The Fool on the Hill

"The Fool on the Hill"
The 1996 U.S. jukebox single release of the song, as the B-side to "Magical Mystery Tour"
Song by the Beatles from the album Magical Mystery Tour
Released	27 November 1967 (US LP) 8 December 1967 (UK EP) 19 November 1976 (UK LP)
Recorded	25–27 September, and 20 October 1967
Genre	Baroque pop[1]
Length	3:00
Label	Parlophone, Capitol, EMI
Writer	Lennon–McCartney
Producer	George Martin

"The Fool on the Hill" is a song by the Beatles. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney^[2][3] (credited to Lennon–McCartney) and recorded in 1967. It was included on the Magical Mystery Tour EP and album, and presented in the Magical Mystery Tour film, with a promotional sequence shot near Nice, in France from 30–31 October 1967. The song achieved perhaps its most widespread popular audience as a top ten hit single by Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 in 1968.

Composition

The song's lyrics describe the titular "fool", a solitary figure who is not understood by others, but is actually wise. McCartney said the song relates to someone like Maharishi Mahesh Yogi:

'Fool on the Hill' was mine and I think I was writing about someone like Maharishi. His detractors called him a fool. Because of his giggle he wasn't taken too seriously ... I was sitting at the piano at my father's house in Liverpool hitting a D 6th chord, and I made up 'Fool on the Hill.'^[2]

Alistair Taylor, in the book Yesterday, reports a mysterious incident involving a man who inexplicably appeared near him and McCartney during a walk on Primrose Hill and then disappeared again, soon after McCartney and Taylor had conversed about the existence of God; this allegedly prompted the writing of the song.^[4]

McCartney played the song for John Lennon during a writing session for "With a Little Help from My Friends", and Lennon told him to write it down. McCartney did not; he was sure he would not forget it.^[2] In his 1980 interview with Playboy, Lennon said, "Now that's Paul. Another good lyric. Shows he's capable of writing complete songs."^[3]

Musical structure

The song involves alternations of D major and D minor in a similar manner to Cole Porter's alternations of C minor and C major in "Night and Day".^[5] Thus the D major tonality that begins with an Em7 chord on "Nobody wants to know him" moves through a ii7- V7- I6- vi7- ii7- V7 progression till the shift to the Dm tone and key on "but the fool". Other highlights are the inspired use in the Dm section of a ♭6th (B♭) melody note on the word "sun" (with a Dm#5 chord) and a 9th (E melody note) on the word "world" (with a Dm chord).^[6]

Recording

McCartney recorded a solo demo version of the song on 6 September 1967.^[7] This version was later released on the Anthology 2 compilation.^[8] Recording began in earnest on 25 September, with significant overdubs by the Beatles on 26 September. Mark Lewisohn said that the 26 September version was "almost a re-make".^[9] A take from 25 September – noticeably slower, somewhat heavier and with slightly different vocals – is also included on Anthology 2.^[8] After another session on 27 September where McCartney added another vocal,^[10] the song sat for a month before flutes were added on 20 October.^[11]

Ray Thomas of the Moody Blues has said that he and fellow bandmate Mike Pinder contributed harmonicas to the song alongside Lennon and George Harrison.^[12]

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – vocals, piano, acoustic guitar, recorder, bass, penny whistle^[13]
• John Lennon – harmonica, jew's harp
• George Harrison – acoustic guitar, harmonica
• Ringo Starr – drums, maracas, finger cymbals
• Ray Thomas – harmonica^[14]
• Mike Pinder – harmonica^[14]
• Christopher Taylor – flute
• Richard Taylor – flute
• Jack Ellory – flute

Personnel per Ian MacDonald.^[15] Flautists also documented by Mark Lewisohn.^[16]

Critical reaction

Richie Unterberger of Allmusic said that "The Fool on the Hill" was the best of the new songs on Magical Mystery Tour aside from "I Am the Walrus".^[17] Tim Riley, a music critic who has contributed to NPR, was not impressed, and unfavourably compared the subject of this song to fools in Shakespeare. Riley wrote, "Possibilities in this song outweigh its substance—it's the most unworthy Beatles standard since 'Michelle.'"^[18] In 2012, the song was ranked the 420th best classic rock song of all time by New York's Q104.3.^[19]

Performance history

No longer performing regular concerts when they released "The Fool on the Hill", the Beatles never performed the song live. Paul McCartney first performed it live with Wings on their 1979 tour of the UK.^[20] He also included it on his 1989–1990 world tour.^[21] The performances on this tour incorporated sound bites from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech.^[22] A live version from this tour is found on the album Tripping the Live Fantastic.^[23] The song surfaced again for McCartney's 2001–2002 tours, and another live version appeared on the Back in the US album.

Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 version

"The Fool on the Hill"
Single by Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66
from the album Fool on the Hill
Released	1968
Genre	Bossa nova
Label	A&M Records
Writer(s)	John Lennon Paul McCartney
Producer(s)	Sérgio Mendes

Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66 recorded "Fool on the Hill", using their approach of marrying a simple bossa nova rhythm with a strings accompaniment.^[24] The lead vocal was by Lani Hall. Released as a single, it was a big hit, reaching No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[25] It also spent six weeks at No. 1 on the easy listening chart.^[26] It was included on Mendes' album Fool on the Hill.

Other versions

Music service Allmusic lists more than 100 cover versions of the song.^[27]

Year	Artist	Release	Notes
1968	Eddie Fisher	(single)	Charted on the Record World magazine Non-Rock survey, the first version of the song to make the US singles charts and the last US chart single by Fisher
1968	Bobbie Gentry	Local Gentry
1968	Corry Brokken	Das war ein harter Tag: Beatles-Lieder auf deutsch	In German: "Der Mann, den ich will". Recorded in 1968, but not released until 1995, on a German compilation album Das war ein harter Tag: Beatles-Lieder auf deutsch.[28] Interestingly, it uses an arrangement similar to Sergio Mendes' version.
1969	The Four Tops	The Four Tops Now!
1969	Dorothy Ashby	Dorothy's Harp
1969	Petula Clark	Just Pet
1969	Roslyn Kind	Give Me You
1969	Stone the Crows	Stone the Crows
1969	Vera Lynn	B-side of single Goodnight[29]	Also on double album The Singles Collection (2007)
1970	Shirley Bassey	(single)	Reached number 48 on the UK Singles chart.[30]
1971	Ron Goodwin	Ron Goodwin in Concert	Orchestral version. Goodwin's orchestration gives the opening penny whistle solo to the violas of the orchestra.
1971	The Chopsticks	All of a Sudden
1976	Helen Reddy	All This and World War II
1977	Björk Guðmundsdóttir	Björk[31]	Sung in Icelandic.
1981	Sarah Vaughan	Songs of the Beatles
1982	John Williams	The Portrait of John Williams	Classical guitar version
2007	Beatallica	Masterful Mystery Tour	Merged with Metallica's "Fuel" to create "Fuel on the Hill"
2007	Aretha Franklin	Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul	Recorded in 1969 during the sessions for This Girl's in Love with You.
2009	Mark Mallman	Minnesota Beatle Project, Vol. 1
2014	Eurythmics	The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles	This performance was the first and one-off re-union of Eurythmics founding members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart after the duo's disbanding in 2005.

See also

• List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1968 (U.S.)

Notes

1. Bogdanov, p. 54.
2. Miles 1997, pp. 365–366.
3. Sheff 2000, p. 186.
4. Turner 2005, pp. 143–144.
5. Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. pp183-184
6. Dominic Pedler. The Songwriting Secrets of the Beatles. Music Sales Limited. Omnibus Press. NY. 2003. p184
7. Lewisohn 1988, p. 123.
8. Apple Records 1994, pp. 41,42.
9. Lewisohn 1988, p. 126.
10. Lewisohn 1988, p. 127.
11. Kevin Ryan; Brian Kehew (2006). Recording the Beatles: The studio equipment and techniques used to create their classic albums. Curvebender. p. 470. ISBN 978-0-9785200-0-7. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
12. Schnee, Stephen (15 January 2015). "An Exclusive interview with The Moody Blues' Ray Thomas!". Discussions Magazine. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
13. George Martin interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (1969)
14. http://classicrock.teamrock.com/features/2013-04-24/the-moody-blues-head-games
15. MacDonald 2005, p. 270.
16. Lewisohn 1988, p. 129.
17. Unterberger 2007.
18. Riley 1988, p. 240.
19. "The Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time: Dirty Dozenth Edition". Q1043.com. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
20. Madinger & Easter 2000, p. 254.
21. Madinger & Easter 2000, p. 317.
22. Pereles 1989.
23. Madinger & Easter 2000, p. 334.
24. Ginell, Richard S. "Fool on the Hill". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
25. Songfacts.com 2009.
26. Whitburn 1996.
27. Allmusic 2007.
28. Radio interview with the writer of the booklet accompanying Das war ein harter Tag (in German). Corry Brokken is called Conny Brokken and Corry Broken respectively
29. "Vera Lynn 45 catalogue". 45cat.com. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
30. Roberts 2006, pp. 44–45.
31. Fritsch 2001.

References

• Bogdanov, Vladimir. All music guide to electronica: the definitive guide to electronic music. ISBN 0-87930-628-9.
• "Alan Pollack review of "The Fool on the Hill"". Alan W. Pollack.
• "Performers of "The Fool on the Hill". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 28 December 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
• Anthology 2 (booklet). The Beatles. London: Apple Records. 1994. 31796.
• Fritsch, Oliver (2001). "Official Bjork Discography". bjork.com. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
• Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
• MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-84413-828-3.
• Madinger, Chip; Mark Easter (2000). Eight Arms To Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium. Chesterfield, MO: 44.1 Productions, LP. ISBN 0-615-11724-4.
• Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
• Pereles, Jon (13 December 1989). "More Nostalgia Than Rock in Paul McCartney's Return". Reviews/Music (New York Times). Retrieved 23 July 2011.
• Riley, Tim (1988). Tell Me Why. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-55061-7.
• Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
• Polsson, Ken (1 November 2009). "Chronology of Personal Computers".
• Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-25464-4.
• "The Fool on the Hill". Songfacts.com. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
• Turner, Steve (2005). A Hard Day's Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song (3rd ed.). New York: Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 0-06-084409-4.
• Unterberger, Richie (2007). "Review of "The Fool on the Hill"". Allmusic. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
• Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (6th ed.). New York: Billboard Publications.

External links

• Alan W. Pollack's Notes on "The Fool on the Hill"