Beatles Music:

Magical Mystery Tour Reviews:
A correction re: Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane
2006-08-25 - Regarding lawyeraau's review of Magical Mystery Tour, I disagree with some of the information.

When the band was making Sgt. Pepper, the record company came to them and asked for a single. Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane were the songs they received, and it was released as a double A-side single. McCartney wanted the new album, Sgt. Pepper, to only have new songs on it, so the decision was made to leave off those two songs. In fact, they really are essential to telling the story of the town and a day in the life of the people there.

This information came from a George Martin TV special on "the Making of Sgt. Pepper." I wish he would have said where he'd put them in the sequence of the album--I've always wanted to know that. Martin said that may have been the single decision he regretted most -- leaving those 2 songs off the album.

I also saw the band interviewed, and Ringo was asked which songs on the album told the story, and he mentioned Good Morning. I felt a little bad, since he couldn't mention the 2 songs that told the most about the town.

THERE IS PLENTY OF MAGIC IN THIS CD...
2005-08-04 - The psychedelic epiphany in which The Beatles indulged brought forth some of their best and most innovative efforts. While only six of the tracks were written for The Beatles' television film, "Magical Mystery Tour", and the other five tracks, comprised of their singles' releases for 1967, were later added for purposes of an album release, it all works. In fact, two of the songs, "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever", originally were written for their "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album but were ultimately dropped, as they did not fit the creative concept upon which they were working at the time. It is almost hard to believe that these two great songs were originally each a side of the same single release.

There are, however, a lot of other great songs on this CD. Each and every one of them stands alone on its own merits. While "Penny Lane", a richly evocative, nostagic refrain, is my own personal favorite, there is a variety from which to choose. From the haunting "The Fool On The Hill" to the psychedelic drug infused "Strawberry Fields Forever" to the rocking rythyms of "Baby You're A Rich Man", there is a song for everyone. This a CD no avid music collector should be without. For those who love The Beatles, this CD will serve to remind them as to why they love them.