THE BEATLES - ABBEY ROAD @ 55

 

Released on September 26th, 1969, the "sort of" penultimate Beatles LP, Abbey Road, turns 55 years old today. The confusion of its chronology comes from the fact that it was recorded after the Get Back/Let It Be sessions, but released before Let It Be. As such, it represents the last time the Beatles, as a group, were in a recording studio together at the same time.

The background for Abbey Road is inextricably linked with the Get Back sessions that preceded its recording. The Get Back project had rather spun off the rails to a large degree, with its plans for a return to the bands roots, documented in excruciating detail in a planned documentary film and capped off with an elaborate live performance, undermined as the group's internal relationships continued to fragment and their grandiose plans only culminated with a bizarre, albeit infamous, roof-top live performance atop the EMI recording studios (later renamed Abbey Road).

Following the rooftop gig, what would be the last ever live performance by the band, Paul McCartney suggested a regrouping effort to producer George Martin, who agreed to the concept with the provision that he be given full producer authority over the sessions like during the group's earlier albums. The fragmentation of the group had set in during the so-called "White Album" sessions, a situation that the Get Back project had meant to address, but which had only fermented more. Abbey Road was sort of a last-ditch effort to try to restore a sense of unity in the band, but even with the best of intentions, some antagonisms were simply too deeply rooted to extricate.

Lennon's insistence on including Yoko Ono in the sessions was one such ongoing source of conflict and consternation in the band. This even extended to the point where, after Lennon and Ono were in a car crash, resulting in an injury to Ono, Lennon had a hospital bed installed in the studio to accommodate her recovery and allow her to continue to observe the band's activities. Harrison's relationship with the group was also continuing to strain as he attempted to assert a greater influence on the album's content. But it wasn't all gritting teeth and exasperation in the studio. For the most part, the mood was actually mostly cordial and pleasant much of the time, though the underlying stresses would simply never entirely abate.

Despite the percolating tensions, the group's creativity was bolstered by the use of some cutting edge technology, principally in the form of an eight track recording system with a solid state mixing console, both of which helped the group to achieve a far more expansive sound, with the freedom to explore even more complex overdubbing. The other notable bit of kit was the MOOG modular synth system that Harrison had purchased the previous year and used for his sophomore solo release, Electronic Sound. While the instrument had been used for little more than noodling effects on that album, by the time it was incorporated into the Abbey Road sessions, Harrison's prowess with it was sufficient that it became integrated as proper musical accompaniment and not merely for exotic sound effects.

For the album's cover, McCartney had conceived of the idea of a photo of the band crossing the street outside the EMI studios building at Abbey Road, which would also give the album its title. Apple Records creative director John Kosh designed the album cover. It is the only original UK Beatles album sleeve to show neither the artist name nor the album title on its front, which was Kosh's idea, despite EMI saying the record would not sell without this information. He later explained that "we didn't need to write the band's name on the cover. They were the most famous band in the world". The iconic image has since gone on to become one of the most recognized, replicated and imitated group photos to ever be created. Scores of fans have tried to recreated the photo, and in 2011, a webcam was installed at the crossing. The cover also helped stoke the "Paul is dead" conspiracy, with McCartney appearing in the photo as out of step with the others in the band, holding his cigarette in the wrong hand, and the only one barefoot, leading to speculation that these were somehow symbolic of the person in the photo being an imposter.

The album was released with virtually no promotional campaign, amid internal disintegration, with Lennon already having announced his intention to leave and Paul about to make a public statement of his departure, thus formalizing the band's dissolution. But promotion wasn't much required as the album immediately shot to the top of the charts, where it lingered for quite some time. The group machinery continued to hang on long enough for a reassessment of the Get Back material, which was put in the hands of Phil Spector to get it finished while the group disintegrated.

While the sales for the album were brisk, critical response was mixed, with some finding the use of the electronics gimmicky and the songwriting inauthentic. Regardless of this initial ambivalence, retrospectively, the album has become considered perhaps the band's most lauded and appreciated release. While it may not have had the conceptual and cultural impact of Sgt. Pepper, in the long run, aficionados of the band repeatedly cite the LP as their crowning achievement. Whether that's the case is a matter of preference in the end.