TheBeatlesOnline

Abbey Road: the end

"And in the end, the love you take
is equal to the love you make" (Paul McCartney, The End, Abbey Road.)

Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick described the making of Abbey Road as "walking on eggshells." After the tense moments during the recording of the White Album and Let It Be, the Beatles seemed to do their best to avoid falling into arguments.

It didn't start too well though. In the summer of 1969, John and Yoko had been in a car accident while in Scotland, and the doctor had ordered Yoko to stay in bed for some time.

The others could not believe their own eyes when, on July 9, John and Yoko turned up in the studio with a big bed for Yoko to rest in! For the next several weeks, Yoko practically lived in that bed. John even requested a microphone to be set up for her so that he could hear her through the headphones.

Back on July 1, when the Lennons were still in hospital, McCartney, Harrison and Starr had started working on two songs intended for the new album: Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight and Maxwell's Silver Hammer. It's worth noting, however, that some of the songs on Abbey Road were well on their way before this time. Early takes of I Want You (She's So Heavy), Oh Darling!, Something and Octopus's Garden had in fact been recorded between February and May 1969, but underwent numerous perfections during the Abbey Road sessions, which lasted from the beginning of July to August 25.

It was McCartney's idea to link some of the songs on Abbey Road together to one continues piece, using You Never Give Me Your Money as a medley. The result was quite astonishing, and the songs really flow into one another naturally.

Abbey Road also benefited from having producer George Martin back in a more proactive role. Martin at times been absent during the recording of the White Album and Let It Be.

Although not as proactive as in earlier days, Martin was now back doing what he did best; arranging classical scores and vocal harmonies that fitted the songs perfectly. Engineer Geoff Emerick had also returned. He had walked out on the group the year before, but Paul McCartney had personally asked him to come back to help out on the new record.

At this point, however, it was rare that all four Beatles were in the studio at the same time, and they did quite a lot of recording separately, as they had done on the White Album sessions.

There were some good team efforts though, such as the wonderful vocal harmonies on the Because, on which John, Paul and George spent hours working until it was considered done.

But there were also tense moments at times. One example of this is the infamous "biscuit incident." One day, Yoko Ono had gained some strength and jumped out of her "sick bed" to nick one of George Harrison's biscuits from a packet he had put on his guitar amplifier (it was considered a taboo to touch any of the food in the studio that belonged to the Beatles.) Harrison made it clear that Yoko had crossed the line, to put it mildly, and an argument broke out between him and Lennon. Fortunately it died out pretty quickly.

Nevertheless, the biscuit incident pretty much summed up how fragile the relationship between the four Beatles was at this point.

John Lennon had taken quite a passive role during the Abbey Road sessions, and it was Paul who was running the show most of the time. At times, Lennon seemed to distance himself from the project, and there are several songs in which he doesn't participate on at all. It has since been suggested that he was addicted to heroin at this stage, which can explain his mood swings. He still delivered some excellent tunes for the album though, including Come Together, I Want You (She's So Heavy) and Because.

George Harrison was peaking as a songwriter at this point, and delivered two of the album's many highlights: Here Comes The Sun and Something. The latter song was admired by both McCartney and Lennon and became the first Harrison composition to feature on the A-side of a Beatles single. It was released together with Come Together, as a double A-sided single (no 1 in the US, no 2 in the UK.) Harrison also shaped many of the sounds on Abbey Road with his Moog synthesizer and slide guitar technique.

Ringo Starr's drumming was excellent throughout, and he even reluctantly agreed to do a drum solo after Paul McCartney had convinced him to do it. Octopus's Garden, his second main song writing effort, also deserves its place on the record.

Abbey Road was released in September (US) and October (UK) 1969, and shot straight to number one on the charts around the world. And what an album it was! It was a superb last effort from a group that gave and achieved so much over the years, ever since their first recording session that September day in 1962.

Now the Beatles had grown apart, they were shattered and exhausted, disillusioned and fed up. But they had managed to finish the fairy tale on a high note - at least musically.

On April 10 1970, Paul McCartney announced the break up of the Beatles.

Almost ten years later, on December 8, 1980, John Lennon was shot dead by Mark David Chapman, a mentally ill fan. Lennon's death buried any hopes of a Beatles reunion.

In March 1994 and February 1995, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr reunited to finish two songs, Free As A Bird and Real Love, which had been recorded on a home demo by Lennon in 1977 and 1979. They had been given the tapes by Yoko Ono.

On November 29 2001, George Harrison also passed away. Both Paul and Ringo played at his memorial concert the same year.

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Further reading:

Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey: Here, There and Everywhere
My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles (2006)

Review: This is the story about the Beatles told by somebody who was there, working closely with the band over several years.

Geoff Emerick had just turned 16 when he worked on his first Beatles session, and at the age of 18 he had become the group's chief engineer.

Emerick tells it like it was; the good times, the bad times, why he walked out on the group - and why he came back. It's a subjective account, and some readers may at times dislike the way he portrays the personalities of Lennon, Harrison and Starr. However, the fact that Emerick shares his personal views ultimately adds value to the book.

Here, There and Everywhere is a must read for every Beatles fan.

Mark Lewisohn:

Review: If you really want to find out how the Beatles made their records, then this book is for you.

Mark Lewisohn has compiled data from every Beatles session at EMI studios, and interviewed people who participated on the recordings; engineers, producers, session musicians and so on.

It's a day-by-day account, from the first Beatles session in 1962, to the last some seven years later.

The book also includes an interview with Paul McCartney.

Highly recommended.

Steve Turner: A Hard Day's Write
The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song (1994)

Review: This book is a good introduction for those who want to find out more about the songs of the Beatles.

Steve Turner has managed to track down several real-life people who are portrayed in their songs; Polythene Pam, the girl in She's Leaving Home and Lucy from Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, to name a few.

Even expert Beatles fans are likely to be surprised by some of the information here.

Recommended.

Ian MacDonald:

Review: It's unbelievable that Ian MacDonald could dismiss so many great Beatles tracks:

Savoy Truffle is described as "pointless", Lady Madonna as a "moderately entertaining let-down" and Day Tripper as "musically uninspired."

This book will most certainly provoke many readers, although to the author's defense it should be said that he does take time to explain his often controversial views.

The book is still useful though, since it comes with a who-plays-what section for every song.

It also has a good historical overview of the Beatles period.

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