"Magical Mystery Tour"

Song: “Magical Mystery Tour”

Album: (Not Released on LP)

Written primarily by McCartney (from an idea mostly conceived by McCartney), “Magical Mystery Tour” is the title song to the double EP and TV film, but it was never released as a single like the themes to other Beatles’ films.  “Mystery Tours” were common and popular in Britain when the Beatles were young, and the “Magical Mystery Tour” takes the concept a step further, adding a magical, surreal (likely drug-influenced) dimension to it. 

The song was recorded in April and May 1967, just days after the final sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s. The song wasn’t even complete when their new session began so much of the early time in the studio was spent hashing out the rest of it. 

While never released on an LP in the U.K., the EP was stretched to LP-length in the U.S. by adding five previously released singles (including both “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” from the double A-side).  The LP version was later released in both the U.S. and U.K. on CD.

The original six-song double EP (released in the U.K.) was received much better than the film was, but most critics consider the “Magical Mystery Tour” song itself a pleasant but inconsequential entry in the Beatles canon.