Magical Mystery Tour

Side one (the soundtrack) is opened and closed by two beatle classics.  Magical Mystery Tour, the opening track and theme song for the album, double EP and film of the same name, is a rousing set piece, meant to introduce the travelogue concept of the film.  Unlike the theme songs for their other film projects, it was not released as a single.  Side one concludes with John's psychedelic classic I am the Walrus.  The walrus is a reference to Lewis Carroll's poem The Walrus and the Carpenter.  Lennon's use of puns and non sequiturs was to confuse those who put so much time, effort and thought into understanding and interpreting the lyrics of Beatle songs. The remaining four songs, between the first and last tracks of side one, are low-key marvels: Paul's graceful Fool on the Hill, the insnstrumental Flying that weaves like a hashish dream into George's hypnotic drone Blue Jay Way and the music hall throwback Your Mother Should Know.  Few of them are anyone's all-time favorite Beatles songs, only one had a prayer of being played on the radio, historically indifferent (except in Toronto where Blue Jay Way was, by convenience, used as the street name leading to the baseball stadium) and yet this run seems to achieve a majesty in part because of that.  Scott Plagenhoef in Pitchfork: It's a rare stretch of amazing Beatles music that can seem like a private obsession rather than a permanent part of our shared culture.

Hello Goodbye, opens side two (the singles) written by Paul and released on November 24, with I am the Walrus as the B side.  With simplistic lyrics that interplay between lead and backing vocals and a kaleidoscopic, carnival ride melody make it a much better record than it is a song.  John's Strawberry Fields Forever with Paul's Penny Lane, was releasded February 17th.  Both were written as tributes to their hometown, Liverpool.  Slyly surreal, assisted by studio experimentation but not in debt to it, full of brass, harmonium, and strings, unmistakably English sounding.  When critics call eccentric or baroque UK pop bands Beatlesesque, this is the closest there is to a root for that adjective. All You Need Is Love, written by John, was first performed by the Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link, broadcast via satellite on 25 June 1967 and watched by 400 million in 26 countries.  The BBC had commissioned the Beatles to write a song for the United Kingdom's contribution.  The single was released in the US on July 7th, immediately becoming an anthem for the Summer of Love.  The B side, Baby, You're a Rich Man, also written by John, asks an unidentifird rich man: How Does it feel to be one of the beautiful people? The original review by Rolling Stone consisted of a one-sentence quote from John Lennon: There are only about 100 people in the world who understand our music.

Wanderin' Spirit
January, 2014
"Pepper's Magical Mystery Tour"

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