Worst Beatles song on Magical Mystery Tour

Cards on the table time; I've never cared for I Am The Walrus much.

What do you think about the version of "I Am The Walrus" on Anthology 2, the version without all the bells and whistles? As much I love the MMT version, I love the Anthology version far more. Ringo's drums in particular are so excellent there.

Keep in mind that this was their first project without any contributions from Paul, who had died in a horrible car accident during the recording of Pepper. All things considered, the remaining three + Billy do an excellent job of keeping up appearances.

love this album, flying rocks, Your Mother Should Know sucks a dog

I love Your Mother Should Know, the 'aahhhhhh' backing vocals esp. The lyrics don't really make sense to me, but that's no problem. I like the melancholy in it.

Am voting for All You Need is Love. I like the outro, but all in all I find it to be a boring song that always feels like it's dragging on for hours...

Keep in mind that this was their first project without any contributions from Paul, who had died in a horrible car accident during the recording of Pepper.

No no he died in 1966. There are clues all over Sgt. Pepper's - he's the only band member turned on; he's pointing to something on the lyric sheet (or is that George?); etc.

I thought at first it must be something from side 1, but then it strikes me they are all really good too. So I almost ended up voting for "Baby You're a Rich Man" although "Flying" just makes it ahead of it. There are no bad tracks on this one either though.

The Beatles are best when they are cynical and bitter

No, they are at worst when they are bitter.

John Lennon might as well have left The Beatles after this album, which is the last album he contributed constantly good songs to. From 1968 onwards, there was only the odd exception ("Because", "Across The Universe"), but most of John's contributions on the last three albums (not continue "Yellow Submarine" as a proper album here) were crap.

Could someone explain me about the formats this was released on? Obviously I know it was a double EP (but what does that mean?) was it two 7"s or what? And were Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane not on it originally?

This is one of my very favourite Beatles records though - I get a lot of enjoyment from this kind of psychedelica and the Beatles did it really well. A lot of what I would normally say about MMT's been said already on this thread. I had "Your Mother Should Know" stuck in my head yesterday and found myself singing it out loud while I was doing the cooking. I really like "Flying", throwaway as it is, it's kind of essential to the whole ordeal as a piece of fun psychedelic mood music. I guess the only track I would leave off, as mentioned upthread, is the title track which epitomises that annoying, brash, alarm clock sound that I had a bit of a moan about on the Sgt Peppers thread.

I think this will be the next reissue I buy. It's my favourite era of the Beatles but the fact it's not quite as much of a "statement" as say Peppers or the White Album stops it counting as my favourite album in my head. There's also the cloying factor of some tracks - I do like the tunes on "All You Need" and "Hello Goodbye", but they do sum up everything that pisses me off about Lennon and McCartney's individual characters.

I thought Paul was supposed to have died just before Rubber Soul, the photo on the front of the album depicting the Beatles looking down into a GRAVE!!! :-O

Didn't the Rutles practically rip off the whole of "Baby You're A Rich Man" for their biggest "hit" "Shangri La"?

It was a 6-song, double 7" EP with the first 'side' of the album on it, and the second side of ther album was additional non-album singles & their b-sides from the same era (SFF & Penny Lane, plus AYNIL & BYARM).

It was released in the US in this format in 68 I think, and then everywhere on vinyl in 76 I believe, and then obviously on the CDs in 87 and now.

I'm a little surprised there isn't more hate for "Fool On The Hill". It's easily my least favorite McCartney tune before 1969.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Flying. In fact, I love this whole album. It's like the most... weird and thrown together and therefore totally psychedelic of the Beatles albums. I totally rate this over Sgt. Pepper.

I already put the kabosh on All You Need Is Love on the Yellow Submarine poll, so HELLO GOODBYE HELLO HELL is gonna get the kicking from me.

Which is odd, coz otherwise the Paul songs on this album don't bother me so much as normal. I like Fool On The Hill and can even put up with Your Mother Should Know because it's engrained into my skull from enough acid trips to the movie.

I've just figured out that the albums I tend to like the best are the ones I've tripped to the most.

eeeep. :-/

best beatles album!!

not a real album. picking the title track.

genuinely don't know what to vote for but this is just fucking joyous from start to finish, hello goodbye is probably all-time beatles top 3 for me, and i *love* the title track so ha

"hello goodbye is probably all-time beatles top 3 for me, and i *love* the title track so ha"

u mad

I like it, but we could lost "Flying."

lose

C'mon, people! "Blue Jay Way" is the loser!

But "Blue Jay Way" is prime George! One of his best psychedelic songs, actually.

Blue Jay Way is fantastic! A Beatles fiend in LA actually took me driving up to Blue Jay Way, and we got totally lost and confused, and had to just imagine poor George sitting up there among the trees tripping his face off, wondering where his friends had got to...

As you know, I am utterly Against Drugs and all that, but so much of this music doesn't *truly* make sense until you hear it in that context.

OK, I have become everything I hate and I'm going to STFU now.

I find Hello Goodbye really irritating.

But the coda!

flying, eleavator music

I'm expecting Your Mother Should Know to win/lose this poll; it seems like the most lightweight and pointless of Paul's attempts at writing "songs my mum and dad would like" (which peaks with Martha My Dear and troughs with Honey Pie, in my mind). This sums up my thoughts on this aspect of Paul Exactly. Your Mother Should Go.

I find "Hello Goodbye" OK, but the coda is just annoying.

I'm not really into 'Fool On The Hill', but hearing Oasis pointlessly swipe the title for some brainless lyric made me realise that no, there are worse things on earth than throwaway McCartney.

Geir actually did just get an SB for that.

I'm not really into 'Fool On The Hill', but hearing Oasis pointlessly swipe the title for some brainless lyric made me realise that no, there are worse things on earth than throwaway McCartney.

I love "Fool On The Hill". The melody is beautiful, and I kind of like the lyrics too. Wondering if "The Fool On The Hill" and "Mad John" are actually the same person :)

Xpost. Paul died on Wednesday morning at 5am, November 9, 1966 after storming out of a Pepper recording session! Geez, get your facts straight!

"Wednesday morning at 5 o clock as the day begins..."

"Bye, bye..."

That explains the Scottish accent on 'When I'm 64' too, I suppose.

"Messily spread all across the road
Leaving the band to carry on alone
He ran outside to the bus stop clutching his Hohner bass
Quietly planning a 30s pastiche
Hit by a bus we are free.

He (Wrote all the boringest songs)
is de-ad (All of the boringest so-ongs)
Oh! (He gave us everything we didn't want)
He's been squashed flat by a 42 bus
Here come conspiracies. Bye, bye

Ringo snores as..." etc etc...

this is like my dark horse favorite

even tho it has many redeeming qualities, i guess i don't love "fool" and "all you need is love" is kind of a pain in the ass at this point. and "H/G" is dumb dumb dumb but it sounds fuckin great.

A+ Nick :)

I bet John and George were so glad they didn't have to do "Your Mother Should Know" live. It's a song I've always liked but when Paul starts doing the "da da da daaa da daaa da da daaa" you kinda want to peg him in the head with a bottle.

"Your Mother Should Know." I actually LIKE "Flying," with the descending parallel-6ths guitar riff, and Ringo's voice dominating the singalong part.

Why do you think that, Mark? Because of its status as "not a proper Beatles album"?

― Sickamous (Scik Mouthy), Friday, 25 September 2009 07:05 (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Sorry, N, been out:

Um, no, and not even because of the 'fewest' songs, but more or less because I can't actually see anything here that is dudworthy.

Yeah, people are tired of "All you need" and some might decide that "HelloGoodbye" is the least good Beatles a-side.

Or mabe even because there's no Ringo track!

Definitely an underrated LP. My vote here is for "Fool on the Hill": mawkish lyrics and godawful flute (or is it a tin whistle?) solo. Almost though not quite rescued by the masterful "sees the sun going down" bit. BTW: is that loud swooshing sound that comes in towards the end (sorry, I don't have the CD handy to note the time) a synthesizer?

hella xposts-

Oh man that's twice on these threads Geir has called me out. It's like I must hate melody as well.

this does have like the worst cover

@Pancakes: "Flying" was my favorite track when I was a kid.

Btw the remaster did some unbelievable things for John's "Walrus" vocal sound!

"The Fool on the Hill" is very tiresome, yes.

Blue Jay Way for being unbearable.

Love this album - Beatles at their trippiest. Even the weaker tracks have enough sonic fucked-upness or instrumental ingenuity to keep me enthralled...except "Your Mother Should Know." I have a higher-than-most tolerance for Paul's twee music-hall ditties, but agree with Nick that "Mother" is the most uninteresting of that lot.

xxxxxxpost - Scott, I believe that's just sped-up backwards tapes, if we're referring to the same whoosh. (I don't have the CD handy either.) George Harrison bought his Moog in '68.

"Blue Jay Way", utterly shit

a silly face-off for numerous reasons but for the fun and fwiw :

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band / Magical Mystery Tour : two tracks I don't particularly like but MMT is better and more interesting (especially the slow break) - Pepper 0/MMT 1
2. With a Little Help from My Friends / Baby, You're a Rich Man : WALHFMF is great but BYARM is cooler and groovier - Pepper 0 / MMT 2
3. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds / I Am the Walrus : I like LSD a lot but easily Walrus - Pepper 0 / MMT 3
4. Getting Better / Penny Lane : two Macca tracks against Penny Lane and it's obviously still no match - Pepper 0 / MMT 4
5. Fixing a Hole / Penny Lane
6. She's Leaving Home / The Fool on the Hill : for a long time I didn't like SLH. I enjoy it now but I have always been fond of TFOTH - Pepper 0 / MMT 5
7. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! / Flying : I didn't know which track to put Flying against ! - Pepper 1 / MMT 5
8. Within You Without You / Blue Jay Way : Never liked much George's indian stuff (and his songs in general)but BJW has a cool production - Pepper 1 / MMT 6
9. When I'm Sixty-Four / Your Mother Should Know : I have nothing against "Paul's granny shit" and YMSK has something beautiful and sad that most others don't - Pepper 1 / MMT 7
10. Lovely Rita / Hello, Goodbye : two okay tracks but the production is better on HG - Pepper 1 / MMT8
11. Good Morning Good Morning / All You Need Is Love : many people hate AYNIL. Not me. and I have never understood the point of GMGM (except it sounds HUGE on the remixed version of the album) - Pepper 1 / MMT 9
12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) : not counting it since it's a reprise and there are not enough tracks on MMT.
13. A Day in the Life / Strawberry Fields Forever : impossible choice. two of the greatest recorded songs ever. it's a tie, once point each - Pepper 2 / MMT 10

MMT wins this easily ! (again, I know this is silly)

Aw I don't know about the various versions but the one on Spotify does include them !

― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, November 14, 2017 5:21 AM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it does not! i mean takes of strawberry fields and penny lane are on there but they're not in sequence with the actual record/remix

AIXTC, this might be a whole vs. sum of its parts situation. Even if on their own you might like the tracks on MMT better (I don't, but still), Sgt. Pepper is such a great, complete package while MMT is just an ace compilation.

Oh yeah, of course I agree, MMT isn't really an album (and again, two of its best tracks SHOULD have been on Pepper instead).
That was just for fun.
As for the version on Spotify, yeah, they are not included as if they belonged to the album but still they are on the "thing" (and not just "takes" but also the "final" remixed versions, just like all the rest of the album).

A compilation Magical Mystery Tour (the album) may be, but I'll still take it over Sgt. Pepper's as a collection of individual tracks and as an end-to-end listening experience.

(and not just "takes" but also the "final" remixed versions, just like all the rest of the album).

Yeah, but they're tacked on to the end, with each "final" version following two outtakes of itself.

Just calling it out because that's twice now I've run over to Spotify to hear a version of SPLHCB with those two songs in the sequence. Quit faking me out!

A compilation Magical Mystery Tour (the album) may be, but I'll still take it over Sgt. Pepper's as a collection of individual tracks and as an end-to-end listening experience.

Me too. Love the title tracks, Good Morning, Day In The Life, LSD and 64, but feel little love for the rest of Pepper, but love p much all of MMT.

Maybe it's my Boomer programming talking, but the carnivalesque conceit of Sgt. Pepper — the packaging, the moustaches, the "concept" — is at least as important to me as the music. It's like entering a particular funhouse. MMT has great songs and a similar vibe, but it doesn't feel like a single thing to me. And as a song collection, I might on any given day rather listen to one of the Past Masters.

Stevie otm when SP lags it laaaaags but MMT keeps the party going throughout

Could pretty much reverse thede rankings for my list

Just stumbled on this from archivist Ron Furmanek, who was asked to remix the soundtrack (sound as well as music) around 1988 for home video release.

George Martin was present for the final mix sessions, and when Furmanek played him the backing tracks to "Blue Jay Way," Martin laughed and said "this is rubbish! Did we release this??"

that's one of the least bad few songs on the album surely? and the production makes it. was he not embarrassed by AYNIL which sounds way worse

for the most part though I think this album sounds way better than it is

lol, love blue jay way but i can imagine how listening to just the isolated tracks could sound like an amateurish mess (especially if you hadnt heard them for 20 years.) it kind of only works when everything comes together for the whole effect

AYNIL sounds date-stamped to an exact week in 1967. It's always been a time capsule to me, which means it's not my idea of a great record, but it has the same appeal of an old photo where every anachronistic detail has vanished with time.

I wish I could enjoy "Blue Jay Way" more but it's flat-out dull. The production doesn't make anything because there's barely anything there.

That's the era when Harrison wrote on keyboards.

Well, guess what.

they shoulda done more stuff like “Flying”

Johnny L. & The BTs

Banger

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/elvis-costello-the-beatles-live-aid-cover/

Except Costello played the whole song in 4/4; as with a number of Lennon’s Beatles songs, there’s a few odd measures thrown in (in this case, 1/4 between the verse lines, and a 3/4 before the chorus), and Costello just ignores those.

A decent salvage job. They were running over and basically told Costello that he only had a several minutes to get on the stage, perform and exit, so he settled on something easy that the crowd would know and somewhat fit the spirit of the event. Introducing it as "a Northern folk song" was very amusing.

*had several

Didn’t recall that. Nicely done.

I do like Costello's version, and along with Bon Jovi's stumbling rendition of "Here Comes The Sun" on some awards show just after Harrison passed, it's another reminder to musicians who cover Beatles songs that, oh shit, they sometimes messed around with time signatures, didn't they?

It won't convince the haters, but that B7 in the chorus (the last "all you need") is one of the great Lennon/Beatles chord changes, which Costello's stripped down cover shows off.

He’s on pretty cheery self-deprecating form here. The official Live Aid people just put a whole bunch of this backstage-celebs stuff on their YouTube. Funny to see he’s got the words (or something) written on his hand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpxC4DzeOXg

I'll add that in addition to being a time capsule, it's musically pleasing on basic level. Even Lennon/McCartney's weakest material is typically very tuneful with at least one memorable hook, and it's easy to see why AYNIL was another #1 hit and why 20 years later it can be familiar to so many people. It's not inaccurate to think of it as a folk song in that way. It may be a dated sentiment rather than the profound philosophy some hoped it to be, but I don't think nursery rhymes have endured for any grand insight they have into life.