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“MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR”

(SMAL 2835)

Released November 27th, 1967

The Beatles had raised the bar to new heights with the release of their June 1967 album masterpiece “ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band .” The music, artwork, album packaging, and even the look of the group themselves had changed so dramatically with that release that no one would be surprised by anything else the group might have up their sleeves for the future.

Meanwhile, The Beatles were hard at work on a brand new project designed to further "turn on" their world audience, although a major portion of this audience would never experience it until many years later. The project was a new film entitled “Magical Mystery Tour,” which was debuted on British Television on December 26th, 1967. Plans to release it for American audiences were cancelled because of the overall critical slamming it received in the UK. Since American television didn't acquire the rights for broadcast, as far as the US market was concerned, there was no such thing as a “Magical Mystery Tour” movie. Most American fans didn’t know it existed until about a decade later.

What they did know, however, was the music. They knew that very well! With the echoes of “ Sgt. Pepper ” still ringing through the EMI studios, The Beatles took great pains to record six amazing psychedelic songs as the soundtrack to the film. The production values were still very high as they took their time to perfect these new audio creations.

According to the November 25th, 1967 issue of Billboard magazine, Capitol Records made a “decision to issue the six soundtrack recordings from The Beatles’ forthcoming TV fantasy spectacular, ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ on an album in the US” These six songs would comprise side one, and the five tracks the group released as singles that year would make up side two. This decision was deemed a wise one since, on the coat-tails of the incredible success of “ Sgt. Pepper ,” American audiences were sure to jump on with both feet.

And jump they did. With an elaborately packaged fold-out album cover, complete with a 24-page booklet featuring costumed Beatles in a variety of ‘far-out’ poses as well as storyboard cartoon comics that tell the story of their "mystery" journey, the album was viewed as an incredibly imaginative follow-up to “ Sgt. Pepper ” that seemed to take the “summer of love” to yet another level. While the liner notes explained that the music was “from a color television film,” this apparently went unnoticed for most American fans. The music, along with the vivid imagery of the elaborate packaging, was more than enough for what the senses could handle. What better follow-up to “ Pepper ” could there possibly be?  

Origin Of The Album

To explain the origin of the album is to actually explain the origin of the film, which was the primary objective of what was to be their next project. “Privately, I’d got a camera and I would go out in the park and make films,” explains Paul McCartney. “We’d show our little home movies to each other, and we’d put crazy soundtracks on them. I used to do a bit of editing at home – I had a little machine and I was getting very into it. So for the next Beatles project, I thought: ‘Let’s go and make a film – what a great thing to do.’ It was all done on whims.”

Album Packaging

All in all, the artwork was colorful and the packaging much more elaborate than that of the usual '60s pop album. As with their music, The Beatles raised the bar very high when it came to album covers which made the competition think of ways to top what they were offering their fans. As for The Beatles, after the “ Pepper ” and “Magical Mystery Tour” sleeves, how could they possibly top it? Maybe just a plain white jacket with nothing on it at all!

The idea of converting the film’s soundtrack into a full album was copied throughout the world, even Britain succumbing to the concept in December of 1976. Nine years later, the era of EP’s was dying out in the UK so Parlophone had to recognize that the album format for “Magical Mystery Tour” was a good one after all.

Success Of The Album

“Magical Mystery Tour” eventually went on to sell over six million copies in America alone, which showed Capitol to have made a very smart move in packaging the film’s music as an album instead of an EP. While their recently renegotiated contract with The Beatles stipulated that future released albums were to contain the same amount of material in the US as in Britain, American fans didn’t feel "ripped off" by the album only containing eleven songs. Most of the Capitol Beatles albums up to this point only featured eleven anyways, and most fans in the states were not aware that this was a makeshift album. Having fewer tracks than “ Sgt. Pepper ” surely didn’t affect album sales.

  Written and compiled by Dave Rybaczewski

CLICK ON THE SONG TITLES BELOW TO READ THE IN-DEPTH HISTORY OF THE SONGS ON "MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR"

• MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR
• THE FOOL ON THE HILL
• BLUE JAY WAY
• YOUR MOTHER SHOULD KNOW
• I AM THE WALRUS
• HELLO GOODBYE
• STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
• BABY YOU'RE A RICH MAN
• ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

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‘Magical Mystery Tour’: Inside Beatles’ Psychedelic Album Odyssey

By Douglas Wolk

Douglas Wolk

The year leading up to the release of the Magical Mystery Tour album in November 1967 was turbulent but fantastically fertile for the Beatles – they were working on its songs more or less simultaneously with the ones that ended up on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. With touring no longer a question, they had the luxury of fine-tuning their songs at length in the studio; the same band that had recorded its first album in a single day was now tinkering with individual recordings for weeks on end. 

If Sgt. Pepper was a blueprint for the Beatles’ new utopianism – a culture of vivid sensory experience, for which they could be the entertainers and court jesters – the Magical Mystery Tour project was an attempt to literally take that idea into the world. Paul McCartney ‘s concept was that the Beatles would drive around the British countryside with their friends, film the result and shape that into a movie over which they would have total creative control. But like a lot of Sixties attempts to turn utopian theory into practice, the movie fell on its nose: The Beatles simply weren’t filmmakers.

“You gotta do everything with a point or an aim, but we tried this one without anything – with no point and no aim,” McCartney admitted the day after it premiered. The Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack, on the other hand, did what the movie was supposed to do – despite being a grab bag of the group’s 1967 singles and songs recorded specifically for the film, it holds together surprisingly well as an addendum to Pepper , giving us an image of the psychedelic Beatles refining their enhanced perceptions into individual pop songs so potent that they changed the whole landscape of music.

The songs that would end up on Magical Mystery Tour began taking shape in late 1966, well before McCartney was struck by his cinematic vision. From November 24th, 1966, to mid-January 1967, the Beatles worked extensively on a pair of new songs, intended for what would become Sgt. Pepper : John Lennon ‘s “Strawberry Fields Forever” and McCartney’s “Penny Lane,” both reminiscences of the Liverpool of their childhood. By the end of January, though, EMI was demanding a new Beatles single – there hadn’t been one since “Yellow Submarine” the previous August, an impossibly long gap in those days. George Martin wasn’t happy about pulling “Penny Lane” and “”Strawberry Fields Forever” off the album-in-progress, but there wasn’t much else in the can. Released on February 17th, the single was a worldwide hit, and a statement of purpose for the rest of the Beatles’ recordings that year: reflective, druggy, a little nostalgic, and more inventively orchestrated and arranged than anything else around.

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The Beatles look out of the Magical Mystery Tour coach skylight, on location in England in September 1967. Apple Films Ltd/Channel Thirteen hide caption

The Beatles look out of the Magical Mystery Tour coach skylight, on location in England in September 1967.

On Friday night on PBS, Great Performances presents a documentary about the making of a Beatles TV special from 1967 — Magical Mystery Tour — then shows a restored version of that special . Magical Mystery Tour has the music from the U.S. album of the same name, but it's not the album. It's a musical comedy fantasy about the Beatles and a busload of tourists taking a trip to unknown destinations.

It was written and produced in 1967, which was an incredibly fertile period for the Beatles. "Strawberry Fields Forever" came out that year, as well as "Penny Lane" and the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. That was followed, a month later, by the live TV premiere of "All You Need is Love," broadcast globally. The Beatles, it seemed, could do no wrong. And then they did Magical Mystery Tour, which was televised by the BBC the day after Christmas — on Boxing Day — as a holiday special. A quarter of the British population watched it — and many of those hated it.

Back then, the 53-minute program was filmed in color but wasn't broadcast that way. Imagine the Sgt. Pepper cover in black and white, and you can imagine how much was lost in the translation. Reception to the TV special was so poor that the show wasn't even picked up in the United States — just the soundtrack. Eventually, the special was syndicated to some local TV stations and toured the college film circuit along with Reefer Madness. That's when I first saw it. But on a national level, Magical Mystery Tour has never been televised in the United States — until now.

On Friday — as always, check local listings — Magical Mystery Tour will be preceded by the new one-hour companion documentary , Magical Mystery Tour Revisited. This may be the first case on record in which a documentary about a film is longer than the film itself — but it's worth it.

The documentary, produced by Jonathan Clyde of Apple Films and directed by Francis Hanly, is wonderfully thorough. It explains how the idea for Magical Mystery Tour came about, and how Paul McCartney originally drew the concept as a pie chart — then shows the chart. It covers the origins of each number written specifically for the show, from the title song and "The Fool on the Hill" to "I Am the Walrus" and "Your Mother Should Know." It presents lots of outtakes and new interviews with McCartney and Ringo Starr, as well as Martin Scorsese, Terry Gilliam and Peter Fonda. It also includes a vintage interview with George Harrison, whose assessment of the 1967 TV special is as unfiltered as the program itself.

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It's a fine documentary — better, to be honest, than Magical Mystery Tour itself. But Magical Mystery Tour is so much fun to watch if you're a Beatles fan, that it serves up one joy after another. John Lennon serving shovels of spaghetti as a waiter in a dream sequence. John and George in a strip club, watching the house band singing a song called "Death Cab for Cutie" — which, incidentally, inspired the name of a much more recent rock band. And the closing production number, "Your Mother Should Know," which has the Beatles in white suits, dancing in unison down a giant staircase.

In addition to the PBS double feature, Magical Mystery Tour is also now available as a deluxe boxed set from Apple. It includes Blu-ray and DVD versions of the original special, a vastly shortened version of the documentary, and lots of extras, including outtakes and complete scenes that were cut out of the program before its 1967 premiere. These extras are every bit as entertaining as Magical Mystery Tour, and one segment is a minor revelation: singer-songwriter Ivor Cutler, seated at an ornate white organ in the middle of the English countryside, performing his composition "I'm Going in a Field." It must have been hypnotically bizarre then. It's hypnotically bizarre now .

It's no secret that I'm almost ridiculous in my enthusiasm for the Beatles. But for me, all this new Magical Mystery Tour material -- the restored TV special, the documentary, the boxed set — is like a perfectly timed holiday gift. The boxed set is expensive — but the Great Performances double feature is free. All you need is ... a TV set.

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Why the Beatles’ ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ Was Scattered, but Essential

The Beatles  were on a roll in 1967.

They not only had released what many fans consider their best-ever album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band , they also were writing and recording new songs at such a pace that those fans – not to mention radio and retailers – could hardly be expected to keep up with them.

In fact, six weeks after Sgt. Pepper's came out in late May 1967, the Beatles released a new single, "All You Need Is Love," backed with "Baby, You're a Rich Man." Those two songs, along with a pair of tracks recorded at the start of the Sgt. Pepper's sessions and other more recent tracks, ended up on the U.S. edition of Magical Mystery Tour , which was released on Nov. 27, 1967.

In the U.K., the 11-song LP was pared down to a six-track double EP that came out almost two weeks later, on Dec. 8, and included only the songs recorded specifically for the Magical Mystery Tour film project the group aired on British television that Christmas. The remaining five cuts, pushed to Side Two of the U.S. release, were released as singles between February 1967 and all the way up to just a few days before the album came out.

It's a tricky release history that suits the scattershot nature of Magical Mystery Tour in general.

Following the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on May 26, 1967, the Beatles – no doubt feeling invincible after the rapturous reception to the album – wanted to make a movie about themselves that included new music. The idea was to load a whole bunch of people onto a bus (including the four Beatles, John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ) and take them on a day-long trip. Along the way, they would stop so the group could perform, or rather lip-sync to, some of those new songs.

The movie, a 52-minute special that aired on the BBC on Dec. 26, 1967, was a notorious mess . There was no script, no director to speak of and no discernible point to the self-indulgence on display. There were new Beatles songs, however, and that was enough to salvage the project.

Still, as an album ,  Magical Mystery Tour  feels like a letdown after the recent creative landmarks Rubber Soul , Revolver and Sgt. Pepper – and the ones to come, like the White Album (their next proper LP released the following year) and Abbey Road . And that's mainly because it was never intended as an album, but an EP designed to tie in to a holiday TV special.

Watch the Beatles' 'Penny Lane' Video

So, while Side One of the album – which includes the title track, "The Fool on the Hill," "Flying," "Blue Jay Way," "Your Mother Should Know" and "I Am the Walrus" – flows as an occasionally spotty soundtrack, Side Two sounds like what it is: a hodgepodge of recordings the group assembled over the past year. They're all great songs, but within the LP's context, "Hello, Goodbye," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Penny Lane," "Baby, You're a Rich Man" and "All You Need Is Love" come off like one of those sketchy Beatles albums Capitol Records put together in the States from leftover U.K. singles and album tracks.

Still, Magical Mystery Tour completed fans' collections by gathering some great songs that weren't previously available on any album – especially "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane," both of which were recorded for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band but released five months before the LP came out to satisfy record-company demands for new product.

And it is an essential collection of Beatles songs, even if the concept and context is occasionally flawed when measured alongside the band's other albums from the era. Not that it mattered much to fans.  Magical Mystery Tour  shot straight up the U.S. chart and stayed at No. 1 for two months. And these days it's considered a part of the Beatles' core catalog; the U.S. album has been remastered and reissued along with the group's 11 original U.K. albums.

It belongs there. Just don't expect it to fall together as seamlessly as the others.

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Magical Mystery Tour

Released 26th December 1968

"We said to everyone: 'Be on the coach on Monday morning.' I told them all, 'We're going to make it up as we go along, but don't worry - it'll be all right.'" Paul

"It was good. We would get off the bus: 'Let's stop here,' and go and do this and that. Go on the beach, draw a heart, dance. Then we'd put the music to it. It took two weeks to film and a long time to edit." Ringo

"In the time that had elapsed since A Hard Day's Night and Help! - although it was probably only two years - it was as if we'd gone through five hundred years mentally. We didn't see any way of making a similar film of four jolly lads nipping around singing catchy little tunes. It had to be something that had more meaning." George

"They thought we were stepping out of our roles. They'd like just to keep us in cardboard suits that were designed for us. Whatever image they have for themselves, they're disappointed if we don't fulfil it. And we never do, so there's always a lot of disappointment." John

Away in the sky, beyond the clouds, live 4 or 5 Magicians. By casting wonderful spells they turn the Most Ordinary Coach Trip into a Magical Mystery Tour. If you let yourself go, the Magicians will take you away to marvellous places. Maybe you've been on a Magical Mystery Tour without even realising it. Are you ready to go?

The Beatles produced this film around a coach journey across England. It features a series of musical vignettes, interspersed with scenes of comedy and fantasy. It includes tracks such as Magical Mystery Tour, The Fool On the Hill, Your Mother Should Know, and I Am The Walrus.

" Having been involved in feature films such as A Hard Day’s Night and Help! The Beatles wanted to make a film that was in keeping with the spirit of the times. So in the summer of 1967 we came up with a scenario that would keep the project extremely freewheeling.

At the time Richard Lester, the director of our first two films, was quoted in Rolling Stone as saying “ They should make their next film themselves, just the way they make an album. I mean that it should grow organically rather than having the professional cult of film making superimposed upon it. ”

I took over most of the responsibility of pulling this together. We remembered mystery tours from when we were growing up in Liverpool which would take people on a bus trip without them knowing the ultimate destination. So that’s what we did. We wrote a basic story outline starting with a hand drawn pie-chart, recorded some songs, engaged some likely looking actors and along with a few friends set off in our brightly coloured bus heading towards the south west coast of England.

Most of the dialogue was improvised and would involve us talking to the actors, deciding a basic idea for a scene and filming it right away. None of us knew our destination, as in the mystery tours of our childhood, but we had a very enjoyable few days and then returned to London to sort out all the footage we had shot.

It turned out to be a wacky, impromptu romp that puzzled a few people at the time but as the years have gone by it now stands as a fond reminder of that period in our lives."

Paul McCartney, August 2012.

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Fab furore: Is it time to re-evaluate the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour?

On Monday 11 September 1967, two hours later than scheduled, a coach pulled out of Allsop Place, just behind Baker Street tube station. Filling 40 of its 43 seats were actors, technicians and camera operators – along with Paul McCartney , and a crowd of friends and associates of the Beatles. John Lennon , George Harrison and Ringo Starr were soon picked up near their commuter-belt homes in Surrey – whereupon the coach headed for an inconclusive and ill-starred trek around the West Country, ending in the less-than-glamorous environs of Newquay in Cornwall.

Just over three months later, after further filming at a Kent airfield, BBC1 screened the hour-long film the Beatles titled Magical Mystery Tour . It went out on Boxing Day at 8.35pm and 15 million people tuned in – but, presented with a bamboozling melange of unconnected scenes, often shakily shot and seemingly stuck together at random, most were not best pleased. Indeed, history records that the BBC's so-called reaction index – a number arrived at after quizzing viewers about what they had seen – scored its lowest-ever rating: 23 out of 100.

This rum turn of events, only a few months after the death of Beatles manager Brian Epstein , has long been seen as the Beatles' one true disaster. "Beatles mystery tour baffles viewers" was the headline in the Mirror, flagging up claims that "by the thousand, viewers protested to the BBC". The Express called it "tasteless nonsense" and "blatant rubbish". In the States, NBC cancelled an agreement to show the film on its broadcastleaving a print of it to be passed round US universities; it would not be shown again in Britain for over a decade. Only the Guardian offered any respite, praising "an inspired freewheeling achievement … a kind of fantasy morality play about the grossness, warmth and stupidity of the (Beatles') audience".

Anthony Wall, editor of the BBC arts programme Arena since 1985, was in his mid-teens back then. At his home in south London, he sat watching Magical Mystery Tour with his family and some neighbours, whose angry bafflement was of a piece with what would pour forth the next day. "I am that textbook 16-year-old who sat there in the front room, with the indoor aerial in one hand, thinking I was watching something completely wondrous," he says. "I can remember looking back at my mother and the neighbours, who were saying, 'Absolutely shocking – outrageous.'"

Wall goes on: "For years, you had to be a bit trepidatious about saying you liked Magical Mystery Tour. It was the same thing as Carry On films and spaghetti westerns being regarded with absolute contempt – whereas they're now seen as masterpieces. To say you liked Magical Mystery Tour was almost an indication that there was something wrong with you. It's taken all this time for it to be reassessed."

Talking me through a film still seen by many as a yawn-inducing mish-mash, Wall reels off some lofty reference points. "There was a sense that anything went. You could have the avant garde of [Michelangelo] Antonioni at one end, where everything would be perfectly orchestrated and fashioned; and, down at the other end, you've got Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters , or William Burroughs . The big point for me was when I saw Un Chien Andalou, the Buñuel and Dalí film , at much the same time. Magical Mystery Tour is a kind of acid-rock, 1967 version of that."

This is the essential argument of Magical Mystery Tour Revisited , an Arena programme that will be screened next week, just as a spruced-up version of the film, complete with outtakes and a commentary from McCartney, is released on DVD. Directed by Francis Hanly, director of the acclaimed recent series Jonathan Meades on France , the Arena film will feature McCartney and Starr, along with such appreciative voices as Martin Scorsese and Paul Merton . It puts the film in the context of the cutting-edge company the Beatles kept in bohemian London, and suggests that when their visions collided with a Britain still clinging to sensibilities of the war, there was always going to be trouble.

"Magical Mystery Tour was quite easy to dismiss at the time," says Hanly, "and it subsequently hasn't had a great press. I think maybe because people haven't seen it. The other films, Help! and A Hard Day's Night , have been knocking around, and they have a degree of professionalism – but to my mind, this is more interesting as a document of the band. It's got that little bit more edge to it."

The film remains a challenging viewing experience. When it starts, there are fleeting signs of a conventional, if amateurish comedy: Starr boarding the coach with his irritable Auntie Jessie; a camped-up introduction from a tour guide named Jolly Jimmy Johnson, a role for the grim-faced Scottish poet and humorist Ivor Cutler . But within about five minutes, the film begins leaping around with no regard for narrative sense.

The editing is often awful. None of its early comic threads are developed. Some scenes aren't just inexplicable, but arm-chewingly tedious. By the end, all that seems to point to redemption are such musical interludes as Lennon's I Am the Walrus and McCartney's The Fool on the Hill . But even these aren't up to snuff: Harrison's Blue Jay Way , a distracted evocation of staying up late in LA, is notable only for the fact it repeats the line "Don't be long" 29 times. In that sense, the Arena film and the DVD rerelease might be seen as proof of the revisionism regularly perpetrated by the two surviving Beatles and Apple Records (see also 2003's Let It Be … Naked , the stripped-down recasting of the Beatles' worst album).

And yet, and yet. To its devotees, Magical Mystery Tour may be flawed, but it has plenty of merit: if it spurns the imperatives of storytelling and simple coherence, that stands as proof of the Beatles' creative bravery and their understanding of countercultural cinema. "For me," says Scorsese in the Arena documentary, "the freedom of the picture was very important."

Moreover, its key element is an apparent drive to send up an England of decaying authority, bad food and anti-climactic entertainment: the country in which the Beatles had grown up, embodied by the hollering sergeant played by their actor friend Victor Spinetti; the dream sequence in which Lennon serves bucketfuls of vomit-like spaghetti; and the very idea of a mystery tour on a coach. Not for nothing, perhaps, did Harrison claim that the one group who later developed the Beatles' essential sensibility was Monty Python.

Gavrik Losey, now 74, was Magical Mystery Tour's assistant producer. The son of the Hollywood film-maker Joseph Losey, who was chased out of the US during the McCarthy era, he came to the film after the crawl around the West Country had ended. "There was nobody there blowing a whistle and stamping their feet and saying, 'Do this and do that'," says Losey, who, although not as fulsome in his praise as some, goes along with the idea of the film as a Pythonesque social commentary. "It remains a very interesting observation of English society from the point of view of four very bright guys who had the money to pay for it." As soon as he began work, he says, the Beatles "kept talking to me about their past experiences, and how it was when they were little".

Losey has vivid memories of the constant improvisations. "John decided that for the race scene, he wanted six midget wrestlers," he says. "I got one of the girls who was working for NEMS [the Beatles' management company] out of bed and said, 'I don't know how you do this, but have you got some way of producing six midget wrestlers by midday tomorrow?' And a car arrived with six midget wrestlers in it. They had people on their books who could do these things."

There were also, he adds, the normal disasters of film-making: "Like when the generators collapsed before the formation dancers had to go home. Bribes had to be produced, and signed pictures. They were Come Dancing dancers, the real thing, brought down from Newcastle, Cardiff and Birmingham. We had about 20 busloads. The Beatles were a great calling card." The whirling couples appeared in the finale, soundtracked by McCartney's Your Mother Should Know, along with a posse of female RAF cadets. This section, says Wall, calls to mind a recent all-singing, all-dancing spectacular.

"What the Beatles grew up with was a Britain that has increasingly disappeared," he says. "But I think we saw a revival of it in the opening of the Olympics, which I thought was like a kind of grand staged version of Magical Mystery Tour. It was full of English things: nurses, policemen, mills, whatever." He sums up the film as "a softly satirised presentation of the culture they grew up in. They celebrate it but take the piss. All this Come Dancing stuff, the girls in uniforms, and coming down a staircase in white suits is kind of ridiculous, but they're also revelling in the peculiarity of it."

And that, he reckons, is the thread that joins the Beatles, Buñuel and Dalí, and the end of the pier. "All light entertainment," he says, "is only one step away from surrealism."

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The Meaning Behind “Magical Mystery Tour” by The Beatles and the Subtext Running Just Beneath the Surface

by Jim Beviglia February 27, 2024, 8:00 am

Four individual movies about the four Beatles due in 2027? Sounds like a fascinating project, just like the one the Fab Four embarked on when they made the film Magical Mystery Tour in 1967. Although the film served as fodder for critics, the title track delivered a jolt of psychedelic energy and still stands as one of The Beatles ‘ most strikingly original singles.

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What does this song mean? What exactly is a “Magical Mystery Tour”? And why was the film that contained it one of the few artistic endeavors by The Beatles met with less than universal acclaim? Let’s take a look at the origin and meaning of this classic.

“Tour” of Duty

It’s a common misconception that The Beatles made the Magical Mystery Tour film because they insisted on pressing on with some project following the death of their manager Brian Epstein . In truth, the “Magical Mystery Tour” song sessions took place months before Epstein’s death in September 1967, and filming for the movie was already underway when he died.

In any case, Paul McCartney did indeed push for the band to continue a busy pace in 1967, perhaps to stave off the lethargy that might have accompanied their lack of touring. Hence, the sessions for “Magical Mystery Tour” took place just days after the group had put a bow on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band . McCartney explained in the Barry Miles’ book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now what inspired the song:

“John and I remembered mystery tours, and we always thought this was a fascinating idea: getting on a bus and not knowing where you were going. Rather romantic and slightly surreal! All these old dears with the blue rinses going off to mysterious places. Generally there’s a crate of ale in the boot of the coach and you sing lots of songs. It’s a charabanc trip. So we took that idea and used it as a basis for a song and the film.”

John Lennon and McCartney wrote the song from that basic idea. The recording manages to sound both refreshingly old-fashioned, thanks to the bright, shiny brass, and eerily forward-looking, courtesy of the somewhat unsettling coda. It was yet another example of The Beatles’ ability to meld different music styles, all while keeping things undeniably catchy. The group released the song as a single in the United Kingdom to precede the film’s release, and it went to No. 2 in the British charts.

As for the film, The Beatles created a surreal pastiche that felt less like a coherent film and more like a collection of skits. Its avant-garde silliness isn’t all that unlike what Monty Python would do in the coming years. But at the time, viewers and critics were baffled. The Fab Four had to endure some of the first negative reviews of their career. The music, which included beauties like the title track, “The Fool on the Hill,” and “I Am the Walrus,” proved that they were certainly on top of their game in that department.

The Meaning of “Magical Mystery Tour”

Taken at face value, “Magical Mystery Tour” does indeed refer to a bus trip. But there’s a subtext running just below the surface that isn’t too hard to realize. The year 1967, when the song was released, stood out as a time in history when drug experimentation was running rampant through the culture. The Beatles had already used a few of their songs to promote psychedelia, including when they sang, I’d love to turn you on at the end of “A Day in the Life” to close out Sgt. Pepper’s .

That idea seems to be working its way through “Magical Mystery Tour.” McCartney, who sings the lead vocal, takes on the role of a barker trying to get crowds of people to join the traveling circus: Roll up for the magical mystery tour / Step right this way . You can certainly take it literally if you wish. But the idea of a mystery trip that’s going to take you away certainly could refer to tripping on acid or some other recreational drug.

Perhaps that’s why the movie failed. It attempted to put definitive visuals on a mind-altering journey. But it couldn’t quite capture the flights of fancy conjured by the song “Magical Mystery Tour,” which gives you the perfect soundtrack for the movie in your mind.

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• Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

Buy Magical Mystery Tour  on CD ,  on stereo vinyl , or on mono vinyl

Listen to Magical Mystery Tour on Apple Music or on Spotify

Originally begun as a side project of Paul’s, who was experimenting with video and electronic soundtracks, Magical Mystery Tour was the Beatles’ first project since the death of manager Brian Epstein. Soon all four of the Beatles were involved in the project, which turned out to be a disaster. Without Epstein to look over the project, everything wrong that could’ve happened did – including the “Magical Mystery Tour” sign falling off of the bus. The film aired on BBC at Christmas time and was criticized, mocked, and laughed at. Paul replied, “Aren’t we entitled to a flop?” The album, though, was a smash. In the UK it was originally released as a double-EP set and reached #1 across the world.

Capitol’s full length LP version

Capitol, noting that their two previous US Beatles EPs were flops, refused to issue a double EP set, instead adding recent singles and b-sides for a full album. That full LP version was issued in England in 1976 and Germany in 1971 and became part of Beatles canon when their discography was standardized in 1987 on compact disc. It was the last US release to be issued in both mono and stereo, the mono version being more rare. Nominated for the 1968 Grammy for Album Of The Year.

The sourcing disaster

When EMI decided to issue the US LP version of Magical Mystery Tour in the UK for the first time they contacted Capitol for their masters rather than recompiling the album from their own masters. The Capitol masters were fourth generation masters; the original stereo EP mix was copied for Capitol, those mixes were redubbed to match Capitol’s audio standards along with fake stereo mixes for side B, then those tapes were duplicated and sent to EMI who cataloged them in their tape vaults as the stereo masters. It was from those fifth generation masters that the MFSL reissues were created – which were supposed to be sourced from the original masters for the best possible audio quality. Needless to say, fans were extremely critical of the MFSL reissue.

The notable German edition: Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs

The German edition of Magical Mystery Tour is notable for offering, for the first time, true stereo remixes of 3 of the non-soundtrack songs found on side B:  Penny Lane ,  Baby You’re A Rich Man , and  All You Need Is Love . In reality it wasn’t until the second version of the album, released in 1973, that these songs were featured on the album. There are three main versions of the album:

First version, released 1971 (matrix SHZE 327 – A-1 and SHZE 327 – B-1) . The first version is the same as the 1967 Capitol US edition, which utilized duophonic or “fake stereo” versions of Penny Lane, Baby You’re A Rich Man, and All You Need Is Love. The cover features a red/pink Hörzu logo in the upper left. This version was also released in 1973 as Odeon 28 642-7.

Second version, released 1973 (matrix SHZE 327 – A-1 and SHZE 327 – B-3) . The second version utilized the 1969 stereo mix of All You Need Is Love from the  Yellow Submarine  LP as well as new stereo mixes of Penny Lane and Baby You’re A Rich Man. It also included a brand new remix of Strawberry Fields Forever with greater stereo separation, improved percussion, and moving of the left to right panned cello and trumpet heard at the edit point of the song to only the right. This cover features the black and orange Hörzu logo in the upper left (pictured above), and an Apple-branded variation released around the same time features the Apple logo in the upper left instead. This is generally considered to be the best-sounding stereo vinyl pressing available.

Third version, released 1976 (matrix SHZE 327 – A-1 04449-A1+C and SHZE 327 – B-3 04449-B1+C) . The third version has a smaller deadwax area with the same matrices as the second version and features significantly heavier bass. It features the Apple logo in the upper left of the front cover.

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

Release history

• Capitol MAL 2835 (mono), released November 27, 1967
• Capitol SMAL 2835 (stereo), released November 27, 1967
• World Record Club SLZ 8308, released 1970 (New Zealand, as ‘Magical Mystery Tour And Other Splendid Hits’)
• Apple PCSM 6084, released 1970 (New Zealand, as ‘Magical Mystery Tour And Other Splendid Hits’)
• pple/Horzu SHZE 327, released 1971 (Germany, as titled ‘Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs’)
• Odeon 28 642-7 (club issue with same mixes as the 1971 release and 1967 US Capitol stereo versions), released 1973  (Germany, as titled ‘Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs’)
• Apple SHZE 327 (2nd issue), released 1973 (Germany, as titled ‘Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs’)
• Apple/EMI 1C 072-04 449 (3rd issue), released 1976 (Germany, as titled ‘Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs’)
• Parlophone PCTC 255, released November 19, 1976
• Parlophone PCTC 255 (yellow vinyl), released May 1979
• Mobile Fidelity MFSL 1-047, released January 30, 1981
• Parlophone CDP 7 48062 2 (stereo CD), released September 22, 1987
• Capitol C1-48062, released July 1, 1988
• Apple 0946 3 82465 2 7 (remastered stereo CD), released September 9, 2009
• Capitol MAL 2835 (remastered mono CD), released September 9, 2009 in  The Beatles In Mono  box set

Magical Mystery Tour And Other Splendid Hits (New Zealand, 1970)

In New Zealand Magical Mystery Tour was released as Magical Mystery Tour And Other Splendid Hits and with three known label variations but with the same track list. The last 4 songs are in mono.

Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs (Germany, 1971)

Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs (Germany, 1971, First version Hörzu cover cover)

Magical Mystery Tour Plus Other Songs (Germany, Apple label cover)

Cassette edition (Canada)

• Capitol, 4XT-2835

Cassette edition (France, 1972)

• Odeon C 244-04449 (listed on sleeve)
• Odeon C 244-044.49 (listed on cassette)

Cassette edition (Germany)

• EMI 1C 244-04 449 / Apple 1C 244-04 449

Cassette edition (Germany, 1972)

• HÖR ZU 1 C 244 04 449 / Apple 1 C 244 04 449, released 1972

Cassette edition (India, 1994)

• His Master’s Voice STCS PCTC 890022, released 1994
• Parlophone STCS PCTC 890022, released 1994

Cassette edition (Mexico)

• Capitol CLEM-103

Cassette edition (US, 1992)

• Apple Records C4-48062, released 1992
• Capitol Records C4-48062, released 1992

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NEW ON ABOUT THE BEATLES!

The Beatles' iconic and memorable logo was created on a whim by a drum store owner for a shockingly small amount of money — which took years to refine and decades to be adapted as their official logo.

Read about the origin of the Beatles logo and a look at their various logos through the years.

After the fall of Communism in the U.S.S.R., a former underground producer became a hero to a nation starved of the Beatles and rock and roll.

Read about the history of pirated Beatles albums in the USSR and post-Soviet Russia.

• Film and video

Filming: Magical Mystery Tour

Another scene was filmed for the Magical Mystery Tour television special on this day, in Battersea in south London.

Ringo Starr and Aunt Jessie were filmed arguing while walking up Acanthus Road and turning into Lavender Hill, where they were greeted by Jolly Jimmy Johnson the courier and Miss Wendy Winters the hostess before boarding the coach.

Also on this day...

• 2010: Royal Mint issues limited edition John Lennon £5 coin
• 2002: Paul McCartney live: America West Arena, Phoenix
• 1991: US album release: Choba B CCCP by Paul McCartney
• 1989: Paul McCartney live: Hallenstadion, Zürich
• 1973: US single release: Mind Games by John Lennon
• 1968: Mixing: Hey Bulldog, All Together Now, All You Need Is Love, Only A Northern Song
• 1965: Recording, mixing: We Can Work It Out, Day Tripper
• 1964: The Beatles live: ABC Cinema, Plymouth
• 1963: The Beatles live: Sporthallen, Eskilstuna, Sweden
• 1963: Mixing: With The Beatles album
• 1962: Television: People And Places
• 1961: The Beatles live: Hambleton Hall, Liverpool
• 1960: The Beatles live: Kaiserkeller, Hamburg

Want more? Visit the Beatles history section .

Leave a Reply

For Sale: John Lennon’s Long-Lost ‘Help!’ Guitar

One lucky Beatles fan is going to own a piece of Fab Four history—but they’d better have some deep pockets.

By Kenneth Partridge | 4:55 PM EDT

Earlier this year, an iconic Hofner violin bass stolen from Paul McCartney more than 50 years ago resurfaced and made its way back into the hands of the former Beatle . Now, a John Lennon guitar missing for decades has similarly been found—and it can be yours, if you’re extremely wealthy.

Next month (May 29 and 30, 2024), Julien’s Auctions will hold a special two-day event at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City, and among the items up for bid will be the Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar that Lennon played on numerous Beatles classics, including “Help!,” “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “Norwegian Wood,” and “Girl.” It can also be seen in the Fab Four’s 1965 film Help!

This guitar has been on quite the magical mystery tour. In the mid-1960s, Gordon Waller of the group Peter & Gordon came into possession of the instrument, and he later gave it to one of the band’s road managers. Somehow, it wound up in a home in the British countryside. It was only discovered when the homeowners were getting ready to move and found the guitar in their attic, complete with the original case.

“Finding this remarkable instrument is like finding a lost Rembrandt or Picasso, and it still looks and plays like a dream after having been preserved in an attic for more than 50 years,” Darren Julien, co-founder and executive director of Julien’s Auctions, said in a statement.

Lennon’s legendary 12-string has an estimated value of $600,000 to $800,000, according to Julien’s, but it’s liable to fetch far more. According to Guitar World , it could become the most expensive guitar ever sold at auction, though it would need to command more than the $6,010,000, that Rode Microphones owner Peter Freedman paid for Kurt Cobain’s Martin D-18E—the one that he used for Nirvana ’s MTV Unplugged performance—in 2020.

If you don’t have several million extra dollars laying around, don’t fret. (Guitar pun very much intended.) The Julien’s two-day event will also feature a Rose Sparkle Fender P Pass that U2 ’s Adam Clayton played at The Sphere in Las Vegas, the Kramer KM-1 that Mötley Crüe shredder Mick Mars used for the group’s “You’re All I Need” music video, and even the custom Gianni Versace mini-dress worn by Tina Turner on her 1996-97 Wildest Dreams Tour. All are expected to sell for significantly less than Lennon’s famous ax.

There are also a number of items—including memorabilia signed by the likes of The Who, Van Morrison, and Wet Leg—that will benefit the U.K. charity The Teenage Cancer Trust .

Read More About The Beatles:

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Magical Mystery Tour

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Step aboard the colourful Magical Mystery Tour bus for a fun and fascinating 2 hour tour of Beatles Liverpool.

Tours Times

Monday to Thursday 10 am – 2 pm Friday to Sunday 10 am – 2 pm

Monday to Sunday 9:30am – 4 pm

Additional tours operate throughout August and September. Please check here to see available tours on your chosen date.

Step aboard the colourful Magical Mystery Tour bus for a fun and fascinating 2 hour tour of Beatles Liverpool. You’ll see all the places associated with John, Paul, George and Ringo as they grew up, met and formed the band that would take the pop world by storm.

Tours start at the Albert Dock – meet your guide at the Magical Mystery Tour Ticket Office in Anchor Courtyard just a few metres from the bus stop where you will get on board the colourful Magical Mystery Tour coach for an unforgettable 2 hour tour. See the Beatles childhood homes, schools and colleges and get up close to places that inspired some of their most memorable songs – Penny Lane and Strawberry Field  CLICK HERE FOR FULL TOUR ITINERARY . You’ll be kept entertained along the way by one of our professional Beatles Guides and some Fab Four tunes.

Please enquire about arranging an exclusive private 2 or 4 hour tours  for groups in one of the Magical Mystery Tour vehicles.

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Tickets Times & Packages

Adults – £19.95

Child (Age 2 to 16) – £10.00

Family Ticket (2 adults & 2 children (16 and under)) – £50.00

Babies (0 to 2) – Free

Group discount ticket for 10 also available.

Advance booking recommended – BUY TICKETS ONLINE  or call in to the Magical Mystery Tour Ticket Office, Anchor Courtyard, Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4AS Open daily 9am-4:30pm (subject to change during winter months) , Tel: 0151 703 9100 or email: [email protected] Tickets also available at the Cavern Pub in Mathew Street CLICK HERE FOR MAP

Due to transport regulations every person on board the Magical Mystery Tour requires a ticket (including children and babies). A complimentary ticket can be organised for children under the age of 2 (subject to availability). Please call our ticket office directly if you would like to book for a child  0151 703 9100

Evan Evans package day trips from London by train including Beatles Magical Mystery Tour ticket Golden Tours package day trips to Liverpool from London by train with Beatles Magical Mystery Tour ticket My Bus package day trips & overnight breaks from London to Liverpool by train including the Magical Mystery Tour

Printed translations of the tour are available in English, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Swedish, Indonesian and Spanish and can be purchased at the Ticket Office.

Car parking – Liverpool ONE, Liverpool L1 8LT is just 5 minutes walk from the tour start and finish points.

Toilets – the majority of the tour is through the suburbs of Liverpool.  There are toilets at Britannia Pavilion, Albert Dock before you join the tour or on Mathew Street at the end of the tour.

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Love Exploring

The World's Most Magical Places Are A Dream Come True

Posted: April 24, 2024 | Last updated: April 24, 2024

Wands at the ready

The world is filled with places of magic and mystery, from natural wonders said to be built by giants to caves and castles bound up with stories of sorcery. But how many have you seen yourself? Prepare to be spellbound. 

Click through the gallery to see 34 enchanting spots that even mere mortals can visit...

Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

Bhangarh Fort, Rajasthan, India

Dubbed the most haunted place in India, 17th-century Bhangarh Fort is shrouded in legend. The most famous story involves a jilted wizard who fell in love with a local princess. Not able to win her affections, the wizard attempted to slip the princess a love potion. However, she saw through his cunning plan and flung the magic brew at a nearby boulder, which dislodged and crushed the ill-fated wizard. It's said the embittered wizard used his last breath to place a curse on the fort, which is now so feared that entry is prohibited after sunset.

Mother Shipton’s Cave & Petrifying Well, Knaresborough, England, UK

Mother Shipton’s Cave is tucked away in storied woodland in Knaresborough along the River Nidd. It's the supposed birthplace of legendary witch and prophetess Ursula Southhell, or Mother Shipton, who purportedly predicted numerous dark events during her time, including the Great Fire of London. Nearby is the famous Petrifying Well, whose mineral-rich waters can turn objects to stone.

Rose Hall Great House, Montego Bay, Jamaica

The Rose Hall Great House is a grand Jamaican, Georgian-style mansion set within the vast grounds of a former plantation and tourists aren't the only beings who haunt the stately home. It's purportedly plagued by the ghost of Annie Palmer, a supposed white witch who killed three of her husbands alongside countless enslaved people who worked on the plantation. Legend has it her tomb was supposed to be sealed with an ancient voodoo ritual, but the ritual was left unfinished, leaving Annie's spirit free to roam the eerie house and grounds today. 

St Louis Cemetery No.1, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Peeling tombs and labyrinthine walkways draw visitors to this NOLA cemetery, nicknamed Cities of the Dead, which is the burial place of legendary voodoo queen Marie Laveau. Laveau, who died in 1881, was famed for her spiritual practices which included healing the sick. Visitors still come to lay offerings at Laveau's gravesite, and you can sense the magic for yourself on a guided tour. 

Tintagel Castle, Cornwall, England

The ruins of Tintagel Castle – perched dramatically on a rugged Cornish peninsula – could be plucked straight from a medieval saga. And they sort of are. According to lore, this is where revered warrior and leader King Arthur was conceived. It's said that powerful wizard Merlin disguised Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, with a spell, so he could make it into the bedchamber of his beloved Igraine, who was married to another man. You'll need a timed ticket to cross the famed footbridge, but then you're free to explore the castle at your leisure.

Enchanted River, Hinatuan, the Philippines

Magicum – Berlin Magic Museum, Berlin, Germany

Tucked away in an old blacksmith shop, Magicum is a light-hearted magic museum packed to the rafters with bewitching displays. Weave through the exhibitions, spotting everything from potion books and tarot cards to magicians' hats and black and white wands. Time your visit for one of the popular weekend magic shows. You're sure to leave spellbound. 

Dark Hedges, Stranocum, Northern Ireland

You may recognize the Dark Hedges from cult HBO series Game of Thrones , but this twisting tunnel of trees has a legend of its own. The lane is supposedly home to the Grey Lady, an elusive specter who flits between the knotted trees, fading away as she reaches the end of the road. Her identity is unknown, though some think she's the wandering spirit of a local housemaid, whose mysterious death raised questions centuries ago. Today it's one of the most photographed places in Northern Ireland – check your snaps for any mysterious shapes... 

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Camera Obscura & World of Illusions, Edinburgh, Scotland

Salem, Massachusetts, USA

When it comes to witchcraft, no place on Earth is as infamous as Salem. This small town northeast of Boston is well-known for the witch trials of 1692–93, which resulted in 19 'convicted' witches being executed. Despite this dark passage in history, Salem wears its magical reputation on its sleeve, with a bonanza of spooktacular events for Halloween. Other attractions keep visitors passing through year-round – look out for the Witch House, former home of trial judge Jonathan Corwin; and the House of Seven Gables (pictured), made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne's Gothic novel of the same name. 

Houska Castle, Blatce, Czechia

Kyteler's Inn, Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland

This medieval pub in the Irish town of Kilkenny dates right back to 1263 and has a history bound up with witchcraft. It's named for Dame Alice Kyteler, the daughter of a banker and the original proprietor of the pub. Alice was married four times and possessed a sizeable fortune, leading bitter locals to brand her a witch. Although she was sentenced to be burned, Alice managed to escape to England in the nick of time. Today a life-sized bronze statue memorializes Dame Alice, while traditional Irish cooking and music keep the crowds pouring in. 

Museum of Illusions, Toronto, Canada

Prepare to have your mind boggled at this dinky museum in Toronto. Dedicated to making you doubt your own eyes, the museum hosts a range of bewildering but brilliant displays, from a rotated room and a table that clones you, to the chance to put your own head on a platter. You're bound to leave puzzled, perplexed and convinced that magic might exist after all. 

Dimmuborgir, near Mývatn, Iceland

A jewel of northern Iceland, Dimmuborgir, meaning dark fortress, is a stark area of lava fields close to Lake Mývatn. Formed by an eruption several millennia ago, and also serving as a location for HBO's  Game of Thrones , the area has legends aplenty. It's believed that the rock formations are a portal to the underworld and also as the home of the Yule Lads – the 13 tricksy sons of troll Grýla, who come out at Christmastime. Chase the legends on one of several hiking routes that criss-cross the area.

The Brocken, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

The Brocken is the loftiest peak in Germany's Harz Mountains range and has long been associated with witchcraft and magic. For starters, it's the setting for much of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play Faust , based on the mystical German legend in which a man sells his soul to a demon. It's also said to be a place where witches perform sacrificial rites. Typically, on Walpurgis Night (April 30), the people of the Harz region put on a witchy celebration involving costumes, fireworks and family fun.

Catemaco, Veracruz, Mexico

Known as the land of the sorcerers, Catemaco has a tradition of witchcraft that harks back for centuries. Curious visitors come from all over the world to rub shoulders with brujos, or sorcerers, who perform ancient rituals such as spiritual cleansings, and to explore markets dedicated to the occult. The biggest event of the year, the National Congress of Sorcerers, occurs in March and is a huge gathering of practicing witches. 

Century Old Balete Tree, Siquijor, Philippines

A quite remarkable sight, this 400-year-old balete tree in the Philippines' Siquijor province is believed to be enchanted. The true nature of the tree's magic remains a mystery, but locals tell tales of the mythical creatures which reside here and the sorcery that's performed. Legends aside, tourists and locals come to dip their toes in the natural springs at its base, which are home to schools of feet-nibbling fish. 

La Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin, Blois, France

Celebrating the legacy of Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, revered as the father of modern conjuring, this museum is a key attraction in the riverside city of Blois. The venue couples displays on the history of magic and Robert-Houdin himself, with mind-boggling optical illusions and even live magic shows. Look out for the Harry Houdini passageway, dedicated to the life and stunts of the famous escape artist. 

Pendle Hill, Lancashire, England, UK

England's answer to Salem, Pendle Hill and the quaint villages that surround it are best known for the infamous witch trials of 1612. Here, 10 people, who have become known as the Pendle witches, were found guilty of witchcraft and hanged. Today, visitors to this enchanting area of Lancashire can follow the Walking with Witches Trail or get involved with the annual Halloween hilltop gathering. You can also spot a host of sculptures hidden between the trees. 

Blå Jungfrun, Sweden

Embroiled in legend, the Swedish island of Blå Jungfrun (or Blue Maiden) is a national park in its entirety. The isle's isolated location has made it the perfect breeding ground for myths and folktales, which purport that the island is home to witches and evil spirits. It's still believed that witches gather on the island around Easter, in order to perform dark rites. Alongside the rocky beaches and deciduous forest, visitors will stumble across a curious stone labyrinth (pictured) whose origins still remain a mystery.

American Museum of Magic, Marshall, Michigan, USA

Proud to be tipped as 'the Smithsonian of American magic,' this Michigan museum is dedicated to magical greats from Harry Houdini to Harry Blackstone Sr., who spent much of his life in the state. Marvel at the huge store of artifacts, from illusionist posters to memorabilia used by Houdini himself, and see one of the free Saturday magic shows (admission charge applies).

Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands, Scotland

Loch Ness is famed the world over for the fearsome beast that supposedly plows its waters, and all manner of books and films have been spun from this fabled creature. Nessie isn't the loch's only legend, though. It's said that the shores have been home to witches too. One story says that two quarrelling witches lived on either side of the water and during one heated conflict, they began hurling rocks at one another. One striking boulder near Clansman Harbor is said to be a remnant of this fight.

Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California, USA

At first glance, this building looks like any other stately mansion – but it's more mysterious than most. It's famous for the seemingly endless construction, which saw an eight-room farmhouse grow into the gargantuan place we see today, with some 160 rooms, 2,000 doors and 10,000 windows. A common theory is that the widow who owned it, Sarah Winchester, was plagued by spirits and advised by a psychic to extend her home in order to escape them. Today guided tours tell tales of spooks and spirits, and immersive Halloween events take place each year.

Triora, Liguria, Italy

Often dubbed as the Salem of Europe or the Village of Witches, Triora is a tiny village in Italy's northwestern Liguria region. After a bad harvest was blamed on sorcery, witch trials were held here at the end of the 16th century – at least 40 people were accused, many were tortured and others were burned at the stake. Triora doesn't shy away from this macabre history though, and rather it brings it to the fore with statues, a museum (pictured) and a plethora of bewitching events, from Halloween festivities to a summer witchcraft festival. 

Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

This museum was established in 1966 by the late Raymond Buckland, a writer and expert in the occult, and has changed locations numerous times during its decades of history. Today, settled in Cleveland, Ohio, the collection is a shrine to witchcraft, folklore and the supernatural, showcasing everything from orbs and chalices to artifacts relating to the Salem witch trials. Special events include witchery workshops, one-off exhibitions and seances.

Cave of Zugarramurdi, Navarra, Spain

Torghatten, Torget, Norway

This hulking mountain, distinct for the gaping hole at its center, is steeped in folklore. Its story involves a troll, Hestmannen, who was chasing a beautiful woman, Lekamoya. As the path widened between them, Hestmannen became angry and shot an arrow intending to kill Lekamoya. However, the powerful troll king saved the day by throwing a hat into the arrow's path, saving the girl. The pierced hat purportedly turned into the mountain we see today, arrow hole and all. You can visit the mountain on a moderate hike and even camp in its vicinity.

Hexenmuseum Schweiz, Gränichen, Switzerland

Chocolate Hills, Bohol, Philippines

The Philippines' conical Chocolate Hills – some of which soar to 394 feet (120m) – are another natural wonder often explained by magic. One legend involves a pair of squabbling giants, who launched mud and boulders at one another until they were exhausted. Their tiredness led them to forget their bickering and the havoc they'd wrought too. They left behind the towering Chocolate Hills and wandered off into the sunset. Another story claims the hills are the dried tears of an amorous giant, who was mourning the death of his mortal love.

Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, Boscastle, England, UK

This museum proudly touts itself as having the world's largest collection of objects relating to witchcraft and the occult. Set in the charming Cornish village of Boscastle, the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic holds more than 3,000 artifacts chronicling British magical practices from ancient times to the modern day. Explore two stories filled with everything from a mini altar and ritual equipment to a handcrafted Ouija board. 

Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz, California, USA

There might not be any real sorcery at play at this puzzling spot in Santa Cruz, but it certainly feels as though there is. Explained as a gravitational anomaly in the midst of a redwood forest, California's Mystery Spot has been baffling visitors for some 80 years. Here, in a strangely-positioned wooden shack, guests appear to defy gravity, leaning to impossible angles. Experience the magic, then reorientate yourself on the peaceful woodland hiking trail that surrounds the spot. 

Rakotzbrücke, Gablenz, Germany

Rakotzbrücke, in eastern Germany's Kromlauer Park, is one of several bridges in Europe to earn the moniker of the Devil's Bridge. The legend goes that the bridge, arching in a perfect semi-circle and reflecting in the still water below, is too perfect to have been made by human hands. It's said that Satan had a hand in its construction, claiming the soul of the first mortal to cross the structure in return. You can't cross the bridge but you can admire the devil's handiwork from afar.

Reynisdrangar, near Vík í Mýrdal, Iceland

Rising out from the ocean, close to the tiny village of Vík í Mýrdal, are the Reynisdrangar – three mighty basalt sea cliffs soaring to 217 feet (66m). According to Icelandic folklore, these jagged rocks are actually the remains of a fated group of trolls. It's said that the troublesome trolls caught sight of a ship out at sea and decided to pull it to shore under the cover of darkness. However, their dastardly deed took too long. Dawn broke and the trolls were immediately turned to stone. They remain a favored subject for roving photographers. 

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