My parents had several Beatles albums on record when I was young, and I enjoyed playing them, often when I came downstairs for breakfast. I liked staring at the jackets of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. And I loved the first, eponymous song of this album. It sounded nothing like the Beatles were supposed to sound like: there were a lot of horns, it was loud, they were singing in harmony at something resembling the top of their lungs, there was a circus barker introducing the album. It was awesome. The rest of the songs are, I think, in a weird order. Would you be surprised if I told you that this album has 'Strawberry Fields Forever,' 'Penny Lane,' and 'Hello Goodbye,' but that the tracks that immediately follow 'Magical Mystery Tour' are 'Fool on the Hill,' 'Flying,' and 'Blue Jay Way,' one of those rare contributions from George Harrison. (I scoured the liner notes as a youngster. That's the sort of thing I remember.)
I loved 'I Am the Walrus' as a lad because of all the crazy lyrics. It still resonates, though maybe to a lesser extent. None of the rest of the songs on this album - even the famous and popular ones - are among my favorite Beatles tunes. Those populate albums like Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper. But this, curiously, is the only one I have on CD. Maybe it's because I wanted to spend more time studying which animals the Beatles are dressed up as on the cover.
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