) are collectively about the weakest material the Beatles ever put out. It feels to me as though they wanted to keep the innovation and magic of Sergeant Pepper going but were just trying too hard. Also I wonder if Brian Epstein’s death and resulting lack of “grown up” direction didn’t contribute to the muddle.
Instead of “Magical Mystery Tour” I refer to this album as “Whoa! Way Too Much Acid!”.
Did anyone know that in magical mystery tour Paul is wherein a flashers coat during the song fool on the hill and you can actually see for a fleeting moment his junk.
This was thought to be as one could not tell due to the quality of the VHS tapes .Now its on Blu ray and DVDone can tell that this information is wrong.
Really like the sound of this album. Sounds a bit like Pepper in style, without all the psychedelic organs that makes Pepper sound a bit dated. Only song I’m not a huge fan of is “Blue Jay Way” which to me, drones on a bit too long.
this, in my opinion, is the only US release that was better than the UK version! Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane and I am the Walrus all on the same album!
For most of us Americans under 60, this is an album. It starts with MMT and ends with All You Need is Love. I discovered this album as an 11 year old and didnt learn until my mid 20’s that I had the compiled American release. I decided to keep my original thoughts to it. Its the MMT album!
They all evoke a 1967 feel to it; psychadelia (dark & positive), wit, nostalgia, & love. It feels like a concept album (all 11 songs). Lets not put this in the same category as the Hey Jude compilation Album that includes songs from years past. Whenever i have been asked if Pepper was the best Beatles album, i often jokingly respond that its not even the best album of ’67. I love MMT.
But the point i want to remind people of are the small magical pieces between songs. They are enjoyable little treats. You could make the point that this pattern continues on side 2 with the short snippets after Hello Goodbye & Strawberry Fields Forever. That is another reason why the two sides hold nicely together.
I’m in my 70s now and I guess that’s why it’s not an album to me, just mainly a collection of songs. The fact is that by the fall of 1967 we had heard the non-film songs lots on the radio and they were completely familiar when MMT was released. The film songs (except “I Am The Walrus”) did not seem in the same league musically with the singles and therefore the whole effort seemed like a weird mashing together of unrelated elements, very much the opposite of the Beatles’ normal way of doing things. Of course I bought the album though! But when I had first heard that the Beatles would follow up Sgt. Pepper with something called “Magical Mystery Tour,” just the name conjured images of an even deeper dive into psychedelia and therefore MMT was rather a flat disappointment in that regard.
The reason John said, “The Walrus was Paul” was not because Paul was in the Walrus costume. It was because he had a mo-ped accident and grew a moustache to hide the scar. The others said he looked like a walrus, but also grew moustaches in solidarity.
No one has mentioned that US Capitol, in making MMT a full album, copied UK Parlophone’s method for their earlier soundtrack LP’s, with all the movie songs on Side 1 and all the non-movie songs from the same time-frame on Side 2.
That is interesting, but seeing as side one was the same as the British release, this could be a coincidence? But there’s equal chance it was deliberate.
In my opinion, “Magical Mystery Tour” was The Beatles at the zenith of their psychedelic phase and some of the sessions happened to coincide with the Summer of Love.
John and George went into their keyboardist mode during the sessions for MMT and both of them began to write keyboard-led songs during this period, so it clearly gave them a fantastic opportunity to develop their own keyboard techniques – George went into the organ and John clearly developed a fondness for pianos, mellotrons and organs – but neither fully abandoned playing their guitars altogether.
Conversely, Paul’s bass never took a back seat to guitars or keyboards, since he was easily able to overdub it whenever he needed to or if he wished to rerecord them for the final mixes.
Here’s a bit of trivia: in the video for “All You Need is Love”, the mystery drummer using brushes on Ringo’s hi-hats is Keith Moon.
During the psychedelic period, John, Paul and George repainted their Gibson J-160E, Rickenbacker bass and Fender Stratocaster (nicknamed Rocky) respectively in psychedelic finish and Ringo used a red front head on the bass drum of his Ludwig drum kit.
So yes, it is very interesting to know what instruments were used during these creative recording sessions.
What’s not to love about this LP. The only Capitol LP that outperforms the EP.
Great write up Joe. Always enjoy your site. Truly the best Beatles Forum out there!
That’s true for a number of reasons:
a) Capitol compromised by merely expanding the EP into album format by including all six tracks from the EP on side one and filling out side 2 with their singles from 1967 (“Hello Goodbye”, “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Penny Lane”, “Baby You’re a Rich Man” and “All You Need is Love”) on side two, so this was clearly some compensation over the omission of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane” from “Sgt. Pepper”.
b) The album was a popular import into the UK and it eventually got a British release in 1976.
c) It was the officially adopted CD version in 1987 and 2009 plus it got remastered for vinyl in 2012.
I have always considered the “Magical Mystery Tour” LP a special case and the exception to the rule among the pre-Sgt. Pepper Capitol releases that The Beatles clearly disliked.
Perhaps the running order for the album version of “Magical Mystery Tour” had some influence on Simon and Garfunkel finalizing the running order for their 1968 album “Bookends”, as side one on that album was a song cycle (not a concept album, per se) and side 2 had the duo’s 1966-1967 singles and songs written by Paul Simon for the film “The Graduate”, most notably “Mrs. Robinson”.
Hairsplitting aside as to it’s official album status -this is my favorite Beatles album. There’s at least 5 masterpieces on it. It has the band at their psychedelic peak . Blue Jay Way is the only weak track but that’s made up for by the increasing fondness I have for Baby You’re a Rich Man. 5/5