Beatles Facts - BeatlesFacts.org: The Fool on the Hill

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Fool on the Hill

The interesting Beatles facts for "Fool on the Hill" are that, although this is a McCartney composition, Paul first played the song for John at his (Paul's) house at St. John's Wood while the two were collaborating on "With a Little Help from My Friends."

The track was recorded at Abbey Road Studios on September 25, 1967, with flutes added on October 20th of that year. Lennon told interviewers over the years that he believed the song to be one of McCartney's best lyrics, as it represented a completely formed idea.

The portion of Magical Mystery Tour devoted to this song features Paul in Nice, France. McCartney has attested in Anthology and other interviews that he crossed the English Channel to shoot the footage on a lark, forgetting his passport. His small crew also didn't bring the right camera lenses, causing them to request that the lenses be sent at a price of 4000 British pounds. The footage was shot on November 1 and 2, 1967. The scenes were regarded as some of the more successful of Magical Mystery Tour, which was thoroughly panned in Britain. The film segment was used in Anthology, and McCartney still uses this portion of the film in concert when performing "The Fool on the Hill." The iconic portion of the film segment shows McCartney, wearing a dark navy-blue peacoat, standing on a hilltop against a backdrop of clouds. He is also seen hopping and skipping around various locations in and near Nice.

McCartney sings vocal and plays piano, flute, and recorder; Harrison plays lead guitar, Lennon maracas and harmonica, Starr finger cymbals. Some sources attribute an additional harmonica to Harrison.