Blue Jay Way

George Harrison wrote Blue Jay Way in 1967, inspired by the name of a street in Hollywood, high above Sunset Boulevard, difficult to reach on a foggy night, but with beautiful views of the whole city on a clear day. (The song starts with "There's a fog upon L.A., and my friends have lost their way"). Derek Taylor (the Beatles' publicist) was supposed to meet him at the house on Blue Jay Way where he was staying, and got lost. Harrison wrote the song while waiting for his friends to show up. Shortly after that event, back in the UK, the Beatles recorded the song for their Magical Mystery Tour EP and album. The main track was laid down on September 6, 1967 with overdubs the next day and on October 6. Blue Jay Way illustrates the importance of distinguishing between mono and stereo mixes of many of the Beatles songs. In this case, they differ markedly. An audio delay effect called flanging was used, and in the stereo mix a copy of the song played backwards was overlaid and faded in at a few junctures. The film version does not have this "backwards" effect, nor does the mono mix. Towards the song's end, a "glitch" can be heard where George was supposed to be hit by the Magical Mystery Tour Bus in the film. But as this scene was never shot, they had to modify the ending on the recording, repeating a few measures instead. In this song, George sings lead and plays the Hammond organ. John sings backup with Paul. Paul plays bass, as usual, and Ringo the drums and tambourine. A cello line (musician unknown) can also be heard. The arrangement has no guitars.

In the Love version of Blue Jay Way, the song transitions between Something and Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! It contains fragments from other tracks (Nowhere Man, Revolution 9, Hey Bulldog) and other elements to create a more psychedelic impact on the ear.