The Beatles may have incorrectly fancied themselves as filmmakers after working twice with Lester, but they had clearly paid attention to his innovative blend of images with their music. Thus, when Paul McCartney hit upon the idea for the group's next project in April of 1967, he knew exactly how to craft an opening number for the television show he had in mind.
They reported to the studio on the evening of April 25th, just a few days after putting the final touches on the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Paul only had the basic outline of the song in his head, but he already knew that trumpets would be required to provide the opening fanfare. He sat at a piano and, with John on acoustic guitar, George on electric guitar and Ringo on drums, the group laid down three takes of the backing track. In addition a tape loop was made of the sound of a motor coach, found in the studio's sound effects archives, to be dropped into the finished recording at various points.
On the following evening, Paul continued his new practice of overdubbing his bass line onto the best backing track, in this instance the best being take three. He also asked everybody, including assistants Neil Aspinall and Mal Evans, to call out words or phrases used to advertise the bus tours common in Liverpool when they were growing up, and Mal was tasked with writing everything down. All six of them added percussion such as maracas, tambourine and cowbell to the master tape, as well.
Paul's lead vocal and George and John's backing vocals were added on the 27th, the third consecutive day of work on the track. The backing vocals were played back at different speeds and treated with a good deal of echo, thereby sounding quite distorted on the finished product.
Four trumpeters were recruited on May 3rd. Unfortunately, this was one of those sessions where no arrangement had been worked out in advance, which proved very frustrating for the musicians when Paul gave them a general idea of what he wanted by simply humming. They split into two groups, Paul working with George Martin, and the trumpeters going off on their own. According to Mark Lewisohn in The Beatles: Recording Sessions, they eventually settled on using trumpeter Elgar Howarth's ideas.
The track was then considered complete and was set aside - in fact, the entire project was set aside - for several months. The Beatles did not return to the title song until the film was nearing completion. On November 7th, Paul decided that something else was needed at the top of the song and recorded his call of, "Roll up for the Magical Mystery Tour, step right this way."
In the film, the first thing we hear is the trumpets as the title graphic splashes onto the screen. The song plays while a montage of shots from the movie promise a wild and colorful ride (the fact that it was broadcast in black and white by the BBC only added to its failure with critics and the public). During the brief instrumental section, the music fades down a bit as we see Ringo buy a ticket and a voiceover by John guarantees "...the trip of a lifetime." The music swells back up and the montage continues until the dreamy, meandering fadeout, which segues perfectly into the action of Ringo leading his Aunt Jessie up a steep sidewalk to begin their trip.
As unpopular as the film was, the accompanying soundtrack was very successful, whether sold as a somewhat pricey double EP in the UK, or a hit-filled album in the US. The song Magical Mystery Tour later appeared on the Blue Album in 1973 as well as the album Reel Music in 1982.
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