Hello Goodbye

As the year 1967 drew to a close, the Beatles were still learning how to manage their own affairs following the death of Brian Epstein.  They negotiated a deal to have their film for television Magical Mystery Tour broadcast by the BBC on Boxing Day and its accompanying soundtrack would be released a few weeks in advance of that date.  A year-end single was also expected, and one of the soundtrack songs such as The Fool on the Hill or even the title track would have easily sufficed for that purpose, but Paul McCartney had another song in mind.

On October 2nd, with all of the Magical Mystery Tour songs either complete or nearing completion, the group began work on a composition then known as Hello Hello.  Take fourteen, the final take of the basic track, was best.  The line-up for this take featured Paul on piano, John on organ, George shaking a tambourine and Ringo on drums.  The group did not return to the song until October 19th, at which time they added numerous overdubs including two lead guitar lines from George (much of this was deleted from the final version, but it can be heard on Anthology 2), a lead vocal from Paul, backing vocals and handclaps from John and George, plus maracas played by Ringo.

The following evening, October 20th, two viola players were added to the track.  This was yet another of those infamous sessions where Paul and producer George Martin had not worked out anything in advance, so the musicians waited as Paul and Martin huddled at a piano and figured out what they wanted them to play.  The work on the track concluded with Paul adding a preliminary bass line on October 25th and a second on November 1st.

Though the song contained very simple (many would say simplistic) lyrics, it proved to be a huge number one hit.  Much of its appeal comes from the fact that it displays the full array of production elements common to that psychedelic year of 1967 - many layers of sound, multiple instrumental and vocal variations from verse to verse - but mostly because of the irresistibly-catchy coda, which was always referred to as the Maori finale.  This was reportedly in place right from the very first take of the song.

The Beatles were now in the habit of making films to promote their latest single.  Having just made a film without a professional director, Paul decided that he could take the reins once more for this task.  On November 10th, they met at the Saville Theatre, still owned by Epstein's NEMS Enterprises, to shoot three versions of the song for worldwide distribution.

The boys stand onstage in their traditional concert positions and pretend to perform the song, one time in their Sgt. Pepper costumes.  George and John look bored and disconnected until several dancing girls in grass skirts join them for the Maori finale.  The second film is much like the first except that they wear their own clothes and there is a different backdrop.  The third film combines outtakes from the other two, and includes some hilarious dancing by the boys, particularly John.  There are also a few glimpses in the films of the group wearing their old 1963 collarless jackets and waving at the camera.

The Musicians' Union ban on miming prevented any of the films from being shown on British TV, even after George Martin produced a mix of the song without the violas to accompany them.  The version with the Sgt. Pepper uniforms was shown in the US on CBS's Ed Sullivan Show and ABC's Hollywood Palace.  The BBC did film the group working on the edit of Magical Mystery Tour and combined that with various other footage to promote the single on Tops of the Pops.

While the song was never intended to be part of Magical Mystery Tour, the Maori finale is heard during the end credits of that program.