Title:	I Am The Walrus
Credits:	John Lennon - Paul McCartney
Recorded:	EMI Studios, London, 5 & 6 September 1967
Producer:	George Martin
Engineer:	Geoff Emerick
Locations:	Magical Mystery Tour - track 6 Anthology 2 - disc 2, track 14

An eventful Lennon concoction, issued not only on the Magical Mystery Tour soundtrack but also as the B-side of 'Hello, Goodbye', the Beatles' third and final single of 1967. The ingredients which make up the finished version of this song are many and varied, and they include a basic rhythm track, a superb Lennon vocal, utterly bizarre lyrics, eight violins, four cellos, a contra bass clarinet, three horns, 16 specially hired male and female vocalists from the Mike Sammes Singers (they sing "Oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper", "Got one, got one, everybody's got one" and "Ho-ho-ho, hee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha" near the end of the song) and an extract from a BBC radio dramatisation of Shakespeare's The Tragedy Of King Lear, Act IV, Scene VI. This all becomes a little clearer when one remembers that John drew inspiration for the song from... a police siren.

Sixteen takes of the rhythm track were recorded this day, only five being complete - bass guitar, lead guitar, an electric piano and drums, and a mellotron. Take 16 from this days' session was released in both the US and the UK on March 19, 1996 on "The Beatles Anthology Volume 2."

A tape reduction (take 16 into take 17) was made on September 6, 1967. Onto this, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr then superimposed more bass and drums, and John Lennon recorded his vocals. Tape reductions on September 27 of take 17 (into takes 18 - 24) saw superimposition of violins, cellos, contra bass clarinet, and horns, plus 16 voices singing "Ho-ho-ho-ho, hee-hee-hee-hee, ha-ha-ha-ha," "Oompah, oompah, stick it up your jumper," and "Got one, got one, everybody's got one." Take 20 was the "best" version and was mixed down, the new take being numbered 25, onto which more overdubs were added. A new tape reduction mix was made (take 25 onto take 17 from September 6) on September 28. Two mono mixes were made with the second being "best," which was edited down to make the final master.

Mono mixing resumed September 29 with 17 mixes (6 - 22), only two complete. Mix 10 (up to the lyric "Sitting in an English garden") and mix 22 were edited together and numbered 23. The stereo mix was started November 6 with seven mixes of the first half of take 17. Mixes 6 and 7 were edited together with mono mix 22. A new stereo mix of the first half of the song was prepared November 17 (remix 25 from take 17). Stereo mixes 25 and 7 were edited together with mono mix 22. Mono remix 4 from the September 29 mixing session has been bootlegged.

The mono version has a four beat intro played by John on the mellotron. On the UK stereo version, this intro is six beats long. The US mono single adds four extra beats before the fourth verse. In all the mono versions, Ringo's drums drop out completely for four beats. However, in stereo there is a two-beat pause followed by a two-beat "fill" on cymbal and snare drum prior to the second verse.

A composite released on March 24, 1980 on the US "Rarities" LP consists of the 6 beat intro and 4 beat "fill" versions edited together.