"Roll Up!"; 50th Anniversary of Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mBen989, Nov 28, 2017.

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  1. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    I would not quite agree that Your Mother or Baby You're A Rich Man are essential, but I agree with your gist. It's a great collection! Also, I love Flying, but I understand that I might be in the minority on that one... :crazy:
     
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  2. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    This is one of the Beatles albums that were in my Dad's collection and my brother and I loved..

    [The others being Introducing... and The Beatles Again as the label shows it]

    Although I do have memories of being my brother playing I Am The Walrus and being a little bit scared by the fadeout with it's chanting and "O, untimely death.. Is he dead..? Sit you down, father, rest you... " [What can I say, I was probably about 6 years old..]
     
  3. Morton LaBongo

    Morton LaBongo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Manchester NH
    One of the first Beatles albums I listened to. I was maybe 8 or 9 and just getting into The Beatles, and I would listen to this and Sgt. Pepper back-to-back, as if it were a double album. Loved the title track, Fool on the Hill, All You Need is Love and Strawberry Fields. But I was afraid to listen to Walrus (some words are gross or nasty and the choir sounded a bit nightmarish) and Blue Jay Way seemed to have this weird theme of undefined anxiety going on -- very unusual for a Beatles song. I loved the pictures of The Beatles goofing around, especially Ringo wearing the victory cup on his head. I grew up with the US album versions and while I loved them at the time (I had no knowledge of foreign pressings/"original" British versions as a kid) I was not too happy with Capitol later on when I started collecting and learned that they repackaged/rearranged a lot of the early albums. But, this is one that Capitol really got right in my opinion. Padding out that double EP into a full album with a free (!) comic book and recent hit singles was one of the best ideas Capitol ever had. I lost my old original US pressing (the same one I had as a kid) in a flood about 10 years ago and while I still have a number of copies, that album had considerable sentimental value for me.
     
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  4. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    It's your thread - where were you when you first heard it? etc.
     
  5. mr.datsun

    mr.datsun Incompletist

    Location:
    London
    I see. I think. It was the album that got re-released following the USA LP format and track-listing rather than the UK EMI release which was as an EP. And so the Capitol version became 'canon'. I was baffled at first but think I get it now. To be honest, as a non-Beatles historian, I had to read up in it to understand the proper meaning of your statement.
     
  6. majoyenrac

    majoyenrac Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    It’s the same for me (the first cd I ever bought in late 92).
     
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  7. Haristar

    Haristar Apollo C. Vermouth

    Location:
    Hampshire, UK
    I think it was the first Beatles album I ever listened to, and by extension probably the first album I ever listened to in general.

    The tracks on side one still mean a lot to me now (Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool on the Hill, Your Mother Should Know and I Am the Walrus are all top 50 Beatles songs for me), and of course even though side two was essentially a compilation it's probably my favourite record side ever.
     
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  8. EddieMann

    EddieMann I used to be a king...

    Location:
    Geneva, IL. USA.
    No, no. I love it too! There's a version of it on a boot (Purple Chick or Alternate MMT, can't remember which) that is much longer. Its my go to version of the song.
     
  9. Stencil

    Stencil Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lockport, IL
    Its a great album. I do think the double EP format is cool looking, but all those songs belong on a proper LP. Have my stereo vinyl copies bought in the 70s and 90s. Stereo and mono on CD and just got another mono vinyl copy in my Beatles mono box (omg, such a great box set). Always loved this better than pepper but still not sure if I prefer the stereo or mono version. Its not as clear cut as pepper where the mono is preferable to me. Flying is a great song. Makes me wish they had done more instrumentals.
     
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  10. ampmods

    ampmods Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    It's probably the most fun collection of songs the Beatles ever put together. I mean the early stuff is joyful and infectious of course. And other albums are more 'important' or artistic statements maybe. But Magical Mystery Tour sounds like a group that has not only mastered their own original sound and approach to recording, but they seem to know it and are actually enjoying themselves making music and pushing boundaries effortlessly. Even a dour track like "Blue Jay Way" sounds like they are enjoying themselves to me.
     
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  11. abzach

    abzach Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Wonderful album - and the only Capitol compilation I count as a real album.
     
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  12. Culpa

    Culpa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, PA
    Like John Lennon once said, you haven't seen Magical Mystery Tour until you've seen it in black and white; the only way to experience the BBC's original artistic intent. :)
     
  13. milankey

    milankey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, Ohio, USA
    I remember sitting in my teenage bedroom, playing this album (mine was mono) and going through the enclosed book again and again.
    The book was a very nice addition to the LP.
     
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  14. wgriel

    wgriel Forum Resident

    Location:
    bc, canada
    Yes, it’s the same for me: this was the very first LP I bought with my own money. I’ve always loved it.
     
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  15. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur!

    Location:
    Lotus Land
    All of the tunes on the MMT LP are more or less psychedelic, so they hang together well. The only change I would have made is spreading the film tunes over both sides and integrating the singles along the way. You could also add "Only a Northern Song" to give George another song.

    The early 1968 tunes are moving away from psychedelia. Maybe "Across the Universe" and "The Inner Light" could have fit on MMT if you want to reinstate "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane" on Pepper.
     
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  16. John Porcellino

    John Porcellino Forum Resident

    Location:
    Beloit, WI
    Some days it's my fave Fabs lp, alternating with the White one. I love the looseness of the tracks Flying and Rich Man, and would have enjoyed a whole Beatles album in this style before they moved on to the more "rock-y" White Album.

    Ironically (I'm in the US), my vinyl copy is a Parlophone. Bought it as a teen in the early 80s... I was fascinated by the booklet and the package as a whole. Wonderful.
     
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  17. John Porcellino

    John Porcellino Forum Resident

    Location:
    Beloit, WI
    Re mono vs stereo, overall I prefer the stereo mostly because the phasing on Mother Should Know sounds awful to my ears. But many tracks are fantastic in mono. This is the first one though where I usually put on the stereo version.
     
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  18. Spaghettiows

    Spaghettiows Forum Resident

    Location:
    Silver Creek, NY
    When I was a kid, I was fascinated with the surreal gatefold photos of the film and the descriptions of the events in the film.

    What a disappointment when I finally saw the movie years later.
     
  19. HfxBob

    HfxBob Forum Resident

    I have to admit I don't really get this 'canon' thing. Can you please explain why it's canon?
     
  20. HfxBob

    HfxBob Forum Resident

    But can a compilation be a 'real album'?
     
  21. freemanl

    freemanl Bass Lover

    Location:
    Central New Jersey
    I was about 10 when this album hit the radio waves. I was a fairly savvy music appreciation-ist at the time, having been exposed to many types of music (and I knew what I liked) .
    But I was happily jolted when I heard 'I Am The Walrus'. It was spacey, fun, musically dense, and it grooved. To me it really marked the end of the 'Poppy' Beatles sound which I liked, but didn't love.

    Then when I heard the smooth, jazzy ending to Magical Mystery Tour I thought, Wow, this is nice!'
     
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  22. John Porcellino

    John Porcellino Forum Resident

    Location:
    Beloit, WI
    Because it's the only Capitol album that was included when they made the switch to cds and dropped all the others. The Capitol version is THE version now, worldwide.
     
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  23. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    When the Beatles first release their music on CD in 1987 [and 1988 for Past Masters], they standardized the catalog basically following the UK versions of the albums, with the addition of MMT and Past Masters, rather than the hodgepodge of US vs. UK vs. Canadian vs. German vs. Japanese vs. wherever releases that came out in the 60's and 70's.

    Thus if you buy those 13 albums + Past Masters, you have the entire "official" catalog, not counting add-ons such as Anthology 1-3, Yellow Sub Songtrack, Let It Be Naked, Love, BBC 1-2, Live at Hollywood Bowl, etc. Those additional releases can be considered "supplemental" or non-canon releases.

    The term "canon" I believe is borrowed from [as Wikipedia puts it in their entry on Canon - Wikipedia ]:
    • Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as "official" in a fictional universe's fan base
     
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  24. jmxw

    jmxw Fab Forum Fan

    Actually, it's not the Capitol version that is THE version. It's closer to the Horzu version, as I understand it.

    They used a different stereo mix of Strawberry Fields Forever [from 1971] and included a true stereo version of [if I recall correctly] All You Need Is Love and Baby You're A Rich Man.
     
  25. nosticker

    nosticker Forum Guy

    Location:
    Ringwood, NJ
    For an album that was not conceived as "an album"--which surprised me years after I heard it--the songs hang together amazingly well.
    The first stereo and mono US pressing sound great to my ears, too.
    What's not to like?


    Dan
     
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