In 1967 the Beatles made a TV movie titled "Magical Mystery Tour". A double EP and a LP were released as a soundtrack. The EP includes most part of the song of the movie. The LP also includes some songs which were not in the movie but released as singles.

Scene from the movie

The first song to be recorded was the title song which was not immediately released also due to the death of manager Brian Epstein, the fifth Beatle. He died of a prescription drug overdose. The rest of the songs were recorded when filming and editing the movie. Also they joined Transcendental Meditation under teacher Maharishi Mahesh Yogi during this period. Paul came up with the title song, "Fool On The Hill" and "Your Mother Should Know", John came up with "I Am The Walrus" and George with "Blue Jay Way". "Hello, Goodbye" by Paul was also a song from the movie but was not released on the EP but only on the LP.

The movie was about a psychedelic bus ride with McCartney's memories of people from Liverpool holidaying on coach tours. The movie was shot at different places in the UK like RAF West Malling, a Royal Air Force base in Kent.

Drawing from the cartoon story that comes with the EP/LP/CD

The songs:

Magical Mystery Tour
It's about holidays from Paul's childhood and the psychedelic bus trips from Ken Kesey with hippies in California since 1964 in a painted bus to promote the hippie culture. Ken Kesey was the men who wrote "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". Pete Townsend of the Who already wrote a song about a magic bus in 1965 that was finally recorded and released in 1968 by the Who titled "Magic Bus".

Your Mother Should Know
Paul wrote this song at home in Cavendish Avenue and playing it on a harmonium for his family for the first time.

I Am The Walrus
The use of a walrus is inspired by the poem below titled "The Walrus And The Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll best known for the books about Alice in Wonderland. The song includes references to Hare Krishna: 

"The sun was shining on the sea, Shining with all his might
He did his very best to make the billows smooth and bright
And this was odd, because it was the middle of the night.

Read the whole poem here.

The Fool On The Hill
Is is not clear if the inspiration for Paul came from a seeing a man on Primrose Hill who just seem to disappear or the Maharishi Guru.

Flying
An instrumental by the band.

Blue Jay Way
George was in LA waiting for his friend Derek Taylor who was lost in the fog and traffic. So George was playing with a hammond organ and composed this one. "Don't Be Long" referred to his waiting for Derek to arrive.

Hello Goodbye
A simple song by Paul about duality. The final "Aloha" chorus is based on the Hawaiian greeting.

Strawberry Fields Forever
Strawberry Field was a salvation army home where John used to play in his youth. At some point the beatles had the idea to make an album about their childhood but that idea was never realised. The song is an outtake of the Sgt. Pepper album

Penny Lane
This street name was already mentioned in an early version of "In My Life" but was not on the final released version. It is now a landmark in Liverpool and everything described in the song like Bioletti's barber shop was once there.

Baby You're A Rich Man
The first part was written by John about beautiful people: Californian hippies. The second part is written by Paul about the rich man probably Brian Epstein who made al lot of money out of the Beatles.

All You Need Is Love
In June 1967 the Beatles were asked to contribute a song to the very first ever global television broadcast: "Our World". John wrote it and understood it had to be a simple message to the world. The segment were the Beatles did their song they were joined by many other artists like the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Moon and Graham Nash.

Original EP Cover

Magical Mystery Tour EP: (#2 in the UK)
Magical Mystery Tour / Your Mother Should Know / I Am The Walrus / The Fool On The Hill / Flying / Blue Jay Way

Original LP cover

Magical Mystery Tour LP/CD: (#1 in the US/#33 in the UK)
Magical Mystery Tour / Your Mother Should Know / I Am The Walrus / The Fool On The Hill / Flying / Blue Jay Way / Hello Goodbye / Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane / Baby You're A Rich Man / All You Need Is Love

Singles:
Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever (#2 UK/#1 NL/#1 US)
All You Need Is Love/Baby You're A Rich Man (#1 in UK, NL and US)
Hello Goodbye/I Am The Walrus (#1 in UK, NL and US)


I Am The Walrus

Promo for the movie

The Fool On The Hill