}} "Blue Jay Way is a song written by George Harrison it was first recorded and released by The Beatles on their [[Magical Mystery Tour]]album and Extended play in 1967.

Origins

The name of the song comes from a street, located high in the Hollywood Hills overlooking Sunset Boulevard which affords panoramic views of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and much of the Los Angeles Basin It is reached from downtown Los Angeles via a complicated street route, which is all the harder to navigate on a foggy night — thus creating the backdrop for the opening lines of the song: :"Theres a fog upon LA. And my friends have lost their way." According to Harrison: "[[Derek Taylor]] got held up. He rang to say he be late. I told him on the phone that the house was in Blue Jay Way. And he said he could find it OK... he could always ask a cop. So I waited and waited. I felt really knackered with the flight, but I didnt want to go to sleep until he came. There was a fog and it got later and later. To keep myself awake, just as a joke to pass the time while I waited, I wrote a song about waiting for him in Blue Jay Way. There was a little Hammond organ in the corner of this house which I hadnt noticed until then... so I messed around on it and the song came."

Recording

The song was recorded on 6 September 1967, with overdub on 7 September and 6 October.The record employs flanging an audio delay technique, and the stereophonic and monaural Audio mixing (recorded music) differ noticeably. For the stereo version, a full-length copy of the song was played backwards and faded in at key points in the mix. This was not done for the mono or film versions. The television movie [[Magical Mystery Tour (film)|Magical Mystery Tour]] included the mono mix; the 1990s remastered version used a new stereo mix, sounding closer to the mono mix. The music video for the Magical Mystery Tourfilm was shot at West Malling and Weybridge in Surrey on 3 November, the day filming was completed. At the end of the song, there is what might be perceived as a malfunction of the cello tape loop. It is in fact a cover-up of what had been planned to occur in the music video featured in the [[Magical Mystery Tour (film)|Magical Mystery Tour]]film; in the planned ending George was supposed to be hit by the Magical Mystery Tour bus. That ending was never shot, and the revised repeated ending is shown instead. A session musician played the cello

Personnel

*George Harrison – vocals, Hammond organ *John Lennon – backing vocals *Paul McCartney – backing vocals, bass *Ringo Starr – drums, tambourine *Uncredited – cello :Personnel per The Beatles Bible

Cultural references

* "Blue Jay Way" is referenced in Trevor Rabin s 1989 song, "Something to Hold on to" (featured on his album [[Cant Look Away]]), in which Rabin claims to be looking for someone in Blue Jay Way. * Jonathan Kellerman references Harrisons experience in his 2006 novel Obsession * Rogers Centre home of the Toronto Blue Jays is located on "Blue Jays Way".

Cover versions

"Blue Jay Way" has been covered by: *Colin Newman on his 1982 album Not To *Borbetomagus on their 1990 album Buncha Hair That Long *Dan Bern on his 1998 album Smartie Mine *Rodney Graham on his 2000 album What Is Happy, Baby? *Siouxsie and the Banshees on their 2003 live album [[Seven Year Itch (album)|Seven Year Itch]] *Tracy Bonham on her 2006 EP In The City + In The Woods *The Secret Machines in the 2007 movie [[Across the Universe (film)|Across the Universe]]

Notes

References

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External links

* * http://maps.google.com/maps?qBlue+Jay+Way,+CA+90069 Blue Jay Way - Google Maps] * http://www.rockandrollroadmap.com/bluejay.html Blue Jay Way - The Los Angeles Rock and Roll Map] * http://www.electricearl.com/BlueJay.html The REAL Blue Jay Way] Category:1967 songs Category:Psychedelic songs Category:The Beatles songs Category:Songs produced by George Martin Category:Songs about California Category:Songs written by George Harrison Category:Places associated with The Beatles de:Blue Jay Way es:Blue Jay Way fr:Blue Jay Way ja:ブルー・ジェイ・ウェイ no:Blue Jay Way nn:Blue Jay Way pt:Blue Jay Way sv:Blue Jay Way