MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR  -  THE BEATLES

YEAR:  1967
LABEL:  Parlophone/Capitol
TRACK LISTING:  Magical Mystery Tour,  The Fool on the Hill,  Flying,  Blue Jay Way,  Your Mother Should Know,  I Am the Walrus,  Hello Goodbye,  Strawberry Fields Forever,  Penny Lane,  Baby You're A Rich Man,  All You Need Is Love
IMPRESSIONS:  Put the abyssmal film out of your mind; this is a superb album.  In fact, I've always preferred it to SGT. PEPPER actually.  I mean, just look at the tracks.  The eponymous album opener is one of my favourite Beatle songs ever.  There's the absolute classic "I Am the Walrus" (yet another of my top Beatle tunes).  One of McCartney's best "granny songs" appears in the form of "Your Mother Should Know" and the groundbreaking singles "Strawberry Fields Forever" (which many people think is actually on SGT. PEPPER) and the radio-friendly smash "Penny Lane".  Then, there's possibly my very first ever favourite song:  "Hello Goodbye".  I actually have a very solid memory of myself at 2 years old outside on a sidewalk somewhere toddling along to the sound of "Hello Goodbye" on a transistor radio someone was holding.  I remember very clearly hearing the song and running towards someone unsteadily on my toddler legs.  This has always given the song a mythic quality for me and whenever I hear it I get a lovely feeling of nostalgia.  Even the rather unimpressive "Fool on the Hill" holds a soft spot in my heart because my late friend Peg loved it.  After all this, the album ends with another of my faves ("Baby, You're A Rich Man") and the anthem "All You Need Is Love").  There aren't many albums as impressive as this and it was actually spliced together by adding a side two of singles to a side one originally released in Britain as an EP!
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Magical Mystery Tour,  Your Mother Should Know,  I Am the Walrus,  Hello Goodbye,  Strawberry Fields Forever,  Baby You're A Rich Man,  All You Need Is Love
GUEST ARTISTS:  Mal Evans (percussion on "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Strawberry Fields Forever"), Neil Aspinall (percussion on "Magical Mystery Tour"), George Martin (piano on "All You Need Is Love"), Mick Jagger (backing vocals on "All You Need Is Love"), Keith Richards (backing vocals on "All You Need Is Love"), Marianne Faithfull (backing vocals on "All You Need Is Love"), Keith Moon (backing vocals on "All You Need Is Love"), Eric Clapton (backing vocals on "All You Need Is Love"), Pattie Boyd Harrison (backing vocals on "All You Need Is Love"), Jane Asher (backing vocals on "All You Need Is Love"), Graham Nash (backing vocals on "All You Need Is Love")
FACT SHEET:  MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR is the Beatles' ninth album.  Originally released as an EP soundtrack album for the film of the same name (side one), side two was added to make up a complete album in the U.S. by making side two a collection of recent singles.  The idea for the film was conceived by Paul McCartney as a scriptless coach journey which was broadcast over the BBC during the 1967 Christmas holidays; the film was universally panned but the soundtrack EP/album became a #1 album for 8 weeks.