(Lennon/McCartney)
First released: November 27, 1967, on the US Magical Mystery Tour album
Recording Information
Location: Abbey Road Studios, London
Dates: April 25, 1967;
April 26, 1967;
April 27, 1967;
May 3, 1967;
November 7, 1967
Musicians and Instruments Played
Paul McCartney - bass, piano, lead vocal
John Lennon - rhythm guitar, harmony vocal
George Harrison - lead guitar, harmony vocal
Ringo Starr - drums, tambourine
Mal Evans and Neil Aspinall - cowbell, maracas, tambourine
David Mason, Elgar Howarth, Roy Copestake, and John Wilbraham - trumpets
(Lennon/McCartney)
First released: November 27, 1967, on the US Magical Mystery Tour album
Recording Information
Location: Abbey Road Studios, London
Dates: September 6, 1967;
September 25, 1967;
September 26, 1967;
September 27, 1967;
October 20, 1967
Musicians and Instruments Played
Paul McCartney - bass, piano, acoustic guitar, recorder, lead vocal
John Lennon - harmonica
George Harrison - acoustic guitar, harmonica
Ringo Starr - drums, maracas, finger cymbals
Christopher Taylor, Richard Taylor, and Jack Ellory - flutes
Paul: "I think I was writing about someone like the Maharishi. His detractors called him a fool. Because of his giggle, he wasn't taken too seriously... I was sitting at the piano in my father's house in Liverpool hitting a D6 chord, and I made up 'Fool on the Hill'."
Other Information
- Paul got the idea for this walking on Primrose Hill with his dog and Alistair Taylor. As they came up over the hill, a man in a raincoat came out of nowhere and said, "What a wonderful view!" Paul looked away for a moment, and when he turned back around, the man in the raincoat had completely disappeared.
(Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey)
First released: November 27, 1967, on the US Magical Mystery Tour album
Recording Information
Location: Abbey Road Studios, London
Dates: September 8, 1967;
September 28, 1967
Musicians and Instruments Played
John Lennon - Mellotron, organ
Paul McCartney - bass, guitar
George Harrison - guitar
Ringo Starr - drums, maracas
Other Information
- This was the first song to be credited to all four Beatles.
- This was originally titled "Aerial Tour Instrumental" after a scene in the film for Magical Mystery Tour.
(Harrison)
First released: November 27, 1967
Recording Information
Location: Abbey Road Studios, London
Dates: September 6, 1967;
September 7, 1967;
October 6, 1967
Musicians and Instruments Played
George Harrison - hammond organ, lead vocal, harmony vocal
John Lennon - backing vocal
Paul McCartney - bass, backing vocal
Ringo Starr - drums, tambourine
Unknown musician - cello
George: "Derek Taylor got held up. He rang to say he'd be late. I told him that the house was in Blue Jay Way, and he said he could find it okay. So I waited and waited. I felt really
knackered with the flight, but I didn't want to go to sleep until he came. To keep myself awake, just as a joke to pass the time while I waited, I wrote a song about waiting for him in Blue Jay Way."
(Lennon/McCartney)
First released: November 27, 1967, on the US Magical Mystery Tour album
Recording Information
Location: Chappell Studios, London; Abbey Road Studios, London
Dates: August 22, 1967;
August 23, 1967;
September 16, 1967;
September 29, 1967
Musicians and Instruments Played
Paul McCartney - bass, piano, lead vocal, backing vocal
John Lennon - organ, backing vocal
George Harrison - guitar, backing vocal
Ringo Starr - drums, tambourine
Paul: "I've always hated generation gaps. I always feel sorry for a parent or child that doesn't understand each other. I was advocating peace between the generations. In 'Your Mother Should Know,' I was basically trying to say your mother might know more than you think she does. Give her credit."
Other Information
- Paul got the title for this from the movie A Taste of Honey.
- Paul intended this to be on the Our World broadcast on the 25th of June, but John's "All You Need is Love" was used on that instead.
(Lennon/McCartney)
First released: November 24, 1967, on a single in the UK
Recording Information
Location: Abbey Road Studios, London
September 5, 1967: Sixteen takes of the basic rhythm track were recorded.
September 6, 1967: More of Paul's bass and Ringo's drums and a lead vocal of John's were overdubbed onto take sixteen from the day before.
September 27, 1967: Orchestral instruments and a choir were overdubbed onto the track.
Musicians and Instruments Played
John Lennon - Mellotron, lead vocal
Paul McCartney - bass, backing vocal
George Harrison - tambourine, backing vocal
Ringo Starr - drums
Session musicians - violins, cellos, contra bass clarinet, horns
John: "'Walrus' is just saying a dream. The words don't mean a lot. People draw so many conclusions, and it's ridiculous. What does it really mean - 'I am the eggman'? It could have been the pudding basin for all I care. It's not that serious."
Other Information
- John said that the inspiration for this song came from the poem "Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll.
- This song was banned by the BBC because of the line about knickers and the suspicion that the chant at the end was, "Smoke pot, smoke pot, everybody smoke pot." (It wasn't.)
(Lennon/McCartney)
First released: November 24, 1967, on a UK single
Recording Information
Location: Abbey Road Studios, London
October 2, 1967: Fourteen takes of the basic rhythm track were recorded.
October 19, 1967: Two guitar parts, Paul's vocal, and John and George's backing vocals were overdubbed onto take fourteen.
October 20, 1967: Violas were overdubbed onto the track.
October 25, 1967: Paul's bass was overdubbed onto the track.
November 2, 1967: Another bass overdub was added on.
Musicians and Instruments Played
Paul McCartney - bass, piano, bongos, conga drum, lead and backing vocal
John Lennon - lead guitar, organ, backing vocal
George Harrison - lead guitar, tambourine, backing vocal
Ringo Starr - drums, maracas
Session musicians - violas
Paul: "The answer to everything is simple. It's a song about everything and nothing. If you have black, you have to have white. That's the amazing thing about life."
Other Information
- John hated the song "Hello Goodbye," and it annoyed him that his song "I Am the Walrus" was the B side of the single and "Hello Goodbye" was the A side.
- The BBC wouldn't show the "Hello Goodbye" video in the UK because The Beatles lip-synched the vocals, and that was forbidden by the British Musicians' Union.
(Lennon/McCartney)
First released: February 13, 1967 on a US single
Recording Information
Location: Abbey Road Studios, London
November 24, 1966: The first take of the song was recorded.
November 28, 1966: Three more takes were recorded.
November 29, 1966: Takes 5 and 6 were recorded. John overdubbed an experimental vocal onto take six.
December 8, 1966: The Beatles decided to remake the song. Fourteen takes of the new rhythm track were recorded.
December 9, 1966: Drum sounds and backward cymbals were overdubbed.
December 15, 1966: The orchestra part was overdubbed.
December 21, 1966: More of John's vocals and a piano was overdubbed onto the track.
Musicians and Instruments Played
John Lennon - lead guitar, harpsichord, lead vocal
Paul McCartney - bass, piano, flute, bongos, timpani, Mellotron
George Harrison - lead guitar, timpani, bongos, swordmandel
Ringo Starr - drums, backward cymbal
Mal Evans - tambourine
Session musicians - trumpets, cellos, alto trumpet
John: "The awareness apparently trying to be expressed is - let's say in one way I was always hip. I was hip in kindergarten. I was different from the others. I was different all my life. The second verse goes, 'No one I think is in my tree.' Well, I was too shy and self-doubting. Nobody seems to be as hip as me is what I was saying. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius - 'I mean it must be high or low,' the next line. There was something wrong with me, I thought, because I seemed to see things other people didn't see. I thought I was crazy or an egomaniac for claiming to see things other people didn't see."
Other Information
- John's original opening line of the song was "Let me take you back" instead of "Let me take you down."
- John did not say "I buried Paul" at the end of the song. He said "cranberry sauce." You can hear his words clearly on the version of "Strawberry Fields Forever" on the Anthology 2 CD.
(Lennon/McCartney)
First released: February 13, 1967, on a single in the US and UK
Recording Information
Location: Abbey Road Studios, London
December 29, 1966: Six takes of the main piano part were recorded. Paul did some overdubbing alone in the studio to one of the tracks afterwards.
December 30, 1966: Paul overdubbed a lead vocal, while John sang backing vocal.
January 4, 1967: Another piano part (this time it was played by John) was overdubbed, and another Paul vocal was overdubbed.
January 5, 1967: An overdub of a new vocal of Paul's replaced the one from the evening before.
January 6, 1967: Overdubs of Paul on bass, John on guitar and conga drums, and Ringo on drums were added.
January 9, 1967: Flutes, trumpets, piccolos, and a flugelhorn were overdubbed.
January 10, 1967: The hand bell for the "fireman" lyrics was overdubbed.
January 12, 1967: Trumpets, oboes, and a double bass was overdubbed.
January 17, 1967: Two piccolo overdubs were added.
Musicians and Instruments Played
Paul McCartney - bass, piano, harmonium, tambourine, percussion, lead vocal, backing vocal
John Lennon - piano, rhythm guitar, conga drum, harmony vocal
George Harrison - lead guitar
Ringo Starr - drums, hand bell
George Martin - piano
David Mason - piccolo trumpet
Session musicians - flutes, trumpets, oboes, bass violins
Paul: "We were writing childhood memories - recently faded memories from eight or ten years before, so it was recent nostalgia, pleasant memories for both of us. All the places were still there, because we remembered it so clearly we could have gone on."
Other Information
- "Penny Lane is not only a street, but it's a district. A suburban district where, until age four, I lived with my mother and father. So I was the only Beatle that lived in Penny Lane." - John
- Penny Lane was also a big bus terminal. Paul sang in the choir at St. Barnabas Church, which was across the street from it.
- After "Penny Lane" became a hit for The Beatles, street signs started getting stolen so often that the Liverpool city fathers had to paint the street name on buildings.
(Lennon/McCartney)
First released: July 7, 1967, as the B side of the "All You Need is Love" single
Recording Information
Location: Olympic Sound Studios, London
Date: May 11, 1967
Musicians and Instruments Played
John Lennon - piano, Clavioline, lead vocal, backing vocal
Paul McCartney - bass, piano, harmony vocal
George Harrison - lead guitar, tambourine, backing vocal, handclaps
Ringo Starr - drums, maracas, tambourine, handclaps
Eddie Kramer - vibraphone
George: "For a while we thought we were having some influence, and the idea was to show that we, being rich and famous and having all these experiences, had realized that there was a greater thing to be got out of life, and what's the point of having that on your own? You want all your friends and everybody else to do it, too."
Other Information
- The song joined two separate songs - John's bit about "beautiful people" and Paul's "baby you're a rich man" chorus.
- This song was intended for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, but it was bumped. It was reinstated on the 1999 reissue of the soundtrack.
(Lennon/McCartney)
First released: July 7, 1967, as a single in the UK
Recording Information
Location: Olympic Sound Studios, Barnes; Abbey Road Studios, London
June 14, 1967: Thirty-three takes of the song's backing track were recorded.
June 19, 1967: The lead and backing vocals, drums, banjo, and piano were overdubbed.
June 23, 1967: The orchestra performed for the first time, and recorded a number of takes as overdubs.
June 24, 1967: The Beatles and the orchestra made some additions to the rhythm track.
June 25, 1967: Ten rehearsal takes of the song were recorded.
Musicians and Instruments Played
-Backing track
John Lennon - harpsichord
Paul McCartney - string bass
George Harrison - violin
Ringo Starr - drums
-Abbey Road track
John Lennon - vocal
Paul McCartney - bass
George Harrison - guitar
Ringo Starr - drums
George Martin - piano
Session musicians - trumpets, trombones, saxophones, accordion, violins, cellos
-Live performance
John Lennon - lead vocal
Paul McCartney - backing vocal
George Harrison - backing vocal
Studio orchestra
Paul: "We had been told we'd be seen recording it by the whole world at the same time, so we had one message for the world: love. We need more love in the world."
Paul: "'All You Need is Love' was John's song. I threw in a few ideas, as did other members of the group, but it was largely ad libs like singing 'She Loves You' or 'Greensleeves' or silly things like that at the end, and we made those up on the spot."
Other Information
- On the Beatles' performance of "All You Need is Love" on the Our World broadcast, there were some guests, including Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, Gary Leeds, Mick Jagger, and Marianne Faithfull. Mick Jagger sat there and smoked a joint in front of two hundred million viewers, and the next day he was busted for drugs.
- For the broadcast, Paul wore a shirt he had painted himself, and the shirt was stolen shortly after the broadcast.
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