Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour” released 50 years ago on this date, November 27th 1967, US LP version (the UK release was a double EP). This album another gem from my Aunt Jeanie’s collection and includes the 24-page booklet of photo stills and a comic strip synopsis of the plot from the Magical Mystery Tour movie. Capitol Records eventually stopped including the booklet in its subsequent pressings of the album. The unscripted, made-for-TV movie originally aired on BBC1 in December 1967 (and was a public and critical disaster) and in US theaters in 1974. I think I saw the film sometime back in the 80′s – maybe it was running on our local PBS station – and I remember thinking it really didn’t make any sense.

The album hit #1 in the US and was nominated for a Grammy in 1968. Side A of Magical Mystery Tour contains songs from the movie, including the title track and the crazy, surrealistic and amazing “I Am the Walrus.” The B-side is a collection of Beatles’ singles from 1967, each one a perfectly crafted pop song, richly layered, experimental and melodic: “Hello, Goodbye,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Penny Lane,” “Baby, You’re a Rich Man” and “All You Need Is Love.”