I don't know if most of you will recognize that empty street above, but I bet if you look at the picture below you'll know exactly what it is.
45 years ago today, four guys took a walk across the street in London, and it became one of the most well-known images in the world.
And the album? Just as amazing as it's cover.
So, why don't we talk about Abbey Road today.
Seems relative.
Seems relative.
FUN FACTS:
The Photo
• The original idea was to call this album Everest, and bring The Beatles up to Mount Everest to shoot the
cover. Seeming like a lot of time and work, they decided on option two: go right outside for a quick picture, and name the album after the street that they were on.
• The shoot was inspired by sketches that Paul had drawn out of his ideas before the photo shoot took place. Who would've thought you needed every angle to understand that it was going to be four guys walking in a line on a crosswalk.
• There were only a few photos taken of them walking back and forth, which took about 10 minutes - you
can find all of these outtakes around the internet.
• This album cover was one of the bigger things that pertained to the 'Paul is Dead' myth:
1) The VW Beetle(funny, a Beetle in a Beatle's shot) on the left has the license plate 'LMW 28IF' - which is supposed to mean 'Linda McCartney Weeps', along with 28 being Paul's age IF he was living
... even though he actually would have been 27 that year.
But forget logic, 28IF is totally meaningful.
2) The scene is 'supposed to' reference a funeral procession:
John, in white, is the priest,
Ringo, in black, is the undertaker,
because Paul is barefoot he is clearly a dead guy,
and George is the gravedigger.
Because why would you be barefoot if you aren't dead? IT'S SO OBVIOUS YOU ARE DEAD PAUL YOU AREN'T FOOLING ANYONE.
The Music
• The Abbey Road Melody is just a group of unfinished songs meshed together to create one continuous tune
• During The End, you'll hear the guitar solos - that's all three boys taking turns on tiny solos.
The order is Paul, George, and John - if you listen in the video, it starts around 14:45.
See if you can separate who's who.
• If you listen about 30 seconds after the melody concludes, you'll hear a little song called Her Majesty.
This short tune was meant to appear in the middle of the medley, but Paul didn't like the way it sounded, so he asked the guys to cut it.
The sound engineers - taught not to throw anything away - attached it to the very end of the medley, which The Beatles ended up liking.