Expert: Elizabeth - 8/16/2007

Question
Ok Elizabeth...I hope you can answer this one.  I know just about everything about Beatles myself..but one thing bugs me.

Ok..there are 3 stanzas in Magical Mystery Tour.  1st and 3rd
a singer sings "That's an invitation to make a reservation"

The 2nd stanza the singer (john) sings "We got everything you need satisfaction guaranteed"

I know it is john in 2nd stanza..and paul "invitation on 3rd stanza..

my question is  who sings the 1st  stanza  "thats an invitation to make a reservation"  the voice is slow or slowed down and hangs on invitation, and reservation

is it Ringo, mal evans?  I have not read or heard in any interview who sings that line.

Answer
Thanks for the challenge, Tom, because when I thought of that line in my head, I couldn't place it either!  So I opened up iTunes and listened to it a few times, and here's what I can come up with.

It's Paul.

On initial hearing, it definitely either John or Paul.  Ringo has a very distinctive vocal timbre and accent, and that's not what I'm hearing there, and Mal Evans never had a sung vocal solo on any Beatles songs.  It's actually a fairly low passage, ending on a low B, and I'm ruling out John because he tends to press on his low notes (i.e "I'm a Loser").  That leaves Paul.  

It kind of also makes sense given that Paul sings the same line with the same words at the end of the song, but an octave up.  And since Paul has an incredible vocal range for an untrained singer, I can believe that it's him singing both lines.

Hope this helps.  Thanks for taking your time to ask me a question!