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Magical Mystery Tour
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Paul McCartney:
Vocals, bass guitar, piano
John Lennon: Acoustic guitar, vocals
George Harrison: Electric guitar, vocals
Ringo Starr: Drums, tambourine
Mal evans: Percussion
Neil Aspinall: Percussion
David Mason: Trumpet
Elgar Howarth: Trumpet
Roy Copestake: Trumpet
John Wilbraham: Trumpet
Recorded
April 25, 26, 27 and May 3 1967.
Available
on:
Magical
Mystery Tour
Anthology 2
Magical
Mystery Tour was partly inspired by the British working-class
custom of the 'mystery tour', an organized day trip by coach
where only the driver knows the route. It was also inspired
by American novelist Ken Keysey's idea of driving through
America on a bus painted in psychedelic colors, filled with
a bunch of 'freaks' on LSD, and with no specific route to
follow.
Paul McCartney
also had the idea of making an unscripted movie where the
Beatles and a bunch of actors and other people would travel
to Cornwall on a bus, while sketches and dialogues would
be improvised and filmed spontaneously underway. The idea
resulted in the surreal movie Magical Mystery Tour, which
was screened on British television on Boxing Day 1967. It
was however quite obvious that the film was an attempt to
portray a LSD trip, and it was certainly not a movie suitable
for families! It came as no surprise therefore that the
movie was slaughtered by most TV critics.
When the
Beatles turned up at Abbey Road Studios on 25 April 1967,
Paul McCartney had little more than rough idea for the song
and the lyrics. However, one thing was clear, coach noises
were required! Fortunately, "Volume 36: Traffic Noise
Stereo" from Abbey Road's sound effects collection
satisfied requirements.
But problems
emerged when the Beatles and George Martin hired four trumpeters
to play on the song. McCartney, who cannot write music scores,
tried to get his ideas across to the session musicians by
humming. But It was unclear what he actually wanted, and
in the end one of the trumpeters, Gary Howarth, got so fed
up that he wrote his own score for the song. It was apparently
his idea that was used in the end.
The vocals
on the beginning of the song ("Roll up, roll up")
were recorded at slow speed so that they played back faster,
which is why they sound so high-pitched.
Magical
Mystery Tour
(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)
Roll up
Roll up for the mystery tour
Roll up
Roll up for the mystery tour
Roll up (and that's an invitation)
Roll up for the mystery tour
Roll up (to make a reservation)
Roll up for the mystery tour
The magical
mystery tour
is waiting to take you away
Waiting to take you away
Roll up
Roll up for the mystery tour
Roll up
Roll up for the mystery tour
Roll up (we've got everything you need)
Roll up for the mystery tour
Roll up (satisfaction guaranteed)
Roll up for the mystery tour
The magical
mystery tour
is hoping to take you away
Hoping to take you away
Ah, the
magical mystery tour
Roll up
Roll up for the mystery tour
Roll up
Roll up for the mystery tour
Roll up (and that's an invitation)
Roll up for the mystery tour
Roll up (to make a reservation)
Roll up for the mystery tour
The magical
mystery tour
is coming to take you away
Coming to take you away
The magical mystery tour
is dying to take you away
Dying to take you away
Take you today
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