Collectors Music Reviews

Magical Mystery Tour (Silver Apple SIAP047)

stereo:  Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool On The Hill, Flying, Blue Jay Way, Your Mother Should Know, I Am The Walrus, Hello Goodbye, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Baby You’re A Rich Man, All You Need Is Love

mono:  Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool On The Hill, Flying, Blue Jay Way, Your Mother Should Know, I Am The Walrus, Hello Goodbye, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Baby You’re A Rich Man, All You Need Is Love

Magical Mystery Tour is the final release in this series of US albums.  It is the last Beatles album to be released in both stereo and mono.  Silver Apple present on silver pressed disc the Millennium Remasters needle drop of the two.  The transfer is excellent as is the sound quality.  The stereo in particular sounds lively and it is obvious why mono was the declining format in the late sixties.  This material was released by Parlophone in the UK on two EPs, but Capitol balked at that idea since attempts to release EPs in the US failed.  

Thus the LP contains the songs from the film:  “Magical Mystery Tour,” “The Fool On The Hill,” “Flying,” “Blue Jay Way,” “Your Mother Should Know,” and “I Am The Walrus.”  The balance of the album is comprised of recent singles not found on other LPs:  “Hello Goodbye,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Penny Lane,” “Baby, You’re a Rich Man,” and “All You Need Is Love” round out the album.  The mix on “Strawberry Fields Forever.”  The last three songs on the album, however, were issued in rechanneled stereo on the album, following Capitol’s usual practice. They didn’t request stereo copies of the single songs (except for the newest songs), and so the three songs had to be rechanneled for the stereo LP.

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