Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Traffic in the Magical Mystery Tour

I have always had a slight problem with the Beatles. I can see they are good, but I can't see why they are better than quite a few other groups that were around at the time. It is very like the problem I have with Mozart in the classical world.

Saturday's screening of Magical Mystery Tour was never going to solve my Beatles problem. I wanted to like it, and in many ways it was likeable (helped by the presence of the Bonzos), but it was also a mess. It wasn't helpful that the preceding documentary chose to mirror the film's chaotic structure in a tricksy way rather than explain it.

Even so, I think I shall be buying the DVD, if only for the extras. As reported by the Sacramento Bee, they include a commentary by Paul McCartney. Better than that, they include this among several outtakes:
Traffic – "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" [1:53] - The filming of Traffic acting out their 1967 hit single "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" was commissioned by The Beatles for possible inclusion in Magical Mystery Tour, but was not included in the final edit.
"Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" was the theme song to the coming-of-age film comedy of the same age. You can read about the film and listen to the song elsewhere on this blog.
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1 comment:

  1. Tristan10 October, 2012 23:43

    That's exactly the same issue I have with both The Beatles and Mozart.

    There's so much other good (and often better) music around, why do a few get most of the focus.

    Also along musical lines - I've a copy of Electric Eden waiting to be read after seeing you write about it :)

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