Harrison's guitar solo, producer George Martin's strings, and the parade of intertextual musical references that start and close the piece elevate it above hippie hymn. The rest of the singles collected here are no less familiar: Lennon's "All You Need Is Love" was initially completed up for an international TV special on BBC1- its basic message was meant to translate to any language. There is no definitive Beatles sound, of course, but with a band that now functions as much as a common, multi-generational language as a group of musicians, it's no surprise that songs rooted in childhood- the one experience most likely to seem shared and have common touchpoints- are among their most universally beloved. Slyly surreal, assisted by studio experimentation but not in debt to it, full of brass, harmonium, and strings, unmistakably English- when critics call eccentric or baroque UK pop bands "Beatlesesque," this is the closest there is to a root for that adjective. Of the three singles, the undisputed highlight is "Strawberry Fields Forever"/ "Penny Lane", John Lennon and Paul McCartney's tributes to their hometown, Liverpool. With only the EP's title track married specifically to the film's themes, the overall effect of a title track/album sleeve as shell game was in line with Sgt. release, often mangled by Capitol, became Beatles canon. In the U.S., the EP was paired with three recent double-sided singles, ballooning Magical Mystery Tour into an album- the only instance in which a U.S. Few of them are anyone's all-time favorite Beatles songs, only one had a prayer of being played on the radio, and yet this run seems to achieve a majesty in part because of that: 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.Īs a more laid-back release, the EP suggested the direction the band might have taken on the White Album had it remained a full band, happy to shed the outsized conceptualism and big statements and craft atmospheric, evocative pieces. The remaining four songs released exclusive to the EP are low-key marvels- Paul McCartney's graceful "The Fool on the Hill" and music-hall throwback "Your Mother Should Know", George Harrison's droning "Blue Jay Way", and the percolating instrumental "Flying". The title track is a rousing set piece, meant to introduce the travelogue concept of the film. The EP format apparently freed the band to experiment a bit, not having to fill sides of a 45 with pop songs or make the grand statements of an album. Please listen out for Paul's other Podcasts, 'The Head Ballet' - all about novelty music, and ' Hark! 87th Precinct Podcast' - all about Ed McBain's seminal police procedural novel series.Musically, however, the accompanying EP was an overwhelming success. Garry is also a musician and his recent songs can be found here on Spotify and Apple Music ![]() Paul's band 'Good Grief' have a new album OUT NOW! Get your copy here: If you are enjoying this podcast please let us know at on Twitter and Instagram, and please leave us a review! This week we continue with 'Magical Mystery Tour' where somehow we manage to talk for longer than the film itself. Having ranked all the Beatles core catalogue releases in series 1, in this series we will be taking a curated look through the best of the rest - the unreleased, the alternatives, the songs that were given away, and now. Welcome to the Big Beatles Sort Out Series 2! Episode 58: Magical Mystery Tour Movie Special!
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