fbpx
Wikipedia

Abbey Road

Abbey Road is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969. It is the last album the group recorded,[2] although Let It Be was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970.[3] It was mostly recorded in April, July, and August 1969, and topped the record charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom. A double A-side single from the album, "Something" / "Come Together", was released in October, which also topped the charts in the US.

Abbey Road
Studio album by
Released26 September 1969 (1969-09-26)
Recorded22 February – 20 August 1969
StudioEMI, Olympic and Trident, London
GenreRock[1]
Length47:03
LabelApple
ProducerGeorge Martin
The Beatles chronology
Yellow Submarine
(1969)
Abbey Road
(1969)
Let It Be
(1970)
The Beatles North American chronology
Yellow Submarine
(1969)
Abbey Road
(1969)
Hey Jude
(1970)
Singles from Abbey Road
  1. "Something" / "Come Together"
    Released: 6 October 1969

Abbey Road incorporates styles such as rock, pop, blues, and progressive rock,[4] and makes prominent use of the Moog synthesiser and guitar played through a Leslie speaker unit. It is also notable for having a long medley of songs on side two that have subsequently been covered as one suite by other notable artists. The album was recorded in a more collegial atmosphere than the Get Back / Let It Be sessions earlier in the year, but there were still significant confrontations within the band, particularly over Paul McCartney's song "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", and John Lennon did not perform on several tracks. By the time the album was released, Lennon had left the group, though this was not publicly announced until McCartney also quit the following year.

Although Abbey Road was an instant commercial success, it received mixed reviews upon release. Some critics found its music inauthentic and criticised the production's artificial effects. By contrast, critics today view the album as one of the Beatles' best ventures and it is considered by many to be one of the greatest albums of all time. George Harrison's two songs on the album, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun", have been regarded as among the best he wrote for the group. The album's cover, featuring the Beatles walking across the zebra crossing outside of Abbey Road Studios (then officially named EMI Studios), has become one of the most famous and imitated in the history of recorded music.

Background edit

After the recording sessions for the proposed Get Back album, Paul McCartney suggested to the producer George Martin that the group get together and make an album "the way we used to do it",[5] free of the conflict that had begun during sessions for The Beatles (also known as the "White Album"). Martin agreed, but on the strict condition that all the group—particularly John Lennon—allow him to produce the record in the same manner as earlier albums and that discipline would be adhered to.[6] No one was entirely sure that the work was going to be the group's last, though George Harrison later recalled that "it felt as if we were reaching the end of the line".[7]

Production edit

Recording history edit

The first sessions for Abbey Road began on 22 February 1969, only three weeks after the Get Back sessions, in Trident Studios. There, the group recorded a backing track for "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" with Billy Preston accompanying them on Hammond organ.[2] No further group recording occurred until April because of Ringo Starr's commitments on the film The Magic Christian.[8] After a small amount of work that month and a session for "You Never Give Me Your Money" on 6 May, the group took an eight-week break before recommencing on 2 July.[9] Recording continued through July and August, and the last backing track, for "Because", was taped on 1 August.[10] Overdubs continued through the month, with the final sequencing of the album coming together on 20 August – the last time all four Beatles were present in a studio together.[3]

McCartney, Starr and Martin have reported positive recollections of the sessions,[11] while Harrison said, "we did actually perform like musicians again".[12] Lennon and McCartney had enjoyed working together on the non-album single "The Ballad of John and Yoko" in April, sharing friendly banter between takes, and some of this camaraderie carried over to the Abbey Road sessions.[13] Nevertheless, there was a significant amount of tension in the group. According to Ian MacDonald, McCartney had an acrimonious argument with Lennon during the sessions. Lennon's wife Yoko Ono had become a permanent presence at Beatles recordings, and clashed with other members.[11] Halfway through recording in June, Lennon and Ono were involved in a car accident. A doctor told Ono to rest in bed, so Lennon had one installed in the studio so she could observe the recording process from there.[6]

During the sessions, Lennon expressed a desire to have all of his songs on one side of the album, and McCartney's on the other.[12] The album's two halves represented a compromise: Lennon wanted a traditional release with distinct and unrelated songs, while McCartney and Martin wanted to continue their thematic approach from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by incorporating a medley. Lennon ultimately said that he disliked Abbey Road as a whole and felt that it lacked authenticity, calling McCartney's contributions "[music] for the grannies to dig" and not "real songs",[14] and describing the medley as "junk ... just bits of songs thrown together".[15]

Technical aspects edit

 
An EMI TG mixing desk, similar to this one, was used in the production of Abbey Road.

Abbey Road was recorded on eight-track reel-to-reel tape machines[11] rather than the four-track machines that were used for earlier Beatles albums such as Sgt Pepper, and was the first Beatles album not to be issued in mono anywhere in the world.[16] The album makes prominent use of guitar played through a Leslie speaker, and of the Moog synthesiser. The Moog is not merely used as a background effect but sometimes plays a central role, as in "Because", where it is used for the middle eight. It is also prominent on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "Here Comes the Sun". The synthesiser was introduced to the band by Harrison, who acquired one in November 1968 and used it to create his album Electronic Sound.[11] Starr made more prominent use of the tom-toms on Abbey Road, later saying the album was "tom-tom madness ... I went nuts on the toms."[17]

Abbey Road was also the first and only Beatles album to be entirely recorded through a solid-state transistor mixing desk, the TG12345 Mk I, as opposed to earlier tube (thermionic valve)-based REDD desks. The TG console also allowed better support for eight-track recording, facilitating the Beatles' considerable use of overdubbing.[18] Emerick recalls that the TG desk used to record the album had individual limiters and compressors on each audio channel[19] and noted that the overall sound was "softer" than the earlier tube (valve) desks.[20] In his study of the role of the TG12345 in the Beatles' sound on Abbey Road, the music historian Kenneth Womack observes that "the expansive sound palette and mixing capabilities of the TG12345 enabled George Martin and Geoff Emerick to imbue the Beatles' sound with greater definition and clarity. The warmth of solid-state recording also afforded their music with brighter tonalities and a deeper low end that distinguished Abbey Road from the rest of their corpus, providing listeners with an abiding sense that the Beatles' final long-player was markedly different."[21]

Alan Parsons worked as an assistant engineer on the album. He later went on to engineer Pink Floyd's landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon and produce many popular albums himself with the Alan Parsons Project.[22] John Kurlander also assisted on many of the sessions, and went on to become a successful engineer and producer, most noteworthy for his success on the scores for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.[23]

Songs edit

Side one edit

"Come Together" edit

"Come Together" was an expansion of "Let's Get It Together", a song Lennon originally wrote for Timothy Leary's California gubernatorial campaign against Ronald Reagan.[24] A rough version of the lyrics for "Come Together" was written at Lennon's and Ono's second bed-in event in Montreal.[25]

The biographer Jonathan Gould suggested that the song has only a single "pariah-like protagonist" and Lennon was "painting another sardonic self-portrait".[26] MacDonald has suggested that the "juju eyeballs" has been claimed to refer to Dr John and "spinal cracker" to Ono.[27] The song was later the subject of a lawsuit brought against Lennon by Morris Levy because the opening line in "Come Together" – "Here come old flat-top" – was admittedly lifted from a line in Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me". A settlement was reached in 1973 in which Lennon promised to record three songs from Levy's publishing catalogue for his next album.[28]

"Come Together" was later released as a double A-side single with "Something".[29] In the liner notes to the compilation album Love, Martin described the track as "a simple song but it stands out because of the sheer brilliance of the performers".[30]

"Something" edit

Harrison was inspired to write "Something" during sessions for the White Album by listening to his label-mate James Taylor's "Something in the Way She Moves" from his album James Taylor.[31] After the lyrics were refined during the Let It Be sessions (tapes reveal Lennon giving Harrison some songwriting advice during its composition), the song was initially given to Joe Cocker, but was subsequently recorded for Abbey Road. Cocker's version appeared on his album Joe Cocker! that November.[32]

"Something" was Lennon's favourite song on the album, and McCartney considered it the best song Harrison had written.[33] Though the song was written by Harrison, Frank Sinatra once commented that it was his favourite Lennon–McCartney composition[34] and "the greatest love song ever written".[35] Lennon contributed piano to the recording and while most of the part was removed, traces of it remain in the final cut, notably on the middle eight, before Harrison's guitar solo.[32]

The song was issued as a double A-side single with "Come Together" in October 1969 and topped the US charts for one week, becoming the Beatles' first number-one single that was not a Lennon–McCartney composition.[36] It was also the first Beatles single from an album already released in the UK.[nb 1] Apple's Neil Aspinall filmed a promotional video, which combined separate footage of the Beatles and their wives.[38]

"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" edit

"Maxwell's Silver Hammer", McCartney's first song on the album, was first performed by the Beatles during the Let It Be sessions (as seen in the film). He wrote the song after the group's trip to India in 1968 and wanted to record it for the White Album, but it was rejected by the others as "too complicated".[26]

The recording was fraught with tension between band members, as McCartney annoyed others by insisting on a perfect performance. The track was the first Lennon was invited to work on following his car accident, but he hated it and declined to do so.[39] According to engineer Geoff Emerick, Lennon said it was "more of Paul's granny music" and left the session.[40] He spent the next two weeks with Ono and did not return to the studio until the backing track for "Come Together" was laid down on 21 July.[24] Harrison was also tired of the song, saying "we had to play it over and over again until Paul liked it. It was a real drag". Starr was more sympathetic to the song. "It was granny music", he admitted, "but we needed stuff like that on our album so other people would listen to it".[40] Longtime roadie Mal Evans played the anvil sound in the chorus.[41] This track also makes use of Harrison's Moog synthesiser, played by McCartney.[39]

"Oh! Darling" edit

"Oh! Darling" was written by McCartney in a doo-wop style, like contemporary work by Frank Zappa.[42] It was tried at the Get Back sessions, and a version appears on Anthology 3.[nb 2] It was subsequently re-recorded in April, with overdubs in July and August.[42]

McCartney attempted recording the lead vocal only once a day. He said: "I came into the studios early every day for a week to sing it by myself because at first my voice was too clear. I wanted it to sound as though I'd been performing it on stage all week."[44] Lennon thought he should have sung it, remarking that it was more his style.[45]

"Octopus's Garden" edit

As was the case with most of the Beatles' albums, Starr sang lead vocal on one track. "Octopus's Garden" is his second and last solo composition released on any album by the band. It was inspired by a trip with his family to Sardinia aboard Peter Sellers's yacht after Starr left the band for two weeks during the sessions for the White Album. Starr received a full songwriting credit and composed most of the lyrics, although the song's melodic structure was partly written in the studio by Harrison.[46] The pair would later collaborate as writers on Starr's solo singles "It Don't Come Easy", "Back Off Boogaloo" and "Photograph".[47]

"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" edit

 
John Lennon played the Moog synthesiser's white noise generator to create the "wind" sounds at the end of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)".

"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" was written by Lennon about his relationship with Ono,[2] and he made a deliberate choice to keep the lyrics simple and concise.[48] Author Tom Maginnis writes that the song had a progressive rock influence, with its unusual length and structure, repeating guitar riff, and white noise effects, though he noted the "I Want You" section has a straightforward blues structure.[49][50]

The finished song is a combination of two different recording attempts. The first attempt occurred in February 1969, almost immediately after the Get Back / Let It Be sessions with Billy Preston. This was subsequently combined with a second version made during the Abbey Road sessions proper in April. The two sections together ran to nearly eight minutes, making it the Beatles' second-longest released track.[nb 3] Lennon used Harrison's Moog synthesiser with a white noise setting to create a "wind" effect that was overdubbed on the second half of the track.[2] During the final edit, Lennon told Emerick to "cut it right there" at 7 minutes and 44 seconds, creating a sudden, jarring silence that concludes the first side of Abbey Road (the recording tape would have run out within 20 seconds as it was).[51] The final mixing and editing of the track occurred on 20 August 1969, the last day on which all four Beatles were together in the studio.[52]

Side two edit

"Here Comes the Sun" edit

"Here Comes the Sun" was written by Harrison in Eric Clapton's garden in Surrey during a break from stressful band business meetings.[53] The basic track was recorded on 7 July 1969. Harrison sang lead and played acoustic guitar, McCartney provided backing vocals and played bass, and Starr played the drums.[51] Lennon was still recovering from his car accident and did not perform on the track. Martin provided an orchestral arrangement in collaboration with Harrison, who overdubbed a Moog synthesiser part on 19 August, immediately before the final mix.[53]

Though not released as a single, the song attracted attention and critical praise, and was included on the compilation 1967–1970. It has been featured several times on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, having been chosen by Sandie Shaw, Jerry Springer, Boris Johnson and Elaine Paige.[54] The Daily Telegraph's Martin Chilton said it was "almost impossible not to sing along to".[55] Since digital downloads have become eligible to chart, it reached number 56 in 2010 after the Beatles' back catalogue was released on iTunes.[56]

Harrison recorded a guitar solo for this track that did not appear in the final mix. It was rediscovered in 2012, and footage of Martin and Harrison's son Dhani listening to it in the studio was released on the DVD of Living in the Material World.[57]

"Because" edit

"Because" was inspired by Lennon listening to Ono playing Ludwig van Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" on the piano. He recalled he was "lying on the sofa in our house, listening to Yoko play ... Suddenly, I said, 'Can you play those chords backward?' She did, and I wrote 'Because' around them."[58] The track features three-part harmonies by Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, which were then triple-tracked to give nine voices in the final mix. The group considered the vocals to be some of the hardest and most complex they attempted. Harrison played the Moog synthesiser, and Martin played the harpsichord that opens the track.[10]

Medley edit

 
The medley of songs on side two finished with "The End"

The remainder of side two consists of a 16-minute medley of eight tracks consisting of a number of short songs and song fragments (known during the recording sessions as "The Long One"),[59][60][61] recorded over July and August and blended into a suite by McCartney and Martin.[62] Some songs were written (and originally recorded in demo form) during sessions for the White Album and Get Back / Let It Be, which later appeared on Anthology 3.[63] While the idea for the medley was McCartney's, Martin claims credit for some structure, adding he "wanted to get John and Paul to think more seriously about their music".[7]

The first track recorded for the medley was the opening number, "You Never Give Me Your Money". McCartney has said the band's dispute over Allen Klein and what McCartney viewed as Klein's empty promises were the inspiration for the song's lyrics.[64] However, MacDonald doubts this, given that the backing track, recorded on 6 May at Olympic Studios, predated the worst altercations between Klein and McCartney. The track is a suite of varying styles, ranging from a piano-led ballad at the start to arpeggiated guitars at the end.[65] Both Harrison and Lennon provided guitar solos, with Lennon playing the solos at the end of the track.[66]

This song transitions into Lennon's "Sun King" which, like "Because", showcases Lennon, McCartney and Harrison's triple-tracked harmonies. Following it are Lennon's "Mean Mr. Mustard" (written during the Beatles' 1968 trip to India) and "Polythene Pam".[67] These in turn are followed by four McCartney songs, "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" (written after a fan entered McCartney's residence via his bathroom window),[68] "Golden Slumbers" (based on Thomas Dekker's 17th-century poem set to new music),[69] "Carry That Weight" (reprising elements from "You Never Give Me Your Money", and featuring chorus vocals from all four Beatles), and closing with "The End".[70]

"The End" features Starr's only drum solo in the Beatles' catalogue (the drums are mixed across two tracks in "true stereo", unlike most releases at that time where they were hard-panned left or right). Fifty-four seconds into the song are 18 bars of lead guitar: the first two bars are played by McCartney, the second two by Harrison, and the third two by Lennon, and the sequence is repeated two more times.[71] Harrison suggested the idea of a guitar solo in the track, Lennon decided they should trade solos and McCartney elected to go first. The solos were cut live against the existing backing track in one take.[7] Immediately after Lennon's third and final solo, the piano chords of the final part of the song begin. The song ends with the memorable final line, "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make". This section was taped separately from the first and required the piano to be re-recorded by McCartney, which was done on 18 August.[71] An alternative version of the song, with Harrison's lead guitar solo played against McCartney's (and Starr's drum solo heard in the background), appears on the Anthology 3 album and the 2012 digital-only compilation album Tomorrow Never Knows.[72]

Musicologist Walter Everett interprets that most of the lyrics on side two's medley deal with "selfishness and self-gratification – the financial complaints in 'You Never Give Me Your Money,' the miserliness of Mr. Mustard, the holding back of the pillow in 'Carry That Weight,' the desire that some second person will visit the singer's dreams – perhaps the 'one sweet dream' of 'You Never Give Me Your Money'? – in 'The End.'"[73] Everett adds that the medley's "selfish moments" are played in the context of the tonal centre of A, while "generosity" is expressed in songs where C major is central.[73] The medley concludes with a "great compromise in the 'negotiations'" in "The End", which serves as a structurally balanced coda. In response to the repeated A-major choruses of "love you", McCartney sings in realisation that there is as much self-gratifying love ("the love you take") as there is of the generous love ("the love you make"), in A major and C major, respectively.[73]

"Her Majesty" edit

"Her Majesty" was recorded by McCartney on 2 July when he arrived before the rest of the group at Abbey Road. It was originally included in a rough mix of the side two medley (and officially available in this form for the first time on the album's 3CD Super Deluxe edition box set), appearing between "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam". McCartney disliked the way the medley sounded when it included "Her Majesty", so he asked for it to be cut. The second engineer, John Kurlander, had been instructed by George Martin not to throw out anything, so after McCartney left, he attached the track to the end of the master tape after 20 seconds of silence. The tape box bore an instruction to leave "Her Majesty" off the final product, but the next day when mastering engineer Malcolm Davies received the tape, he (also trained not to throw anything away) cut a playback lacquer of the whole sequence, including "Her Majesty". The Beatles liked this effect and included it on the album.[74]

"Her Majesty" opens with the final, crashing chord of "Mean Mr. Mustard", while the final note remained buried in the mix of "Polythene Pam", as a result of being snipped off the reel during a rough mix of the medley on 30 July. The medley was subsequently mixed again from scratch although the song was not touched again and still appears in its rough mix on the album.[74]

Original US and UK pressings of Abbey Road do not list "Her Majesty" on the album's cover nor on the record label,[75] making it a hidden track. The song title appears on the inlay card and disc of the 1987 remastered CD reissue, as track 17.[76] It also appears on the sleeve, booklet and disc of the 2009 remastered CD reissue,[77] but not on the cover or record label of the 2012 vinyl reissue.[78]

Unreleased material edit

Three days after the session for "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", Harrison recorded solo demos of "All Things Must Pass" (which became the title track of his 1970 triple album), "Something" and "Old Brown Shoe".[79] The latter was re-recorded by the Beatles in April 1969 and issued as the B-side of "The Ballad of John and Yoko" the following month. All three of these Harrison demos were later featured on Anthology 3.[80]

During the sessions for the medley, McCartney recorded "Come and Get It", playing all the instruments. It was assumed to be a demo recording for another artist[81] but McCartney later said that he originally intended to put it on Abbey Road.[82] It was instead covered by Badfinger, while McCartney's original recording appeared on Anthology 3.

The original backing track to "Something", featuring a piano-led coda,[32] and "You Never Give Me Your Money", which leads into a fast rock-n-roll jam session,[65] have appeared on bootlegs.[83][84]

Cover photo edit

Apple Records creative director 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 cover, 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".[85] The front cover was a photograph of the group on a zebra crossing, based on ideas that McCartney sketched,[86][nb 4] and taken on 8 August 1969 outside EMI Studios on Abbey Road. At 11:35 that morning, photographer Iain Macmillan was given only ten minutes to take the photo while he stood on a step-ladder and a policeman held up traffic behind the camera. Macmillan took six photographs, which McCartney examined with a magnifying glass before deciding which would be used on the album sleeve.[85][87]

In the image selected by McCartney, the group walk across the street in single file from left to right, with Lennon leading, followed by Starr, McCartney and Harrison. McCartney is barefoot and out of step with the others. Except for Harrison, the group are wearing suits designed by Tommy Nutter.[88] A white Volkswagen Beetle is to the left of the picture, parked next to the zebra crossing, which belonged to one of the people living in the block of flats across from the recording studio. After the album was released, the number plate (LMW 281F) was repeatedly stolen from the car.[nb 5] In 2004, news sources published a claim made by retired American salesman Paul Cole that he was the man standing on the pavement to the right of the picture.[91]

Release edit

In mid-1969, Lennon formed a new group, the Plastic Ono Band, in part because the Beatles had rejected his song "Cold Turkey".[92] While Harrison worked with such artists as Leon Russell, Doris Troy, Preston and Delaney & Bonnie through to the end of the year,[93] McCartney took a hiatus from the group after his daughter Mary was born on 28 August.[86] On 20 September, six days before Abbey Road was released, Lennon told McCartney, Starr, and business manager Allen Klein (Harrison was not present) that he "wanted a divorce"[94] from the group. Apple released "Something" backed with "Come Together" in the US on 6 October 1969.[95] Release of the single in the UK followed on 31 October,[96] while Lennon released the Plastic Ono Band's "Cold Turkey" the same month.[97]

The Beatles did little promotion of Abbey Road directly, and no public announcement was made of the band's split until McCartney announced he was leaving the group in April 1970.[98] By this time, the Get Back project (by now retitled Let It Be) had been re-examined, with overdubs and mixing sessions continuing into 1970. Therefore, Let It Be became the last album to be finished and released by the Beatles, although its recording had begun before Abbey Road.[3]

Abbey Road sold four million copies in its first two months of release.[99] In the UK, the album debuted at number one, where it remained for 11 weeks before being displaced for one week by the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed. The following week (which was Christmas), Abbey Road returned to the top for another six weeks (completing a total of 17 weeks) before being replaced by Led Zeppelin II.[100][101] Altogether, it spent 81 weeks on the UK albums chart.[102] Reaction overseas was similar. In the US, the album spent 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top LPs chart.[103] It was the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) best-selling album of 1969.[104] In Japan, it was one of the longest-charting albums to date, remaining in the top 100 for 298 weeks during the 1970s.[105]

Critical reception edit

Contemporary edit

Abbey Road initially received mixed reviews from music critics,[106] who criticised the production's artificial sounds and viewed its music as inauthentic.[107] William Mann of The Times said that the album will "be called gimmicky by people who want a record to sound exactly like a live performance",[107] although he considered it to be "teem[ing] with musical invention" and added: "Nice as 'Come Together' and Harrison's 'Something' are – they are minor pleasures in the context of the whole disc ... Side Two is marvellous ..."[108] Ed Ward of Rolling Stone called the album "complicated instead of complex" and felt that the Moog synthesiser "disembodies and artificializes" the band's sound, adding that they "create a sound that could not possibly exist outside the studio".[107] While he found the medley on side two to be their "most impressive music" since Rubber Soul, Nik Cohn of The New York Times said that, "individually", the album's songs are "nothing special".[109] Albert Goldman of Life magazine wrote that Abbey Road "is not one of the Beatles' great albums" and, despite some "lovely" phrases and "stirring" segues, side two's suite "seems symbolic of the Beatles' latest phase, which might be described as the round-the-clock production of disposable music effects".[110] John Gabree of the magazine High Fidelity wrote, of the album, "what's to say? If you like the Beatles, you'll like the record. If you have your doubts, this will do nothing to allay them. Of course, as someone just said, they do have 'something.'"[111]

Conversely, Chris Welch wrote in Melody Maker: "the truth is, their latest LP is just a natural born gas, entirely free of pretension, deep meanings or symbolism ... While production is simple compared to past intricacies, it is still extremely sophisticated and inventive."[112] Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times found the album "refreshingly terse and unpretentious", and although he lamented the band's "cod-1920s jokes (Maxwell's Silver Hammer) and ... Ringo's obligatory nursery arias (Octopus's Garden)", he considered that Abbey Road "touches higher peaks than did their last album".[108] John Mendelsohn, writing for Rolling Stone, called it "breathtakingly recorded" and praised side two especially, equating it to "the whole of Sgt. Pepper" and stating, "That the Beatles can unify seemingly countless musical fragments and lyrical doodlings into a uniformly wonderful suite ... seems potent testimony that no, they've far from lost it, and no, they haven't stopped trying."[113] Don Heckman of Stereo Review named the album one of the "Best Recordings of the Month" of January 1970, remarking that it was "better than 'The Beatles' or 'Magical Mystery Tour,' and probably the equal of 'Sgt. Pepper'", adding, "I suppose I haven't really come up with any new compliments for the Beatles-not that they need them. But I hope I have at least persuaded you to hear 'Abbey Road.' You'll find it a happy experience."[114]

While covering the Rolling Stones' 1969 American tour for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau reported from a meeting with Greil Marcus in Berkeley that "opinion has shifted against the Beatles. Everyone is putting down Abbey Road." Shortly afterwards, in Los Angeles, he wrote that his colleague Ellen Willis had grown to love the record, adding: "Damned if she isn't right – flawed but fine. Because the world is round it turns her on. Charlie Watts tells us he likes it too."[115]

Retrospective edit

Many critics have since cited Abbey Road as the Beatles' greatest album.[126] In a retrospective review, Nicole Pensiero of PopMatters called it "an amazingly cohesive piece of music, innovative and timeless".[127] Mark Kemp of Paste viewed the album as being "among the Beatles' finest works, even if it foreshadows the cigarette-lighter-waving arena rock that technically skilled but critically maligned artists from Journey to Meatloaf would belabor throughout the '70s and '80s".[122] Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph dubbed it the Beatles' "last love letter to the world" and praised its "big, modern sound", calling it "lush, rich, smooth, epic, emotional and utterly gorgeous".[119]

AllMusic's Richie Unterberger felt that the album shared Sgt. Pepper's "faux-conceptual forms", but had "stronger compositions", and wrote of its standing in the band's catalogue: "Whether Abbey Road is the Beatles' best work is debatable, but it's certainly the most immaculately produced (with the possible exception of Sgt. Pepper) and most tightly constructed."[116] Ian MacDonald gave a mixed opinion of the album, noting that several tracks had been written at least a year previously, and would possibly have been unsuitable without being integrated into the medley on side two. He did, however, praise the production, particularly the sound of Starr's bass drum.[11]

Abbey Road received high rankings in several "best albums in history" polls by critics and publications.[128][129][130] It was voted number 8 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[131] Time included it in their 2006 list of the All-Time 100 Albums.[132] In 2009, readers of Rolling Stone named Abbey Road the greatest Beatles album.[128][133] In 2020, the magazine ranked the album at number 5 on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", the highest Beatles record on the list;[134] a previous version of the list from 2012 had ranked it at number 14.[135] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[136]

Legacy edit

Abbey Road crossing and "Paul is dead" edit

 
Imitating the cover of Abbey Road has become popular with fans.

The image of the Beatles on the Abbey Road crossing has become one of the most famous and imitated in recording history.[85] The crossing is a popular destination for Beatles fans,[85] and a webcam has operated there since 2011.[137] In December 2010, the crossing was given grade II listed status for its "cultural and historical importance"; the Abbey Road studios themselves had been given similar status earlier in the year.[138]

Shortly after the album's release, the cover became part of the "Paul is dead" theory that was spreading across college campuses in the US. According to followers of the rumour, the cover depicted the Beatles walking out of a cemetery in a funeral procession. The procession was led by Lennon dressed in white as a religious figure; Starr was dressed in black as the undertaker; McCartney, out of step with the others, was a barefoot corpse; and Harrison dressed in denim was the gravedigger. The left-handed McCartney is holding a cigarette in his right hand, indicating that he is an impostor, and part of the number plate on the Volkswagen parked on the street is 281F (misread as 28IF), meaning that McCartney would have been 28 if he had lived – despite the fact that he was only 27 at the time of the photo and subsequent release of the record.[139][140] The escalation of the "Paul is dead" rumour became the subject of intense analysis on mainstream radio and contributed to Abbey Road's commercial success in the US.[141] Lennon was interviewed in London by New York's WMCA, and he ridiculed the rumour but conceded that it was invaluable publicity for the album.[142]

The cover image has been parodied on several occasions, including by Booker T. & the M.G.'s McLemore Avenue (1970), Kanye West's Late Orchestration (2006) and by McCartney on his 1993 live album Paul Is Live.[143][144] On the cover of its October 1977 issue, the satirical magazine National Lampoon depicted the four Beatles flattened along the zebra crossing, with a road roller driving away up the street.[145] The Red Hot Chili Peppers' The Abbey Road E.P. parodies the cover, with the band walking near-naked across a similar zebra crossing.[146] In 2003, several US poster companies airbrushed McCartney's cigarette out of the image without permission from Apple or McCartney.[147] In 2013, Kolkata Police launched a traffic safety awareness advertisement against jaywalking, using the cover and a caption that read: "If they can, why can't you?"[148]

Cover versions and influence edit

The songs on Abbey Road have been covered many times and the album itself has been covered in its entirety. One month after Abbey Road's release, George Benson recorded a cover version of the album called The Other Side of Abbey Road.[149] Later in 1969 Booker T. & the M.G.'s recorded McLemore Avenue (the location in Memphis of Stax Records) which covered the Abbey Road songs and had a similar cover photo.[150]

While matching albums such as Sgt. Pepper in terms of popularity, Abbey Road failed to repeat the Beatles' earlier achievements in galvanising their rivals to imitate them.[107] In author Peter Doggett's description, "Too contrived for the rock underground to copy, too complex for the bubblegum pop brigade to copy, the album influenced no one – except [Paul McCartney]", who spent years trying to emulate its scope in his solo career.[107] Writing for Classic Rock in 2014, Jon Anderson of the progressive rock band Yes said his group were constantly influenced by the Beatles from Revolver onwards, but it was the feeling that side two was "one complete idea" that inspired him to create long-form pieces of music.[151][nb 6]

Several artists have covered some or all of the side-two medley, including Phil Collins (for the Martin/Beatles tribute album In My Life),[152] The String Cheese Incident,[153] Transatlantic[154] and Tenacious D (who performed the medley with Phish keyboardist Page McConnell).[155] Furthur, a jam band including former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, played the entire Abbey Road album during its Spring Tour 2011. It began with a "Come Together" opener at Boston on 4 March and ended with the entire medley in New York City on 15 March, including "Her Majesty" as an encore.[156]

Continued sales and reissues edit

In June 1970, Allen Klein reported that Abbey Road was the Beatles' best-selling album in the US with sales of about five million.[157] By 1992, Abbey Road had sold nine million copies.[99] The album became the ninth-most downloaded on the iTunes Store a week after it was released there on 16 November 2010.[56] A CNN report stated it was the best-selling vinyl album of 2011.[158] It is the first album from the 1960s to sell over five million albums since 1991 when Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales.[159] In the US, the album had sold 7,177,797 copies by the end of the 1970s.[160] As of 2011, the album had sold over 31 million copies worldwide and is one of the band's best-selling albums.[161] In October 2019, Abbey Road re-entered the UK charts, again hitting number one.[162]

Abbey Road has remained in print since its first release in 1969. The original album was released on 26 September in the UK[163] and 1 October in the US on Apple Records.[164] It was reissued as a limited edition picture disc on vinyl in the US by Capitol on 27 December 1978,[165] while a CD reissue of the album was released in 1987, with a remastered version appearing in 2009.[166] The remaster included additional photographs with additional liner notes and the first, limited edition, run also included a short documentary about the making of the album.[167]

In 2001, Abbey Road was certified 12× platinum by the RIAA.[168] The album continues to be reissued on vinyl. It was included as part of the Beatles' Collector's Crate series in September 2009[169] and saw a remastered LP release on 180-gram vinyl in 2012.[170]

A super deluxe version of the album, which featured new mixes by Giles Martin, was released in September 2019 to celebrate the original album's 50th anniversary.

As of October 2019, Abbey Road has sold 2,240,608 pure sales in United Kingdom and overall all consumed sales stand at 2,327,230 units. Post 1994 sales stand at 827,329.[171]

Track listing edit

All tracks are written by Lennon–McCartney, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Come Together"Lennon4:19
2."Something" (George Harrison)Harrison3:02
3."Maxwell's Silver Hammer"McCartney3:27
4."Oh! Darling"McCartney3:27
5."Octopus's Garden" (Richard Starkey)Starr2:51
6."I Want You (She's So Heavy)"Lennon7:47
Total length:24:53
Side two
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Here Comes the Sun" (Harrison)Harrison3:05
2."Because"Lennon, McCartney and Harrison2:45
3."You Never Give Me Your Money"McCartney4:03
4."Sun King"Lennon, with McCartney and Harrison2:26
5."Mean Mr. Mustard"Lennon1:06
6."Polythene Pam"Lennon1:13
7."She Came In Through the Bathroom Window"McCartney1:58
8."Golden Slumbers"McCartney1:31
9."Carry That Weight"McCartney, with Lennon, Harrison and Starr1:36
10."The End"McCartney2:05
11."Her Majesty" (hidden track)McCartney0:23
Total length:22:10

Notes

  • "Her Majesty" appears as a hidden track after "The End" and 14 seconds of silence. Later releases of the album included the song on the track listing, except some vinyl editions.
  • Some cassette tape versions in the UK and US had "Come Together" and "Here Comes the Sun" swapped to even out the playing time of each side.[172]

Personnel edit

According to Mark Lewisohn,[173] Ian MacDonald,[174] Barry Miles,[175] Kevin Howlett,[176] and Geoff Emerick.[177]

Charts edit

Year-end charts
Chart (1969) Position
Australian Albums Chart[178] 3
UK Albums Chart[231] 1
Chart (1970) Position
Australian Albums Chart[178] 7
UK Albums Chart[232] 7
US Billboard Pop Albums[233] 4
Chart (2017) Position
US Billboard 200[234] 138
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[235] 27
Chart (2018) Position
US Billboard 200[236] 163
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[237] 26
Chart (2019) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[238] 40
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[239] 72
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[240] 41
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[241] 90
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[242] 68
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[243] 47
Mexican Albums (AMPROFON)[244] 85
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[245] 73
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[246] 94
UK Albums (OCC)[247] 38
US Billboard 200[248] 57
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[249] 7
Chart (2020) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[250] 95
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[251] 145
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[252] 90
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[253] 91
US Billboard 200[254] 66
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[255] 5
Chart (2021) Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[256] 128
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[257] 68
US Billboard 200[258] 96
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[259] 11
Chart (2022) Position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[260] 192
US Billboard 200[261] 103
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[262] 16
Decade-end charts
Chart (1960s) Position
UK Albums Chart[231] 4
Chart (1970s) Position
Japanese Albums Chart[105] 22

Certifications and sales edit

Certifications and sales for Abbey Road
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[263] Diamond 506,916[264]
Australia (ARIA)[265] 3× Platinum 210,000^
Belgium (BEA)[266] Platinum 50,000
Brazil 390,000[267]
Canada (Music Canada)[268] Diamond 1,000,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[269] 3× Platinum 60,000
France (SNEP)[270] Gold 100,000*
Germany (BVMI)[271] Platinum 500,000^
Italy (FIMI)[272]
sales since 2009
2× Platinum 100,000
Japan 655,000[105]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[273] 5× Platinum 75,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[274] 8× Platinum 2,400,000
United States (RIAA)[275] 12× Platinum 12,000,000^
Summaries
Worldwide
Worldwide sales in 2019
800,000[276][277]
Worldwide
Worldwide sales up to 2014
31,000,000[161]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

BPI certification awarded only for sales since 1994.[278]

Release history edit

Country Date Label Format Catalogue number
United Kingdom 26 September 1969 Apple (Parlophone) LP PCS 7088
United States 1 October 1969 Apple, Capitol LP SO 383
Japan 21 May 1983 Toshiba-EMI Compact Disc CP35-3016
Worldwide reissue 10 October 1987 Apple, Parlophone, EMI CD CDP 7 46446 2
Japan 11 March 1998 Toshiba-EMI CD TOCP 51122
Japan 21 January 2004 Toshiba-EMI Remastered LP TOJP 60142
Worldwide reissue 9 September 2009 Apple, Parlophone, EMI Remastered CD 0946 3 82468 24
Worldwide reissue 27 September 2019 Apple, Universal Music Group International Remixed LP 7791512
LP+ (picture disc) 804888
3×LP 800744
CD 800743
2×CD 7791507
3×CD+Blu-ray box set 7792112[279]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ In the 1960s, UK record industry protocol was that singles did not normally appear on albums.[37]
  2. ^ In the version released on Anthology 3, Lennon can be heard singing the lead on an ad-libbed verse regarding the news that Yoko Ono's divorce from her previous husband Anthony Cox had been finalised.[43]
  3. ^ At 8:22, "Revolution 9" is the longest track to appear on a Beatles album.
  4. ^ A working title of the album was Everest, after a brand of cigarettes favoured by Emerick, but the band were reluctant to travel to the Himalayas for a photo session.[11]
  5. ^ In 1986, the car was sold at auction for £2,530[89] and in 2001 was on display in a museum in Germany.[90]
  6. ^ Anderson added: "[The Beatles] showed us that you can do anything ... That if you can do it with love, heart and honesty, it'll work."[151]

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ Matthews, Rex D. (2007). Timetables of History for Students of Methodism. Abingdon Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-1426764592.
  2. ^ a b c d MacDonald 1997, p. 300.
  3. ^ a b c MacDonald 1997, p. 322.
  4. ^ Perone, James E. The Album: A Guide to Pop Music's Most Provocative, Influential, and Important Creations. p. 215.
  5. ^ Buckley 2003, p. 76.
  6. ^ a b Miles 1997, p. 552.
  7. ^ a b c . Rolling Stone. 19 September 2011. Archived from the original on 22 January 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  8. ^ MacDonald 1997, pp. 302, 304.
  9. ^ MacDonald 1997, pp. 308, 310.
  10. ^ a b MacDonald 1997, p. 320.
  11. ^ a b c d e f MacDonald 1997, p. 321.
  12. ^ a b MacFarlane 2007, p. 23.
  13. ^ Miles 1997, p. 551.
  14. ^ Stark 2005, p. 261.
  15. ^ Wenner & Lennon 2001, p. 89.
  16. ^ Inglis, Sam (October 2009). . Sound on Sound. Archived from the original on 1 April 2014. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  17. ^ Everett 1999, p. 245.
  18. ^ Lawrence, Alistair; Martin, George (2012). Abbey Road: The Best Studio in the World. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 236. ISBN 978-1-4088-3241-7. from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  19. ^ Gottlieb 2010, p. 104.
  20. ^ Gottlieb 2010, p. 105.
  21. ^ Womack 2019, p. 235.
  22. ^ . Ultimate Guitar. 3 August 2011. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  23. ^ . studioexpresso. Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  24. ^ a b MacDonald 1997, p. 314.
  25. ^ Wardlaw, Matt (10 May 2011). . Classic Rock Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  26. ^ a b Gould 2008, p. 575.
  27. ^ MacDonald 1997, p. 315.
  28. ^ Wenner & Lennon 2001, p. 90.
  29. ^ Wallgren 1982, p. 57.
  30. ^ Martin, George. Love (Media notes). The Beatles. Parlophone. 0946-3-79808-2-8.
  31. ^ Gould 2008, p. 576.
  32. ^ a b c Everett 1999, p. 249.
  33. ^ MacDonald 1997, pp. 305–306.
  34. ^ Abowitz, Richard (13 December 2006). . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 17 December 2006.
  35. ^ . BBC News. 30 November 2001. Archived from the original on 3 March 2008.
  36. ^ MacDonald 1997, p. 412.
  37. ^ MacDonald 1997, p. 201.
  38. ^ Kozinn, Allan (24 March 2008). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 April 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  39. ^ a b MacDonald 1997, p. 313.
  40. ^ a b Emerick & Massey 2006, p. 281.
  41. ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, p. 179.
  42. ^ a b MacDonald 1997, p. 307.
  43. ^ John Lennon. Disc 2, track 9. Anthology 3 (CD). Apple Records. Event occurs at 3:28. 7423-8-34451-2-7. Just heard that Yoko's divorce has gone through
  44. ^ Beatles 2000, p. 339.
  45. ^ Sheff 2000, p. 203.
  46. ^ MacDonald 1997, pp. 307–308.
  47. ^ Spizer 2005, pp. 293, 297, 303.
  48. ^ Wenner & Lennon 2001, p. 83.
  49. ^ Maginnis, Tom. . AllMusic. Archived from the original on 7 September 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  50. ^ MacDonald 1997, p. 301.
  51. ^ a b Lewisohn 1988, p. 178.
  52. ^ Gaar, Gillian (2013). 100 Things Beatles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die. Triumph Books. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-62368-202-6.
  53. ^ a b MacDonald 1997, p. 312.
  54. ^ . BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  55. ^ Chilton, Martin (18 July 2013). . The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 May 2014.
  56. ^ a b . Bloomberg. 24 November 2010. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  57. ^ Michaels, Sean (28 March 2012). . The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  58. ^ Sheff 2000, p. 191.
  59. ^ "Why the Beatles Reordered the 'Abbey Road' Medley (by Nick DeRiso)". ultimateclassicrock.com. 26 September 2019. from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  60. ^ DeRiso, Nick (26 September 2019). "Why the Beatles Reordered the 'Abbey Road' Medley". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  61. ^ "Abbey Road". beatlesbible.com. September 2019. from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  62. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 183.
  63. ^ MacDonald 1997, pp. 318–319.
  64. ^ Miles 1997, p. 556.
  65. ^ a b MacDonald 1997, p. 310.
  66. ^ Everett 1999, p. 247.
  67. ^ MacDonald 1997, pp. 318, 319.
  68. ^ Turner 1994, p. 198.
  69. ^ McCartney: Songwriter ISBN 0-491-03325-7 p. 93
  70. ^ MacDonald 1997, pp. 311–312.
  71. ^ a b MacDonald 1997, p. 317.
  72. ^ . AllMusic. Archived from the original on 24 October 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  73. ^ a b c Marvin, Elizabeth West; Hermann, Richard (2002). Marvin, Elizabeth West; Hermann, Richard (eds.). Concert Music, Rock, and Jazz Since 1945: Essays and Analytical Studies. University of Rochester Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-1-58046-096-5. from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  74. ^ a b MacDonald 1997, p. 311.
  75. ^ Abbey Road (Media notes). Apple Records. 1969. PCS 7088.
  76. ^ Abbey Road (CD remaster) (Media notes). Apple Records. 1987. CDP 7 46446 2.
  77. ^ (Media notes). Apple Records. 2009. 94638-24682. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014.
  78. ^ (Media notes). Apple Records. 2012. EAS-80560. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014.
  79. ^ MacDonald 1997, pp. 302, 305.
  80. ^ MacDonald 1997, pp. 305, 447.
  81. ^ Lewisohn 1988, p. 182.
  82. ^ MacDonald 1997, p. 318.
  83. ^ Gallucci, Michael (16 February 2013). . Classic Rock Magazine. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  84. ^ Sulpy, Doug; Chen, Ed (1990–1994). . rec.music.beatles. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  85. ^ a b c d Pollard, Lawrence (7 August 2009). "Revisiting Abbey Road 40 years on". BBC News. from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  86. ^ a b Miles 1997, p. 559.
  87. ^ Lewisohn 1992, pp. 328–329.
  88. ^ Etherington-Smith, Meredith (18 August 1992). . The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  89. ^ McNichol, Tom (9 August 1989). . The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012.
  90. ^ Rubin, Judith (16 March 2001). . Live Design. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013.
  91. ^ DeYoung, Bill (7 June 2016). . TCPalm. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014.
  92. ^ Urish 2007, p. 11.
  93. ^ Rodriguez 2010, pp. 1, 73.
  94. ^ Miles 1997, p. 561.
  95. ^ Womack 2009, p. 290.
  96. ^ Womack 2009, p. 286.
  97. ^ Urish 2007, p. 12.
  98. ^ Miles 1997, p. 574.
  99. ^ a b Everett 1999, p. 271.
  100. ^ "1969 The Number One Albums". Official Chart Company. from the original on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  101. ^ "1970 The Number One Albums". Official Chart Company. from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  102. ^ . The Guardian. 9 September 2009. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  103. ^ Schaffner 1978, p. 216.
  104. ^ "NARM Awards". Billboard. 6 March 1971. p. N27.
  105. ^ a b c d e Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 978-4-87131-077-2.
  106. ^ Gould 2008, p. 593.
  107. ^ a b c d e Stark 2005, p. 262.
  108. ^ a b Fricke, David (2003). "Road to Nowhere". In Mojo: The Beatles' Final Years Special Edition. London: Emap. p. 112.
  109. ^ Cohn, Nik (5 October 1969). . The New York Times. Hi Fi and Recordings section, p. HF13. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  110. ^ Goldman, Albert (21 November 1969). "Beatles: Nostalgia, Irony". Life. Chicago. p. 22. from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  111. ^ In Brief, High-Fidelity, January 1970, p. 142.
  112. ^ Welch, Chris (27 September 1969). "The Beatles: Abbey Road (Apple)". Melody Maker. Available at Rock's Backpages 25 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine (subscription required).
  113. ^ Mendelsohn, John (15 November 1969). . Rolling Stone. New York. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  114. ^ Best of the Month: Stereo Review's Selection of Recordings of Special Merit, Stereo Review, January 1970.
  115. ^ Christgau, Robert (December 1969). "In Memory of the Dave Clark Five". The Village Voice. from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  116. ^ a b Erlweine, Stephen Thomas; Unterberger, Richie. "Abbey Road – The Beatles". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  117. ^ Klosterman, Chuck (8 September 2009). "Chuck Klosterman Repeats The Beatles". The A.V. Club. Chicago. from the original on 22 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  118. ^ "Album Review: The Beatles - Abbey Road [Remastered]". 26 September 2009. from the original on 21 April 2014.
  119. ^ a b McCormick, Neil (8 September 2009). . The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012.
  120. ^ Larkin 2006, p. 489.
  121. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  122. ^ a b Kemp, Mark (8 September 2009). . Paste. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  123. ^ Richardson, Mark (10 September 2009). . Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
  124. ^ . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 4 April 2014.
  125. ^ N/A, N/A (27 February 2012). "Abbey Road". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  126. ^ Roberts 2011, p. 80.
  127. ^ Pensiero, Nicole (23 March 2004). "The Beatles: Abbey Road". PopMatters. from the original on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  128. ^ a b . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  129. ^ . VH1. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
  130. ^ "The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever". Q. from the original on 26 November 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
  131. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 36. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  132. ^ "The All-Time 100 Albums". Time. 2 November 2006. from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2007.
  133. ^ . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
  134. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 22 September 2020. from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  135. ^ . Rolling Stone. 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  136. ^ Dimery, Robert; Lydon, Michael (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (Revised and Updated ed.). Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
  137. ^ Landau, Joel (4 September 2014). "SEE IT: Live feed gives continuous view of Abbey Road crossing made famous by the Beatles". New York Daily News. from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  138. ^ . BBC News. 22 December 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  139. ^ MacDonald 1997, p. 273.
  140. ^ Scott, Jane (24 October 1969). "Paul's death 'exaggerated'". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio.
  141. ^ Schaffner 1978, pp. 127–28.
  142. ^ Winn 2009, p. 333.
  143. ^ Womack 2019, p. 236.
  144. ^ Cooney, Caroline (6 April 2012). . grammy.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  145. ^ Rodriguez 2010, p. 339.
  146. ^ . AllMusic. Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  147. ^ "Beatles Abbey Road cigarette airbrushed". BBC News. 21 January 2003. from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 25 December 2014.
  148. ^ "Beatles' Abbey Road cover in Calcutta traffic campaign". BBC News. 19 February 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  149. ^ . AllMusic. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  150. ^ "McLemore Avenue". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  151. ^ a b Anderson, Jon (October 2014). "'They were the leaders of everything, and everybody else slowly followed': Jon Anderson on why the Beatles were the original progressive rock band". Classic Rock. p. 37.
  152. ^ . AllMusic. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  153. ^ "Jam band draws thousands". The Victoria Advocate. 4 May 2001. from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  154. ^ . AllMusic. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  155. ^ . Glide Magazine. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  156. ^ . Glide Magazine. 16 March 2011. Archived from the original on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  157. ^ Dove, Ian (6 June 1970). "Beatlemania Returns As 'Let It Be' Clicks". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 1. from the original on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  158. ^ Leopold, Todd (31 January 2014). . CNN. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  159. ^ Grein, Paul (19 February 2014). . Yahoo Music. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
  160. ^ . Deconstructing Pop Culture by David Kronemyer. 29 April 2009. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
  161. ^ a b "Back in the Day: Abbey Road hits the shelves". Euronews. 26 September 2011. from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  162. ^ Glynn, Paul (4 October 2019). "The Beatles' Abbey Road returns to number one 50 years on". BBC News. from the original on 4 October 2019. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  163. ^ MacDonald 1997, p. 410.
  164. ^ MacDonald 1997, p. 411.
  165. ^ . AllMusic. 17 February 2014. Archived from the original on 8 April 2013.
  166. ^ . AllMusic. Archived from the original on 11 May 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  167. ^ "Abbey Road [2009 Remaster]". AllMusic. from the original on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  168. ^ . RIAA. February 2001. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  169. ^ . AllMusic. Archived from the original on 7 March 2013. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  170. ^ Knopper, Steve (12 November 2012). . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 11 April 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
  171. ^ Alan Jones (7 October 2019). "Golden oldie: Abbey Road returns to the summit 50 years on" (PDF). Music Week. p. 77. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  172. ^ . EMI. TC-PCS 7088. Archived from the original (cassette) on 13 November 2013.
  173. ^ Lewisohn 1988.
  174. ^ MacDonald 1997, pp. 300–321.
  175. ^ Miles 1997.
  176. ^ Howlett, Kevin (2019). Abbey Road (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Version) (book). The Beatles. Apple Records.
  177. ^ Bosso, Joe. ""For the first time, John and Paul knew that George had risen to their level" – Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick track-by-track interview on Abbey Road". musicradar. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  178. ^ a b c Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 978-0-646-11917-5.
  179. ^ . RPM. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  180. ^ . Hung Medien, dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Archived from the original (ASP) on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  181. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  182. ^ (PDF). Billboard. 31 January 1970. p. 70. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021 – via World Radio History.
  183. ^ . Archived from the original (ASP) on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  184. ^ (PDF) (in Swedish). Hitsallertijden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  185. ^ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 978-84-8048-639-2.
  186. ^ a b "The Beatles – Full official Chart History". Official Charts. 17 October 1962. from the original on 12 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  187. ^ "The Beatles – Chart history". Billboard. from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  188. ^ "Album Search: The Beatles – Abbey Road" (in German). Media Control. Archived from the original (ASP) on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  189. ^ "The Official Charts Company – The Beatles – Abbey Road (1987 version)". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  190. ^ . Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original (ASP) on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  191. ^ . Hung Medien (in German). Archived from the original (ASP) on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  192. ^ "ultratop.be The Beatles – Abbey Road" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. from the original on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  193. ^ "ultratop.be The Beatles – Abbey Road" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. from the original on 13 November 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  194. ^ "danishcharts.dk The Beatles – Abbey Road" (ASP). danishcharts.dk. from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  195. ^ . Hung Medien. Archived from the original (ASP) on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  196. ^ . hitparade.ch. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  197. ^ . Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Archived from the original (ASP) on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  198. ^ "All of the Beatles' "Remastered" Albums Enter the Top 100: Grossing 2,310 Million Yen in One Week". oricon.co.jp (in Japanese). Oricon Style. from the original on 9 March 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
  199. ^ . mexicancharts.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  200. ^ . Hung Medien. Archived from the original (ASP) on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  201. ^ . spanishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Archived from the original (ASP) on 21 April 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  202. ^ (in Swedish). Archived from the original (ASP) on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  203. ^ . Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Archived from the original (ASP) on 15 June 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  204. ^ "charts.nz The Beatles – Abbey Road" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. from the original on 6 November 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  205. ^ Caulfield, Keith. . Billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  206. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. 7 October 2019. from the original on 28 November 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  207. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – Abbey Road" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  208. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – Abbey Road" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  209. ^ "The Beatles Chart In A Post Malone World". FYIMusicNews. 6 October 2019. from the original on 7 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  210. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 40.Týden 2019 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  211. ^ "Hitlisten.NU – Album Top-40 Uge 39, 2019". Hitlisten. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  212. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Beatles – Abbey Road" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  213. ^ "Beatles: Abbey Road" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  214. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Beatles – Abbey Road" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  215. ^ "The Beatles Chart History (Greece Albums)". Billboard. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  216. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2019. 43. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  217. ^ "IRMA – Irish Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  218. ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 40 (dal 27.09.2019 al 03.10.2019)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. from the original on 18 March 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  219. ^ (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 21 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  220. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 7 October 2019. from the original on 6 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  221. ^ "VG-lista – Topp 40 Album uke 40, 2019". VG-lista. from the original on 11 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  222. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  223. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Beatles – Abbey Road". Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  224. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  225. ^ "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 40: del 27.9.2019 al 3.10.2019" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  226. ^ "Veckolista Album, vecka 40". Sverigetopplistan. from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  227. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Beatles – Abbey Road". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  228. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  229. ^ Caulfield, Keith (6 October 2019). "DaBaby Earns First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Kirk'". Billboard. from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  230. ^ "The Beatles Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  231. ^ a b . Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
  232. ^ . everyhit.com. The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  233. ^ . Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  234. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  235. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. from the original on 14 February 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  236. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2018". Billboard. from the original on 21 March 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  237. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2018". Billboard. from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  238. ^ "ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 2019". Australian Recording Industry Association. from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  239. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 2019". austriancharts.at. from the original on 13 March 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  240. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2019". Ultratop. from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  241. ^ "Rapports Annuels 2019". Ultratop. from the original on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  242. ^ "Album Top-100 2019" (in Danish). Hitlisten. from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  243. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2019". dutchcharts.nl. from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  244. ^ "Top 100 México - Los más vendidos 2019" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  245. ^ "Top 100 Albums Annual 2019". El portal de Música. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  246. ^ "Årslista Album, 2019". Sverigetopplistan. from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  247. ^ Copsey, Rob (1 January 2020). "The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2019". Official Charts Company. from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  248. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. from the original on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  249. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  250. ^ "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 2020". Australian Recording Industry Association. from the original on 14 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  251. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2020". Ultratop. from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  252. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2020" (in Dutch). MegaCharts. from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  253. ^ "Top 100 Albums Annual 2020". El portal de Música. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  254. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  255. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2020". Billboard. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  256. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2021". Ultratop. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  257. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2021". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  258. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
  259. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2021". Billboard. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
  260. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 2022" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  261. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  262. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2022". Billboard. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  263. ^ "Premio Diamante: Los premiados" (in Spanish). Cámara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 18 March 2005. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  264. ^ Franco, Adriana (27 October 1999). "Nuevo galardón en la industria del disco". La Nación (in Spanish).
  265. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2009 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  266. ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 2022". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  267. ^ "O sargento Pimenta faz 20 anos". Jornal do Brasil (in Portuguese). 1 June 1987. p. 37 – via National Library of Brazil. Sgt. pepper's que toca em cinco paginas desta edicao, e o terceiro mais vendido (290 mil). Perde Abbey Road (390 mil) e para Help (320 mil)
  268. ^ "Canadian album certifications – The Beatles – Abbey Road". Music Canada. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  269. ^ "Danish album certifications – The Beatles – Abbey Road". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  270. ^ "French album certifications – The Beatles – Abbey Road" (in French). InfoDisc. Select THE BEATLES and click OK. 
  271. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (The Beatles; 'Abbey Road')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  272. ^ "Italian album certifications – The Beatles – Abbey Road" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  273. ^ . Radioscope. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  274. ^ "British album certifications – The Beatles – Abbey Road". British Phonographic Industry.
  275. ^ "American album certifications – The Beatles – Abbey Road". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  276. ^ "Arashi Best-Of Tops Taylor Swift for IFPI's Best-Selling Album of 2019". Billboard. 19 March 2020. from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  277. ^ . IFPI.org. 10 March 2020. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020.
  278. ^ "Beatles albums finally go platinum". British Phonographic Industry. BBC News. 2 September 2013. from the original on 10 April 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  279. ^ "The Beatles - Abbey Road – 50th Anniversary Edition - CDx4". Rough Trade. from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.

Bibliography edit

External links edit

  • Abbey Road at Discogs (list of releases)
  • Beatles comments on each song
  • Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick on Abbey Road – A track-by-track walkthrough
  • Live webcam at the Abbey Road zebra crossing
  • The Beatles y la foto de la portada de Abbey Road

abbey, road, this, article, about, album, beatles, other, uses, disambiguation, eleventh, studio, album, english, rock, band, beatles, released, september, 1969, last, album, group, recorded, although, last, album, completed, before, band, break, april, 1970, . This article is about the album by the Beatles For other uses see Abbey Road disambiguation Abbey Road is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles released on 26 September 1969 It is the last album the group recorded 2 although Let It Be was the last album completed before the band s break up in April 1970 3 It was mostly recorded in April July and August 1969 and topped the record charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom A double A side single from the album Something Come Together was released in October which also topped the charts in the US Abbey RoadStudio album by the BeatlesReleased26 September 1969 1969 09 26 Recorded22 February 20 August 1969StudioEMI Olympic and Trident LondonGenreRock 1 Length47 03LabelAppleProducerGeorge MartinThe Beatles chronologyYellow Submarine 1969 Abbey Road 1969 Let It Be 1970 The Beatles North American chronologyYellow Submarine 1969 Abbey Road 1969 Hey Jude 1970 Singles from Abbey Road Something Come Together Released 6 October 1969Abbey Road incorporates styles such as rock pop blues and progressive rock 4 and makes prominent use of the Moog synthesiser and guitar played through a Leslie speaker unit It is also notable for having a long medley of songs on side two that have subsequently been covered as one suite by other notable artists The album was recorded in a more collegial atmosphere than the Get Back Let It Be sessions earlier in the year but there were still significant confrontations within the band particularly over Paul McCartney s song Maxwell s Silver Hammer and John Lennon did not perform on several tracks By the time the album was released Lennon had left the group though this was not publicly announced until McCartney also quit the following year Although Abbey Road was an instant commercial success it received mixed reviews upon release Some critics found its music inauthentic and criticised the production s artificial effects By contrast critics today view the album as one of the Beatles best ventures and it is considered by many to be one of the greatest albums of all time George Harrison s two songs on the album Something and Here Comes the Sun have been regarded as among the best he wrote for the group The album s cover featuring the Beatles walking across the zebra crossing outside of Abbey Road Studios then officially named EMI Studios has become one of the most famous and imitated in the history of recorded music Contents 1 Background 2 Production 2 1 Recording history 2 2 Technical aspects 3 Songs 3 1 Side one 3 1 1 Come Together 3 1 2 Something 3 1 3 Maxwell s Silver Hammer 3 1 4 Oh Darling 3 1 5 Octopus s Garden 3 1 6 I Want You She s So Heavy 3 2 Side two 3 2 1 Here Comes the Sun 3 2 2 Because 3 2 3 Medley 3 2 4 Her Majesty 3 3 Unreleased material 4 Cover photo 5 Release 6 Critical reception 6 1 Contemporary 6 2 Retrospective 7 Legacy 7 1 Abbey Road crossing and Paul is dead 7 2 Cover versions and influence 7 3 Continued sales and reissues 8 Track listing 9 Personnel 10 Charts 11 Certifications and sales 12 Release history 13 See also 14 Notes 15 References 15 1 Citations 15 2 Bibliography 16 External linksBackground editAfter the recording sessions for the proposed Get Back album Paul McCartney suggested to the producer George Martin that the group get together and make an album the way we used to do it 5 free of the conflict that had begun during sessions for The Beatles also known as the White Album Martin agreed but on the strict condition that all the group particularly John Lennon allow him to produce the record in the same manner as earlier albums and that discipline would be adhered to 6 No one was entirely sure that the work was going to be the group s last though George Harrison later recalled that it felt as if we were reaching the end of the line 7 Production editRecording history edit The first sessions for Abbey Road began on 22 February 1969 only three weeks after the Get Back sessions in Trident Studios There the group recorded a backing track for I Want You She s So Heavy with Billy Preston accompanying them on Hammond organ 2 No further group recording occurred until April because of Ringo Starr s commitments on the film The Magic Christian 8 After a small amount of work that month and a session for You Never Give Me Your Money on 6 May the group took an eight week break before recommencing on 2 July 9 Recording continued through July and August and the last backing track for Because was taped on 1 August 10 Overdubs continued through the month with the final sequencing of the album coming together on 20 August the last time all four Beatles were present in a studio together 3 McCartney Starr and Martin have reported positive recollections of the sessions 11 while Harrison said we did actually perform like musicians again 12 Lennon and McCartney had enjoyed working together on the non album single The Ballad of John and Yoko in April sharing friendly banter between takes and some of this camaraderie carried over to the Abbey Road sessions 13 Nevertheless there was a significant amount of tension in the group According to Ian MacDonald McCartney had an acrimonious argument with Lennon during the sessions Lennon s wife Yoko Ono had become a permanent presence at Beatles recordings and clashed with other members 11 Halfway through recording in June Lennon and Ono were involved in a car accident A doctor told Ono to rest in bed so Lennon had one installed in the studio so she could observe the recording process from there 6 During the sessions Lennon expressed a desire to have all of his songs on one side of the album and McCartney s on the other 12 The album s two halves represented a compromise Lennon wanted a traditional release with distinct and unrelated songs while McCartney and Martin wanted to continue their thematic approach from Sgt Pepper s Lonely Hearts Club Band by incorporating a medley Lennon ultimately said that he disliked Abbey Road as a whole and felt that it lacked authenticity calling McCartney s contributions music for the grannies to dig and not real songs 14 and describing the medley as junk just bits of songs thrown together 15 Technical aspects edit nbsp An EMI TG mixing desk similar to this one was used in the production of Abbey Road Abbey Road was recorded on eight track reel to reel tape machines 11 rather than the four track machines that were used for earlier Beatles albums such as Sgt Pepper and was the first Beatles album not to be issued in mono anywhere in the world 16 The album makes prominent use of guitar played through a Leslie speaker and of the Moog synthesiser The Moog is not merely used as a background effect but sometimes plays a central role as in Because where it is used for the middle eight It is also prominent on Maxwell s Silver Hammer and Here Comes the Sun The synthesiser was introduced to the band by Harrison who acquired one in November 1968 and used it to create his album Electronic Sound 11 Starr made more prominent use of the tom toms on Abbey Road later saying the album was tom tom madness I went nuts on the toms 17 Abbey Road was also the first and only Beatles album to be entirely recorded through a solid state transistor mixing desk the TG12345 Mk I as opposed to earlier tube thermionic valve based REDD desks The TG console also allowed better support for eight track recording facilitating the Beatles considerable use of overdubbing 18 Emerick recalls that the TG desk used to record the album had individual limiters and compressors on each audio channel 19 and noted that the overall sound was softer than the earlier tube valve desks 20 In his study of the role of the TG12345 in the Beatles sound on Abbey Road the music historian Kenneth Womack observes that the expansive sound palette and mixing capabilities of the TG12345 enabled George Martin and Geoff Emerick to imbue the Beatles sound with greater definition and clarity The warmth of solid state recording also afforded their music with brighter tonalities and a deeper low end that distinguished Abbey Road from the rest of their corpus providing listeners with an abiding sense that the Beatles final long player was markedly different 21 Alan Parsons worked as an assistant engineer on the album He later went on to engineer Pink Floyd s landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon and produce many popular albums himself with the Alan Parsons Project 22 John Kurlander also assisted on many of the sessions and went on to become a successful engineer and producer most noteworthy for his success on the scores for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy 23 Songs editSide one edit Come Together edit Main article Come Together Come Together was an expansion of Let s Get It Together a song Lennon originally wrote for Timothy Leary s California gubernatorial campaign against Ronald Reagan 24 A rough version of the lyrics for Come Together was written at Lennon s and Ono s second bed in event in Montreal 25 The biographer Jonathan Gould suggested that the song has only a single pariah like protagonist and Lennon was painting another sardonic self portrait 26 MacDonald has suggested that the juju eyeballs has been claimed to refer to Dr John and spinal cracker to Ono 27 The song was later the subject of a lawsuit brought against Lennon by Morris Levy because the opening line in Come Together Here come old flat top was admittedly lifted from a line in Chuck Berry s You Can t Catch Me A settlement was reached in 1973 in which Lennon promised to record three songs from Levy s publishing catalogue for his next album 28 Come Together was later released as a double A side single with Something 29 In the liner notes to the compilation album Love Martin described the track as a simple song but it stands out because of the sheer brilliance of the performers 30 Something edit Main article Something Beatles song Harrison was inspired to write Something during sessions for the White Album by listening to his label mate James Taylor s Something in the Way She Moves from his album James Taylor 31 After the lyrics were refined during the Let It Be sessions tapes reveal Lennon giving Harrison some songwriting advice during its composition the song was initially given to Joe Cocker but was subsequently recorded for Abbey Road Cocker s version appeared on his album Joe Cocker that November 32 Something was Lennon s favourite song on the album and McCartney considered it the best song Harrison had written 33 Though the song was written by Harrison Frank Sinatra once commented that it was his favourite Lennon McCartney composition 34 and the greatest love song ever written 35 Lennon contributed piano to the recording and while most of the part was removed traces of it remain in the final cut notably on the middle eight before Harrison s guitar solo 32 The song was issued as a double A side single with Come Together in October 1969 and topped the US charts for one week becoming the Beatles first number one single that was not a Lennon McCartney composition 36 It was also the first Beatles single from an album already released in the UK nb 1 Apple s Neil Aspinall filmed a promotional video which combined separate footage of the Beatles and their wives 38 Maxwell s Silver Hammer edit Main article Maxwell s Silver Hammer Maxwell s Silver Hammer McCartney s first song on the album was first performed by the Beatles during the Let It Be sessions as seen in the film He wrote the song after the group s trip to India in 1968 and wanted to record it for the White Album but it was rejected by the others as too complicated 26 The recording was fraught with tension between band members as McCartney annoyed others by insisting on a perfect performance The track was the first Lennon was invited to work on following his car accident but he hated it and declined to do so 39 According to engineer Geoff Emerick Lennon said it was more of Paul s granny music and left the session 40 He spent the next two weeks with Ono and did not return to the studio until the backing track for Come Together was laid down on 21 July 24 Harrison was also tired of the song saying we had to play it over and over again until Paul liked it It was a real drag Starr was more sympathetic to the song It was granny music he admitted but we needed stuff like that on our album so other people would listen to it 40 Longtime roadie Mal Evans played the anvil sound in the chorus 41 This track also makes use of Harrison s Moog synthesiser played by McCartney 39 Oh Darling edit Main article Oh Darling Oh Darling was written by McCartney in a doo wop style like contemporary work by Frank Zappa 42 It was tried at the Get Back sessions and a version appears on Anthology 3 nb 2 It was subsequently re recorded in April with overdubs in July and August 42 McCartney attempted recording the lead vocal only once a day He said I came into the studios early every day for a week to sing it by myself because at first my voice was too clear I wanted it to sound as though I d been performing it on stage all week 44 Lennon thought he should have sung it remarking that it was more his style 45 Octopus s Garden edit Main article Octopus s Garden As was the case with most of the Beatles albums Starr sang lead vocal on one track Octopus s Garden is his second and last solo composition released on any album by the band It was inspired by a trip with his family to Sardinia aboard Peter Sellers s yacht after Starr left the band for two weeks during the sessions for the White Album Starr received a full songwriting credit and composed most of the lyrics although the song s melodic structure was partly written in the studio by Harrison 46 The pair would later collaborate as writers on Starr s solo singles It Don t Come Easy Back Off Boogaloo and Photograph 47 I Want You She s So Heavy edit Main article I Want You She s So Heavy nbsp John Lennon played the Moog synthesiser s white noise generator to create the wind sounds at the end of I Want You She s So Heavy I Want You She s So Heavy was written by Lennon about his relationship with Ono 2 and he made a deliberate choice to keep the lyrics simple and concise 48 Author Tom Maginnis writes that the song had a progressive rock influence with its unusual length and structure repeating guitar riff and white noise effects though he noted the I Want You section has a straightforward blues structure 49 50 The finished song is a combination of two different recording attempts The first attempt occurred in February 1969 almost immediately after the Get Back Let It Be sessions with Billy Preston This was subsequently combined with a second version made during the Abbey Road sessions proper in April The two sections together ran to nearly eight minutes making it the Beatles second longest released track nb 3 Lennon used Harrison s Moog synthesiser with a white noise setting to create a wind effect that was overdubbed on the second half of the track 2 During the final edit Lennon told Emerick to cut it right there at 7 minutes and 44 seconds creating a sudden jarring silence that concludes the first side of Abbey Road the recording tape would have run out within 20 seconds as it was 51 The final mixing and editing of the track occurred on 20 August 1969 the last day on which all four Beatles were together in the studio 52 Side two edit Here Comes the Sun edit Main article Here Comes the Sun Here Comes the Sun was written by Harrison in Eric Clapton s garden in Surrey during a break from stressful band business meetings 53 The basic track was recorded on 7 July 1969 Harrison sang lead and played acoustic guitar McCartney provided backing vocals and played bass and Starr played the drums 51 Lennon was still recovering from his car accident and did not perform on the track Martin provided an orchestral arrangement in collaboration with Harrison who overdubbed a Moog synthesiser part on 19 August immediately before the final mix 53 Though not released as a single the song attracted attention and critical praise and was included on the compilation 1967 1970 It has been featured several times on BBC Radio 4 s Desert Island Discs having been chosen by Sandie Shaw Jerry Springer Boris Johnson and Elaine Paige 54 The Daily Telegraph s Martin Chilton said it was almost impossible not to sing along to 55 Since digital downloads have become eligible to chart it reached number 56 in 2010 after the Beatles back catalogue was released on iTunes 56 Harrison recorded a guitar solo for this track that did not appear in the final mix It was rediscovered in 2012 and footage of Martin and Harrison s son Dhani listening to it in the studio was released on the DVD of Living in the Material World 57 Because edit Main article Because Beatles song Because was inspired by Lennon listening to Ono playing Ludwig van Beethoven s Moonlight Sonata on the piano He recalled he was lying on the sofa in our house listening to Yoko play Suddenly I said Can you play those chords backward She did and I wrote Because around them 58 The track features three part harmonies by Lennon McCartney and Harrison which were then triple tracked to give nine voices in the final mix The group considered the vocals to be some of the hardest and most complex they attempted Harrison played the Moog synthesiser and Martin played the harpsichord that opens the track 10 Medley edit nbsp The medley of songs on side two finished with The End The remainder of side two consists of a 16 minute medley of eight tracks consisting of a number of short songs and song fragments known during the recording sessions as The Long One 59 60 61 recorded over July and August and blended into a suite by McCartney and Martin 62 Some songs were written and originally recorded in demo form during sessions for the White Album and Get Back Let It Be which later appeared on Anthology 3 63 While the idea for the medley was McCartney s Martin claims credit for some structure adding he wanted to get John and Paul to think more seriously about their music 7 The first track recorded for the medley was the opening number You Never Give Me Your Money McCartney has said the band s dispute over Allen Klein and what McCartney viewed as Klein s empty promises were the inspiration for the song s lyrics 64 However MacDonald doubts this given that the backing track recorded on 6 May at Olympic Studios predated the worst altercations between Klein and McCartney The track is a suite of varying styles ranging from a piano led ballad at the start to arpeggiated guitars at the end 65 Both Harrison and Lennon provided guitar solos with Lennon playing the solos at the end of the track 66 This song transitions into Lennon s Sun King which like Because showcases Lennon McCartney and Harrison s triple tracked harmonies Following it are Lennon s Mean Mr Mustard written during the Beatles 1968 trip to India and Polythene Pam 67 These in turn are followed by four McCartney songs She Came In Through the Bathroom Window written after a fan entered McCartney s residence via his bathroom window 68 Golden Slumbers based on Thomas Dekker s 17th century poem set to new music 69 Carry That Weight reprising elements from You Never Give Me Your Money and featuring chorus vocals from all four Beatles and closing with The End 70 The End features Starr s only drum solo in the Beatles catalogue the drums are mixed across two tracks in true stereo unlike most releases at that time where they were hard panned left or right Fifty four seconds into the song are 18 bars of lead guitar the first two bars are played by McCartney the second two by Harrison and the third two by Lennon and the sequence is repeated two more times 71 Harrison suggested the idea of a guitar solo in the track Lennon decided they should trade solos and McCartney elected to go first The solos were cut live against the existing backing track in one take 7 Immediately after Lennon s third and final solo the piano chords of the final part of the song begin The song ends with the memorable final line And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make This section was taped separately from the first and required the piano to be re recorded by McCartney which was done on 18 August 71 An alternative version of the song with Harrison s lead guitar solo played against McCartney s and Starr s drum solo heard in the background appears on the Anthology 3 album and the 2012 digital only compilation album Tomorrow Never Knows 72 Musicologist Walter Everett interprets that most of the lyrics on side two s medley deal with selfishness and self gratification the financial complaints in You Never Give Me Your Money the miserliness of Mr Mustard the holding back of the pillow in Carry That Weight the desire that some second person will visit the singer s dreams perhaps the one sweet dream of You Never Give Me Your Money in The End 73 Everett adds that the medley s selfish moments are played in the context of the tonal centre of A while generosity is expressed in songs where C major is central 73 The medley concludes with a great compromise in the negotiations in The End which serves as a structurally balanced coda In response to the repeated A major choruses of love you McCartney sings in realisation that there is as much self gratifying love the love you take as there is of the generous love the love you make in A major and C major respectively 73 Her Majesty edit Main article Her Majesty song Her Majesty was recorded by McCartney on 2 July when he arrived before the rest of the group at Abbey Road It was originally included in a rough mix of the side two medley and officially available in this form for the first time on the album s 3CD Super Deluxe edition box set appearing between Mean Mr Mustard and Polythene Pam McCartney disliked the way the medley sounded when it included Her Majesty so he asked for it to be cut The second engineer John Kurlander had been instructed by George Martin not to throw out anything so after McCartney left he attached the track to the end of the master tape after 20 seconds of silence The tape box bore an instruction to leave Her Majesty off the final product but the next day when mastering engineer Malcolm Davies received the tape he also trained not to throw anything away cut a playback lacquer of the whole sequence including Her Majesty The Beatles liked this effect and included it on the album 74 Her Majesty opens with the final crashing chord of Mean Mr Mustard while the final note remained buried in the mix of Polythene Pam as a result of being snipped off the reel during a rough mix of the medley on 30 July The medley was subsequently mixed again from scratch although the song was not touched again and still appears in its rough mix on the album 74 Original US and UK pressings of Abbey Road do not list Her Majesty on the album s cover nor on the record label 75 making it a hidden track The song title appears on the inlay card and disc of the 1987 remastered CD reissue as track 17 76 It also appears on the sleeve booklet and disc of the 2009 remastered CD reissue 77 but not on the cover or record label of the 2012 vinyl reissue 78 Unreleased material edit Three days after the session for I Want You She s So Heavy Harrison recorded solo demos of All Things Must Pass which became the title track of his 1970 triple album Something and Old Brown Shoe 79 The latter was re recorded by the Beatles in April 1969 and issued as the B side of The Ballad of John and Yoko the following month All three of these Harrison demos were later featured on Anthology 3 80 During the sessions for the medley McCartney recorded Come and Get It playing all the instruments It was assumed to be a demo recording for another artist 81 but McCartney later said that he originally intended to put it on Abbey Road 82 It was instead covered by Badfinger while McCartney s original recording appeared on Anthology 3 The original backing track to Something featuring a piano led coda 32 and You Never Give Me Your Money which leads into a fast rock n roll jam session 65 have appeared on bootlegs 83 84 Cover photo editApple Records creative director 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 cover 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 85 The front cover was a photograph of the group on a zebra crossing based on ideas that McCartney sketched 86 nb 4 and taken on 8 August 1969 outside EMI Studios on Abbey Road At 11 35 that morning photographer Iain Macmillan was given only ten minutes to take the photo while he stood on a step ladder and a policeman held up traffic behind the camera Macmillan took six photographs which McCartney examined with a magnifying glass before deciding which would be used on the album sleeve 85 87 In the image selected by McCartney the group walk across the street in single file from left to right with Lennon leading followed by Starr McCartney and Harrison McCartney is barefoot and out of step with the others Except for Harrison the group are wearing suits designed by Tommy Nutter 88 A white Volkswagen Beetle is to the left of the picture parked next to the zebra crossing which belonged to one of the people living in the block of flats across from the recording studio After the album was released the number plate LMW 281F was repeatedly stolen from the car nb 5 In 2004 news sources published a claim made by retired American salesman Paul Cole that he was the man standing on the pavement to the right of the picture 91 Release editIn mid 1969 Lennon formed a new group the Plastic Ono Band in part because the Beatles had rejected his song Cold Turkey 92 While Harrison worked with such artists as Leon Russell Doris Troy Preston and Delaney amp Bonnie through to the end of the year 93 McCartney took a hiatus from the group after his daughter Mary was born on 28 August 86 On 20 September six days before Abbey Road was released Lennon told McCartney Starr and business manager Allen Klein Harrison was not present that he wanted a divorce 94 from the group Apple released Something backed with Come Together in the US on 6 October 1969 95 Release of the single in the UK followed on 31 October 96 while Lennon released the Plastic Ono Band s Cold Turkey the same month 97 The Beatles did little promotion of Abbey Road directly and no public announcement was made of the band s split until McCartney announced he was leaving the group in April 1970 98 By this time the Get Back project by now retitled Let It Be had been re examined with overdubs and mixing sessions continuing into 1970 Therefore Let It Be became the last album to be finished and released by the Beatles although its recording had begun before Abbey Road 3 Abbey Road sold four million copies in its first two months of release 99 In the UK the album debuted at number one where it remained for 11 weeks before being displaced for one week by the Rolling Stones Let It Bleed The following week which was Christmas Abbey Road returned to the top for another six weeks completing a total of 17 weeks before being replaced by Led Zeppelin II 100 101 Altogether it spent 81 weeks on the UK albums chart 102 Reaction overseas was similar In the US the album spent 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top LPs chart 103 It was the National Association of Recording Merchandisers NARM best selling album of 1969 104 In Japan it was one of the longest charting albums to date remaining in the top 100 for 298 weeks during the 1970s 105 Critical reception editContemporary edit Abbey Road initially received mixed reviews from music critics 106 who criticised the production s artificial sounds and viewed its music as inauthentic 107 William Mann of The Times said that the album will be called gimmicky by people who want a record to sound exactly like a live performance 107 although he considered it to be teem ing with musical invention and added Nice as Come Together and Harrison s Something are they are minor pleasures in the context of the whole disc Side Two is marvellous 108 Ed Ward of Rolling Stone called the album complicated instead of complex and felt that the Moog synthesiser disembodies and artificializes the band s sound adding that they create a sound that could not possibly exist outside the studio 107 While he found the medley on side two to be their most impressive music since Rubber Soul Nik Cohn of The New York Times said that individually the album s songs are nothing special 109 Albert Goldman of Life magazine wrote that Abbey Road is not one of the Beatles great albums and despite some lovely phrases and stirring segues side two s suite seems symbolic of the Beatles latest phase which might be described as the round the clock production of disposable music effects 110 John Gabree of the magazine High Fidelity wrote of the album what s to say If you like the Beatles you ll like the record If you have your doubts this will do nothing to allay them Of course as someone just said they do have something 111 Conversely Chris Welch wrote in Melody Maker the truth is their latest LP is just a natural born gas entirely free of pretension deep meanings or symbolism While production is simple compared to past intricacies it is still extremely sophisticated and inventive 112 Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times found the album refreshingly terse and unpretentious and although he lamented the band s cod 1920s jokes Maxwell s Silver Hammer and Ringo s obligatory nursery arias Octopus s Garden he considered that Abbey Road touches higher peaks than did their last album 108 John Mendelsohn writing for Rolling Stone called it breathtakingly recorded and praised side two especially equating it to the whole of Sgt Pepper and stating That the Beatles can unify seemingly countless musical fragments and lyrical doodlings into a uniformly wonderful suite seems potent testimony that no they ve far from lost it and no they haven t stopped trying 113 Don Heckman of Stereo Review named the album one of the Best Recordings of the Month of January 1970 remarking that it was better than The Beatles or Magical Mystery Tour and probably the equal of Sgt Pepper adding I suppose I haven t really come up with any new compliments for the Beatles not that they need them But I hope I have at least persuaded you to hear Abbey Road You ll find it a happy experience 114 While covering the Rolling Stones 1969 American tour for The Village Voice Robert Christgau reported from a meeting with Greil Marcus in Berkeley that opinion has shifted against the Beatles Everyone is putting down Abbey Road Shortly afterwards in Los Angeles he wrote that his colleague Ellen Willis had grown to love the record adding Damned if she isn t right flawed but fine Because the world is round it turns her on Charlie Watts tells us he likes it too 115 Retrospective edit Professional ratingsReview scoresSourceRatingAllMusic nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 116 The A V ClubA 117 Consequence of SoundA 118 The Daily Telegraph nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 119 Encyclopedia of Popular Music nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 120 MusicHound Rock nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 121 Paste100 100 122 Pitchfork10 10 123 The Rolling Stone Album Guide nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 124 Q Magazine nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp 125 Many critics have since cited Abbey Road as the Beatles greatest album 126 In a retrospective review Nicole Pensiero of PopMatters called it an amazingly cohesive piece of music innovative and timeless 127 Mark Kemp of Paste viewed the album as being among the Beatles finest works even if it foreshadows the cigarette lighter waving arena rock that technically skilled but critically maligned artists from Journey to Meatloaf would belabor throughout the 70s and 80s 122 Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph dubbed it the Beatles last love letter to the world and praised its big modern sound calling it lush rich smooth epic emotional and utterly gorgeous 119 AllMusic s Richie Unterberger felt that the album shared Sgt Pepper s faux conceptual forms but had stronger compositions and wrote of its standing in the band s catalogue Whether Abbey Road is the Beatles best work is debatable but it s certainly the most immaculately produced with the possible exception of Sgt Pepper and most tightly constructed 116 Ian MacDonald gave a mixed opinion of the album noting that several tracks had been written at least a year previously and would possibly have been unsuitable without being integrated into the medley on side two He did however praise the production particularly the sound of Starr s bass drum 11 Abbey Road received high rankings in several best albums in history polls by critics and publications 128 129 130 It was voted number 8 in the third edition of Colin Larkin s book All Time Top 1000 Albums 2000 131 Time included it in their 2006 list of the All Time 100 Albums 132 In 2009 readers of Rolling Stone named Abbey Road the greatest Beatles album 128 133 In 2020 the magazine ranked the album at number 5 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time the highest Beatles record on the list 134 a previous version of the list from 2012 had ranked it at number 14 135 The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die 136 Legacy editAbbey Road crossing and Paul is dead edit nbsp Imitating the cover of Abbey Road has become popular with fans The image of the Beatles on the Abbey Road crossing has become one of the most famous and imitated in recording history 85 The crossing is a popular destination for Beatles fans 85 and a webcam has operated there since 2011 137 In December 2010 the crossing was given grade II listed status for its cultural and historical importance the Abbey Road studios themselves had been given similar status earlier in the year 138 Shortly after the album s release the cover became part of the Paul is dead theory that was spreading across college campuses in the US According to followers of the rumour the cover depicted the Beatles walking out of a cemetery in a funeral procession The procession was led by Lennon dressed in white as a religious figure Starr was dressed in black as the undertaker McCartney out of step with the others was a barefoot corpse and Harrison dressed in denim was the gravedigger The left handed McCartney is holding a cigarette in his right hand indicating that he is an impostor and part of the number plate on the Volkswagen parked on the street is 281F misread as 28IF meaning that McCartney would have been 28 if he had lived despite the fact that he was only 27 at the time of the photo and subsequent release of the record 139 140 The escalation of the Paul is dead rumour became the subject of intense analysis on mainstream radio and contributed to Abbey Road s commercial success in the US 141 Lennon was interviewed in London by New York s WMCA and he ridiculed the rumour but conceded that it was invaluable publicity for the album 142 The cover image has been parodied on several occasions including by Booker T amp the M G s McLemore Avenue 1970 Kanye West s Late Orchestration 2006 and by McCartney on his 1993 live album Paul Is Live 143 144 On the cover of its October 1977 issue the satirical magazine National Lampoon depicted the four Beatles flattened along the zebra crossing with a road roller driving away up the street 145 The Red Hot Chili Peppers The Abbey Road E P parodies the cover with the band walking near naked across a similar zebra crossing 146 In 2003 several US poster companies airbrushed McCartney s cigarette out of the image without permission from Apple or McCartney 147 In 2013 Kolkata Police launched a traffic safety awareness advertisement against jaywalking using the cover and a caption that read If they can why can t you 148 Cover versions and influence edit The songs on Abbey Road have been covered many times and the album itself has been covered in its entirety One month after Abbey Road s release George Benson recorded a cover version of the album called The Other Side of Abbey Road 149 Later in 1969 Booker T amp the M G s recorded McLemore Avenue the location in Memphis of Stax Records which covered the Abbey Road songs and had a similar cover photo 150 While matching albums such as Sgt Pepper in terms of popularity Abbey Road failed to repeat the Beatles earlier achievements in galvanising their rivals to imitate them 107 In author Peter Doggett s description Too contrived for the rock underground to copy too complex for the bubblegum pop brigade to copy the album influenced no one except Paul McCartney who spent years trying to emulate its scope in his solo career 107 Writing for Classic Rock in 2014 Jon Anderson of the progressive rock band Yes said his group were constantly influenced by the Beatles from Revolver onwards but it was the feeling that side two was one complete idea that inspired him to create long form pieces of music 151 nb 6 Several artists have covered some or all of the side two medley including Phil Collins for the Martin Beatles tribute album In My Life 152 The String Cheese Incident 153 Transatlantic 154 and Tenacious D who performed the medley with Phish keyboardist Page McConnell 155 Furthur a jam band including former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh played the entire Abbey Road album during its Spring Tour 2011 It began with a Come Together opener at Boston on 4 March and ended with the entire medley in New York City on 15 March including Her Majesty as an encore 156 Continued sales and reissues edit In June 1970 Allen Klein reported that Abbey Road was the Beatles best selling album in the US with sales of about five million 157 By 1992 Abbey Road had sold nine million copies 99 The album became the ninth most downloaded on the iTunes Store a week after it was released there on 16 November 2010 56 A CNN report stated it was the best selling vinyl album of 2011 158 It is the first album from the 1960s to sell over five million albums since 1991 when Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales 159 In the US the album had sold 7 177 797 copies by the end of the 1970s 160 As of 2011 update the album had sold over 31 million copies worldwide and is one of the band s best selling albums 161 In October 2019 Abbey Road re entered the UK charts again hitting number one 162 Abbey Road has remained in print since its first release in 1969 The original album was released on 26 September in the UK 163 and 1 October in the US on Apple Records 164 It was reissued as a limited edition picture disc on vinyl in the US by Capitol on 27 December 1978 165 while a CD reissue of the album was released in 1987 with a remastered version appearing in 2009 166 The remaster included additional photographs with additional liner notes and the first limited edition run also included a short documentary about the making of the album 167 In 2001 Abbey Road was certified 12 platinum by the RIAA 168 The album continues to be reissued on vinyl It was included as part of the Beatles Collector s Crate series in September 2009 169 and saw a remastered LP release on 180 gram vinyl in 2012 170 A super deluxe version of the album which featured new mixes by Giles Martin was released in September 2019 to celebrate the original album s 50th anniversary As of October 2019 Abbey Road has sold 2 240 608 pure sales in United Kingdom and overall all consumed sales stand at 2 327 230 units Post 1994 sales stand at 827 329 171 Track listing editAll tracks are written by Lennon McCartney except where notedSide oneNo TitleLead vocalsLength1 Come Together Lennon4 192 Something George Harrison Harrison3 023 Maxwell s Silver Hammer McCartney3 274 Oh Darling McCartney3 275 Octopus s Garden Richard Starkey Starr2 516 I Want You She s So Heavy Lennon7 47Total length 24 53 Side twoNo TitleLead vocalsLength1 Here Comes the Sun Harrison Harrison3 052 Because Lennon McCartney and Harrison2 453 You Never Give Me Your Money McCartney4 034 Sun King Lennon with McCartney and Harrison2 265 Mean Mr Mustard Lennon1 066 Polythene Pam Lennon1 137 She Came In Through the Bathroom Window McCartney1 588 Golden Slumbers McCartney1 319 Carry That Weight McCartney with Lennon Harrison and Starr1 3610 The End McCartney2 0511 Her Majesty hidden track McCartney0 23Total length 22 10 Notes Her Majesty appears as a hidden track after The End and 14 seconds of silence Later releases of the album included the song on the track listing except some vinyl editions Some cassette tape versions in the UK and US had Come Together and Here Comes the Sun swapped to even out the playing time of each side 172 Personnel editAccording to Mark Lewisohn 173 Ian MacDonald 174 Barry Miles 175 Kevin Howlett 176 and Geoff Emerick 177 The Beatles John Lennon lead harmony and background vocals rhythm lead and acoustic guitars acoustic and electric pianos Moog synthesiser white noise generator and sound effects percussion Paul McCartney lead harmony and background vocals bass rhythm lead and acoustic guitars acoustic and electric pianos Moog synthesiser sound effects wind chimes handclaps and percussion George Harrison harmony and background vocals lead rhythm and acoustic guitars bass on Maxwell s Silver Hammer Oh Darling and Golden Slumbers Carry That Weight harmonium and Moog synthesiser handclaps and percussion lead vocals on Something and Here Comes the Sun Ringo Starr drums and percussion background vocals anvil on Maxwell s Silver Hammer 41 lead vocals on Octopus s Garden Additional musicians George Martin harpsichord organ percussion Billy Preston Hammond organ on Something and I Want You She s So Heavy Production Something and Here Comes the Sun orchestrated and conducted by George Martin with George Harrison Golden Slumbers Carry That Weight and The End orchestrated and conducted by George Martin with Paul McCartney Produced by George Martin with the Beatles Recorded by Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald Assistant engineering by Alan Parsons Mixed by Geoff Emerick Phil McDonald and George Martin with the Beatles Moog programming by Mike VickersCharts editOriginal release Chart PositionAustralian Kent Music Report 178 1Canadian RPM LP Chart 179 1Dutch MegaChart Albums 180 1Finland Suomen virallinen lista 181 1Italian Musica e dischi Chart 182 1Japanese Oricon LPs Chart 105 3Norwegian VG lista Albums Chart 183 1Swedish Kvallstoppen Chart 184 1Spanish Albums Chart 185 1UK Albums Chart 186 1US Billboard Top LPs 187 1West German Media Control Albums Chart 188 11987 reissue Chart PositionJapanese Albums Chart 105 6UK Albums Chart 189 30 2009 reissue Chart PositionAustralian Albums Chart 190 12Austrian Albums Chart 191 36Belgian Albums Chart Flanders 192 20Belgian Albums Chart Wallonia 193 28Danish Albums Chart 194 18Finnish Albums Chart 195 12German Albums Chart 196 41Italian Albums Chart 197 7Japanese Albums Chart 198 12Mexican Albums Chart 199 8Portuguese Albums Chart 200 4Spanish Albums Chart 201 13Swedish Albums Chart 202 6Swiss Albums Chart 203 28New Zealand Albums Chart 204 8UK Albums Chart 186 6US Billboard Comprehensive Albums 205 3 2019 reissue Chart PositionAustralian Albums ARIA 206 2Belgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 207 1Belgian Albums Ultratop Wallonia 208 4Canadian Albums Billboard 209 3Czech Albums CNS IFPI 210 23Danish Albums Hitlisten 211 3Dutch Albums Album Top 100 212 1Finnish Albums Suomen virallinen lista 213 13German Albums Offizielle Top 100 214 2Greece Albums Billboard 215 1Hungarian Albums MAHASZ 216 34Irish Albums IRMA 217 3Italian Albums FIMI 218 3Mexican Albums AMPROFON 219 5New Zealand Albums RMNZ 220 6Norwegian Albums VG lista 221 2Polish Albums ZPAV 222 16Portuguese Albums AFP 223 1Scottish Albums OCC 224 1Spanish Albums PROMUSICAE 225 1Swedish Albums Sverigetopplistan 226 4Swiss Albums Schweizer Hitparade 227 3UK Albums OCC 228 1US Billboard 200 229 3US Top Rock Albums Billboard 230 1 Year end charts Chart 1969 PositionAustralian Albums Chart 178 3UK Albums Chart 231 1Chart 1970 PositionAustralian Albums Chart 178 7UK Albums Chart 232 7US Billboard Pop Albums 233 4Chart 2017 PositionUS Billboard 200 234 138US Top Rock Albums Billboard 235 27Chart 2018 PositionUS Billboard 200 236 163US Top Rock Albums Billboard 237 26Chart 2019 PositionAustralian Albums ARIA 238 40Austrian Albums O3 Austria 239 72Belgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 240 41Belgian Albums Ultratop Wallonia 241 90Danish Albums Hitlisten 242 68Dutch Albums Album Top 100 243 47Mexican Albums AMPROFON 244 85Spanish Albums PROMUSICAE 245 73Swedish Albums Sverigetopplistan 246 94UK Albums OCC 247 38US Billboard 200 248 57US Top Rock Albums Billboard 249 7Chart 2020 PositionAustralian Albums ARIA 250 95Belgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 251 145Dutch Albums Album Top 100 252 90Spanish Albums PROMUSICAE 253 91US Billboard 200 254 66US Top Rock Albums Billboard 255 5Chart 2021 PositionBelgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 256 128Dutch Albums Album Top 100 257 68US Billboard 200 258 96US Top Rock Albums Billboard 259 11Chart 2022 PositionBelgian Albums Ultratop Flanders 260 192US Billboard 200 261 103US Top Rock Albums Billboard 262 16Decade end charts Chart 1960s PositionUK Albums Chart 231 4Chart 1970s PositionJapanese Albums Chart 105 22Certifications and sales editCertifications and sales for Abbey Road Region Certification Certified units salesArgentina CAPIF 263 Diamond 506 916 264 Australia ARIA 265 3 Platinum 210 000 Belgium BEA 266 Platinum 50 000 Brazil 390 000 267 Canada Music Canada 268 Diamond 1 000 000 Denmark IFPI Danmark 269 3 Platinum 60 000 France SNEP 270 Gold 100 000 Germany BVMI 271 Platinum 500 000 Italy FIMI 272 sales since 2009 2 Platinum 100 000 Japan 655 000 105 New Zealand RMNZ 273 5 Platinum 75 000 United Kingdom BPI 274 8 Platinum 2 400 000 United States RIAA 275 12 Platinum 12 000 000 SummariesWorldwideWorldwide sales in 2019 800 000 276 277 WorldwideWorldwide sales up to 2014 31 000 000 161 Sales figures based on certification alone Shipments figures based on certification alone Sales streaming figures based on certification alone BPI certification awarded only for sales since 1994 278 Release history editCountry Date Label Format Catalogue numberUnited Kingdom 26 September 1969 Apple Parlophone LP PCS 7088United States 1 October 1969 Apple Capitol LP SO 383Japan 21 May 1983 Toshiba EMI Compact Disc CP35 3016Worldwide reissue 10 October 1987 Apple Parlophone EMI CD CDP 7 46446 2Japan 11 March 1998 Toshiba EMI CD TOCP 51122Japan 21 January 2004 Toshiba EMI Remastered LP TOJP 60142Worldwide reissue 9 September 2009 Apple Parlophone EMI Remastered CD 0946 3 82468 24Worldwide reissue 27 September 2019 Apple Universal Music Group International Remixed LP 7791512LP picture disc 8048883 LP 800744CD 8007432 CD 77915073 CD Blu ray box set 7792112 279 See also editOutline of the Beatles The Beatles timelineNotes edit In the 1960s UK record industry protocol was that singles did not normally appear on albums 37 In the version released on Anthology 3 Lennon can be heard singing the lead on an ad libbed verse regarding the news that Yoko Ono s divorce from her previous husband Anthony Cox had been finalised 43 At 8 22 Revolution 9 is the longest track to appear on a Beatles album A working title of the album was Everest after a brand of cigarettes favoured by Emerick but the band were reluctant to travel to the Himalayas for a photo session 11 In 1986 the car was sold at auction for 2 530 89 and in 2001 was on display in a museum in Germany 90 Anderson added The Beatles showed us that you can do anything That if you can do it with love heart and honesty it ll work 151 References editCitations edit Matthews Rex D 2007 Timetables of History for Students of Methodism Abingdon Press p 224 ISBN 978 1426764592 a b c d MacDonald 1997 p 300 a b c MacDonald 1997 p 322 Perone James E The Album A Guide to Pop Music s Most Provocative Influential and Important Creations p 215 Buckley 2003 p 76 a b Miles 1997 p 552 a b c 100 Greatest Beatles Songs Abbey Road Medley Rolling Stone 19 September 2011 Archived from the original on 22 January 2014 Retrieved 4 February 2014 MacDonald 1997 pp 302 304 MacDonald 1997 pp 308 310 a b MacDonald 1997 p 320 a b c d e f MacDonald 1997 p 321 a b MacFarlane 2007 p 23 Miles 1997 p 551 Stark 2005 p 261 Wenner amp Lennon 2001 p 89 Inglis Sam October 2009 Remastering The Beatles Sound on Sound Archived from the original on 1 April 2014 Retrieved 3 February 2014 Everett 1999 p 245 Lawrence Alistair Martin George 2012 Abbey Road The Best Studio in the World Bloomsbury Publishing p 236 ISBN 978 1 4088 3241 7 Archived from the original on 22 August 2021 Retrieved 6 November 2020 Gottlieb 2010 p 104 Gottlieb 2010 p 105 Womack 2019 p 235 Alan Parsons Working with the Beatles Was An Amazing Experience Ultimate Guitar 3 August 2011 Archived from the original on 21 April 2014 Retrieved 5 February 2014 Producer Profile John Kurlander studioexpresso Archived from the original on 1 February 2013 Retrieved 6 February 2014 a b MacDonald 1997 p 314 Wardlaw Matt 10 May 2011 The Beatles Come Together Lyrics Uncovered Classic Rock Magazine Archived from the original on 4 March 2014 Retrieved 6 February 2014 a b Gould 2008 p 575 MacDonald 1997 p 315 Wenner amp Lennon 2001 p 90 Wallgren 1982 p 57 Martin George Love Media notes The Beatles Parlophone 0946 3 79808 2 8 Gould 2008 p 576 a b c Everett 1999 p 249 MacDonald 1997 pp 305 306 Abowitz Richard 13 December 2006 Sinatra Elvis and The Beatles Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on 17 December 2006 George Harrison The Quiet Beatle BBC News 30 November 2001 Archived from the original on 3 March 2008 MacDonald 1997 p 412 MacDonald 1997 p 201 Kozinn Allan 24 March 2008 Neil Aspinall Beatles Aide Dies at 66 The New York Times Archived from the original on 6 April 2014 Retrieved 15 February 2012 a b MacDonald 1997 p 313 a b Emerick amp Massey 2006 p 281 a b Lewisohn 1988 p 179 a b MacDonald 1997 p 307 John Lennon Disc 2 track 9 Anthology 3 CD Apple Records Event occurs at 3 28 7423 8 34451 2 7 Just heard that Yoko s divorce has gone through Beatles 2000 p 339 Sheff 2000 p 203 MacDonald 1997 pp 307 308 Spizer 2005 pp 293 297 303 Wenner amp Lennon 2001 p 83 Maginnis Tom I Want You She s So Heavy song review AllMusic Archived from the original on 7 September 2013 Retrieved 5 February 2014 MacDonald 1997 p 301 a b Lewisohn 1988 p 178 Gaar Gillian 2013 100 Things Beatles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die Triumph Books p 77 ISBN 978 1 62368 202 6 a b MacDonald 1997 p 312 Desert Island Discs Beatles Here Comes The Sun BBC Radio 4 Archived from the original on 24 April 2014 Retrieved 8 February 2014 Chilton Martin 18 July 2013 20 songs for a heatwave The Daily Telegraph Archived from the original on 20 May 2014 a b Here Comes the Sun Is No 1 Beatles Song After a Week of Sales on ITunes Bloomberg 24 November 2010 Archived from the original on 22 February 2014 Retrieved 6 February 2014 Michaels Sean 28 March 2012 New George Harrison guitar solo uncovered The Guardian Archived from the original on 23 February 2014 Retrieved 5 February 2014 Sheff 2000 p 191 Why the Beatles Reordered the Abbey Road Medley by Nick DeRiso ultimateclassicrock com 26 September 2019 Archived from the original on 27 September 2019 Retrieved 28 September 2019 DeRiso Nick 26 September 2019 Why the Beatles Reordered the Abbey Road Medley Ultimate Classic Rock Retrieved 24 October 2021 Abbey Road beatlesbible com September 2019 Archived from the original on 28 September 2019 Retrieved 28 September 2019 Lewisohn 1988 p 183 MacDonald 1997 pp 318 319 Miles 1997 p 556 a b MacDonald 1997 p 310 Everett 1999 p 247 MacDonald 1997 pp 318 319 Turner 1994 p 198 McCartney Songwriter ISBN 0 491 03325 7 p 93 MacDonald 1997 pp 311 312 a b MacDonald 1997 p 317 Tomorrow Never Knows AllMusic Archived from the original on 24 October 2013 Retrieved 4 February 2014 a b c Marvin Elizabeth West Hermann Richard 2002 Marvin Elizabeth West Hermann Richard eds Concert Music Rock and Jazz Since 1945 Essays and Analytical Studies University of Rochester Press p 227 ISBN 978 1 58046 096 5 Archived from the original on 22 August 2021 Retrieved 6 November 2020 a b MacDonald 1997 p 311 Abbey Road Media notes Apple Records 1969 PCS 7088 Abbey Road CD remaster Media notes Apple Records 1987 CDP 7 46446 2 Abbey Road Media notes Apple Records 2009 94638 24682 Archived from the original on 4 March 2014 Abbey Road Media notes Apple Records 2012 EAS 80560 Archived from the original on 28 March 2014 MacDonald 1997 pp 302 305 MacDonald 1997 pp 305 447 Lewisohn 1988 p 182 MacDonald 1997 p 318 Gallucci Michael 16 February 2013 Top 10 Beatles Bootleg Albums Classic Rock Magazine Archived from the original on 8 April 2014 Retrieved 19 February 2014 Sulpy Doug Chen Ed 1990 1994 A beginner s guide to Beatles bootlegs rec music beatles Archived from the original on 7 April 2014 Retrieved 19 February 2014 a b c d Pollard Lawrence 7 August 2009 Revisiting Abbey Road 40 years on BBC News Archived from the original on 20 October 2021 Retrieved 4 February 2014 a b Miles 1997 p 559 Lewisohn 1992 pp 328 329 Etherington Smith Meredith 18 August 1992 Obituary Tommy Nutter The Independent London Archived from the original on 14 March 2014 Retrieved 23 April 2010 McNichol Tom 9 August 1989 Eyewitness The long and winding road to an icon The Guardian London Archived from the original on 12 November 2012 Rubin Judith 16 March 2001 Online Exclusive Volkswagen Autostadt Live Design Archived from the original on 11 November 2013 DeYoung Bill 7 June 2016 Paul Cole man on Beatles Abbey Road cover dies TCPalm Archived from the original on 30 March 2014 Urish 2007 p 11 Rodriguez 2010 pp 1 73 Miles 1997 p 561 Womack 2009 p 290 Womack 2009 p 286 Urish 2007 p 12 Miles 1997 p 574 a b Everett 1999 p 271 1969 The Number One Albums Official Chart Company Archived from the original on 5 October 2012 Retrieved 7 February 2014 1970 The Number One Albums Official Chart Company Archived from the original on 22 February 2014 Retrieved 7 February 2014 The Beatles every album and single with its chart position The Guardian 9 September 2009 Archived from the original on 27 May 2014 Retrieved 7 February 2014 Schaffner 1978 p 216 NARM Awards Billboard 6 March 1971 p N27 a b c d e Oricon Album Chart Book Complete Edition 1970 2005 Roppongi Tokyo Oricon Entertainment 2006 ISBN 978 4 87131 077 2 Gould 2008 p 593 a b c d e Stark 2005 p 262 a b Fricke David 2003 Road to Nowhere In Mojo The Beatles Final Years Special Edition London Emap p 112 Cohn Nik 5 October 1969 The Beatles For 15 Minutes Tremendous The New York Times Hi Fi and Recordings section p HF13 Archived from the original on 21 April 2014 Retrieved 4 March 2013 Goldman Albert 21 November 1969 Beatles Nostalgia Irony Life Chicago p 22 Archived from the original on 9 June 2013 Retrieved 25 February 2013 In Brief High Fidelity January 1970 p 142 Welch Chris 27 September 1969 The Beatles Abbey Road Apple Melody Maker Available at Rock s Backpages Archived 25 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine subscription required Mendelsohn John 15 November 1969 Abbey Road Rolling Stone New York Archived from the original on 21 April 2014 Retrieved 25 February 2013 Best of the Month Stereo Review s Selection of Recordings of Special Merit Stereo Review January 1970 Christgau Robert December 1969 In Memory of the Dave Clark Five The Village Voice Archived from the original on 20 October 2018 Retrieved 19 October 2018 a b Erlweine Stephen Thomas Unterberger Richie Abbey Road The Beatles AllMusic Rovi Corporation Archived from the original on 18 October 2011 Retrieved 18 November 2011 Klosterman Chuck 8 September 2009 Chuck Klosterman Repeats The Beatles The A V Club Chicago Archived from the original on 22 May 2013 Retrieved 26 May 2013 Album Review The Beatles Abbey Road Remastered 26 September 2009 Archived from the original on 21 April 2014 a b McCormick Neil 8 September 2009 The Beatles Abbey Road review The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on 6 November 2012 Larkin 2006 p 489 Graff Gary Durchholz Daniel eds 1999 MusicHound Rock The Essential Album Guide Farmington Hills MI Visible Ink Press pp 87 88 ISBN 1 57859 061 2 a b Kemp Mark 8 September 2009 The Beatles The Long and Winding Repertoire Paste Archived from the original on 23 October 2013 Retrieved 6 January 2013 Richardson Mark 10 September 2009 The Beatles Abbey Road Pitchfork Media Archived from the original on 2 May 2014 Retrieved 25 February 2013 The Beatles Album Guide Rolling Stone Music Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 4 April 2014 N A N A 27 February 2012 Abbey Road AnyDecentMusic Retrieved 24 June 2017 Roberts 2011 p 80 Pensiero Nicole 23 March 2004 The Beatles Abbey Road PopMatters Archived from the original on 3 August 2014 Retrieved 8 February 2014 a b Celebrating 40 Years of The Beatles Abbey Road Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 20 March 2014 Retrieved 11 October 2010 2001 VH1 Cable Music Channel All Time Album Top 100 VH1 Archived from the original on 25 October 2012 Retrieved 19 November 2007 The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever Q Archived from the original on 26 November 2007 Retrieved 20 November 2007 Colin Larkin ed 2000 All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd ed Virgin Books p 36 ISBN 0 7535 0493 6 The All Time 100 Albums Time 2 November 2006 Archived from the original on 9 November 2007 Retrieved 20 November 2007 The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 13 November 2007 Retrieved 19 November 2007 The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone 22 September 2020 Archived from the original on 22 September 2020 Retrieved 25 September 2020 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The Beatles Abbey Road Rolling Stone 31 May 2009 Archived from the original on 18 July 2012 Retrieved 12 June 2012 Dimery Robert Lydon Michael 7 February 2006 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die Revised and Updated ed Universe ISBN 0 7893 1371 5 Landau Joel 4 September 2014 SEE IT Live feed gives continuous view of Abbey Road crossing made famous by the Beatles New York Daily News Archived from the original on 26 October 2020 Retrieved 15 May 2017 Beatles Abbey Road zebra crossing given listed status BBC News 22 December 2010 Archived from the original on 20 July 2011 Retrieved 6 February 2014 MacDonald 1997 p 273 Scott Jane 24 October 1969 Paul s death exaggerated The Plain Dealer Cleveland Ohio Schaffner 1978 pp 127 28 Winn 2009 p 333 Womack 2019 p 236 Cooney Caroline 6 April 2012 Every Parody Tells A Story grammy com Archived from the original on 21 February 2014 Retrieved 4 February 2014 Rodriguez 2010 p 339 The Abbey Road EP AllMusic Archived from the original on 28 August 2013 Retrieved 6 February 2014 Beatles Abbey Road cigarette airbrushed BBC News 21 January 2003 Archived from the original on 3 September 2017 Retrieved 25 December 2014 Beatles Abbey Road cover in Calcutta traffic campaign BBC News 19 February 2013 Retrieved 26 June 2022 The Other Side of Abbey Road AllMusic Archived from the original on 3 January 2013 Retrieved 6 February 2014 McLemore Avenue AllMusic Retrieved 6 February 2014 a b Anderson Jon October 2014 They were the leaders of everything and everybody else slowly followed Jon Anderson on why the Beatles were the original progressive rock band Classic Rock p 37 In My Life George Martin AllMusic Archived from the original on 14 July 2013 Retrieved 4 February 2014 Jam band draws thousands The Victoria Advocate 4 May 2001 Archived from the original on 22 August 2021 Retrieved 6 February 2014 Transatlantic Live in Europe AllMusic Archived from the original on 19 August 2013 Retrieved 6 February 2014 Watch Page McConnell Team Up With Tenacious D on Flash Wonderboy and Beatles Abbey Road Medley Glide Magazine 11 October 2012 Archived from the original on 21 April 2014 Retrieved 4 February 2014 Furthur Celebrates Phil s Birthday w Abbey Road B Side Medley and Cupcakes Glide Magazine 16 March 2011 Archived from the original on 21 April 2014 Retrieved 4 February 2014 Dove Ian 6 June 1970 Beatlemania Returns As Let It Be Clicks Billboard Nielsen Business Media Inc p 1 Archived from the original on 22 August 2021 Retrieved 6 February 2014 Leopold Todd 31 January 2014 Beatles Sullivan Revolution Why Beatlemania could never happen today CNN Archived from the original on 22 February 2014 Retrieved 6 February 2014 Grein Paul 19 February 2014 Chart Watch Taylor Swift Is 4 For 4 Million Yahoo Music Archived from the original on 4 March 2014 Retrieved 19 February 2014 How Many Records did the Beatles actually sell Deconstructing Pop Culture by David Kronemyer 29 April 2009 Archived from the original on 6 March 2016 Retrieved 11 July 2015 a b Back in the Day Abbey Road hits the shelves Euronews 26 September 2011 Archived from the original on 3 November 2012 Retrieved 14 May 2016 Glynn Paul 4 October 2019 The Beatles Abbey Road returns to number one 50 years on BBC News Archived from the original on 4 October 2019 Retrieved 4 October 2019 MacDonald 1997 p 410 MacDonald 1997 p 411 Abbey Road 1978 LP AllMusic 17 February 2014 Archived from the original on 8 April 2013 Abbey Road releases AllMusic Archived from the original on 11 May 2013 Retrieved 17 February 2014 Abbey Road 2009 Remaster AllMusic Archived from the original on 21 September 2016 Retrieved 17 February 2014 Gold amp Platinum News RIAA February 2001 Archived from the original on 21 February 2014 Retrieved 5 February 2014 Abbey Road Collector s Crate Black AllMusic Archived from the original on 7 March 2013 Retrieved 17 February 2014 Knopper Steve 12 November 2012 Inside the Beatles vinyl album remasters Rolling Stone Archived from the original on 11 April 2014 Retrieved 17 February 2014 Alan Jones 7 October 2019 Golden oldie Abbey Road returns to the summit 50 years on PDF Music Week p 77 Retrieved 4 December 2021 Abbey Road EMI TC PCS 7088 Archived from the original cassette on 13 November 2013 Lewisohn 1988 MacDonald 1997 pp 300 321 Miles 1997 Howlett Kevin 2019 Abbey Road 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Version book The Beatles Apple Records Bosso Joe For the first time John and Paul knew that George had risen to their level Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick track by track interview on Abbey Road musicradar Retrieved 14 January 2022 a b c Kent David 1993 Australian Chart Book 1970 1992 St Ives NSW Australian Chart Book ISBN 978 0 646 11917 5 RPM Library and Archives Canada RPM Archived from the original on 13 May 2014 Retrieved 13 October 2012 dutchcharts nl The Beatles Abbey Road Hung Medien dutchcharts nl in Dutch MegaCharts Archived from the original ASP on 24 December 2013 Retrieved 13 October 2012 Nyman Jake 2005 Suomi soi 4 Suuri suomalainen listakirja in Finnish 1st ed Helsinki Tammi ISBN 951 31 2503 3 Hits of the World PDF Billboard 31 January 1970 p 70 Archived from the original PDF on 7 March 2021 Retrieved 9 June 2021 via World Radio History norwegiancharts com The Beatles Abbey Road Archived from the original ASP on 21 April 2014 Retrieved 13 October 2012 Swedish Charts 1969 1972 PDF in Swedish Hitsallertijden Archived from the original PDF on 14 October 2012 Retrieved 13 October 2012 Salaverri Fernando September 2005 Solo exitos ano a ano 1959 2002 1st ed Spain Fundacion Autor SGAE ISBN 978 84 8048 639 2 a b The Beatles Full official Chart History Official Charts 17 October 1962 Archived from the original on 12 May 2016 Retrieved 13 May 2016 The Beatles Chart history Billboard Archived from the original on 30 December 2017 Retrieved 13 May 2016 Album Search The Beatles Abbey Road in German Media Control Archived from the original ASP on 7 July 2014 Retrieved 13 October 2012 The Official Charts Company The Beatles Abbey Road 1987 version UK Albums Chart Retrieved 12 October 2012 australian charts com The Beatles Abbey Road Australian Recording Industry Association Archived from the original ASP on 14 December 2013 Retrieved 13 October 2012 austriancharts at The Beatles Abbey Road Hung Medien in German Archived from the original ASP on 21 April 2014 Retrieved 13 October 2012 ultratop be The Beatles Abbey Road ASP Hung Medien in Dutch Ultratop Archived from the original on 25 October 2013 Retrieved 12 October 2012 ultratop be The Beatles Abbey Road ASP Hung Medien in Dutch Ultratop Archived from the original on 13 November 2012 Retrieved 12 October 2012 danishcharts dk The Beatles Abbey Road ASP danishcharts dk Archived from the original on 6 November 2018 Retrieved 12 October 2012 finnishcharts com The Beatles Abbey Road Hung Medien Archived from the original ASP on 25 December 2013 Retrieved 12 October 2012 musicline de chartverfolgung hitparade ch Archived from the original on 21 March 2014 Retrieved 13 October 2012 italiancharts com The Beatles Abbey Road Hung Medien Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Archived from the original ASP on 5 March 2014 Retrieved 13 October 2012 All of the Beatles Remastered Albums Enter the Top 100 Grossing 2 310 Million Yen in One Week oricon co jp in Japanese Oricon Style Archived from the original on 9 March 2013 Retrieved 14 October 2012 mexicancharts com The Beatles Abbey Road mexicancharts com Archived from the original on 28 September 2010 Retrieved 12 October 2012 portuguesecharts com The Beatles Abbey Road Hung Medien Archived from the original ASP on 4 March 2014 Retrieved 12 October 2012 The Beatles Abbey Road spanishcharts com Hung Medien Archived from the original ASP on 21 April 2014 Retrieved 12 October 2012 swedishcharts com The Beatles Abbey Road in Swedish Archived from the original ASP on 25 December 2013 Retrieved 12 October 2012 The Beatles Abbey Road hitparade ch Hung Medien in German Swiss Music Charts Archived from the original ASP on 15 June 2007 Retrieved 12 October 2012 charts nz The Beatles Abbey Road ASP Hung Medien Recording Industry Association of New Zealand Archived from the original on 6 November 2018 Retrieved 12 October 2012 Caulfield Keith Beatles and Jay Z Dominate Charts Billboard biz Archived from the original on 17 April 2012 Retrieved 12 October 2012 ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums Australian Recording Industry Association 7 October 2019 Archived from the original on 28 November 2017 Retrieved 5 October 2019 Ultratop be The Beatles Abbey Road in Dutch Hung Medien Retrieved 4 October 2019 Ultratop be The Beatles Abbey Road in French Hung Medien Retrieved 4 October 2019 The Beatles Chart In A Post Malone World FYIMusicNews 6 October 2019 Archived from the original on 7 October 2019 Retrieved 8 October 2019 Czech Albums Top 100 CNS IFPI Note On the chart page select 40 Tyden 2019 on the field besides the words CZ ALBUMS TOP 100 to retrieve the correct chart Retrieved 8 October 2019 Hitlisten NU Album Top 40 Uge 39 2019 Hitlisten Retrieved 9 October 2019 Dutchcharts nl The Beatles Abbey Road in Dutch Hung Medien Retrieved 5 October 2019 Beatles Abbey Road in Finnish Musiikkituottajat IFPI Finland Retrieved 7 October 2019 Offiziellecharts de The Beatles Abbey Road in German GfK Entertainment Charts Retrieved 4 October 2019 The Beatles Chart History Greece Albums Billboard 10 December 2021 Retrieved 10 December 2021 Album Top 40 slagerlista 2019 43 het in Hungarian MAHASZ Retrieved 31 October 2019 IRMA Irish Charts Irish Recorded Music Association Archived from the original on 16 February 2020 Retrieved 5 October 2019 Album Classifica settimanale WK 40 dal 27 09 2019 al 03 10 2019 in Italian Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana Archived from the original on 18 March 2020 Retrieved 5 October 2019 Top Album Semanal del 27 de septiembre al 3 de octubre de 2019 in Spanish Asociacion Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas Archived from the original on 21 October 2019 Retrieved 2 October 2019 NZ Top 40 Albums Chart Recorded Music NZ 7 October 2019 Archived from the original on 6 October 2019 Retrieved 5 October 2019 VG lista Topp 40 Album uke 40 2019 VG lista Archived from the original on 11 October 2019 Retrieved 5 October 2019 Oficjalna lista sprzedazy OLiS Official Retail Sales Chart OLiS Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry Retrieved 10 October 2019 Portuguesecharts com The Beatles Abbey Road Hung Medien Retrieved 15 October 2019 Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved 5 October 2019 Top 100 Albumes Semana 40 del 27 9 2019 al 3 10 2019 in Spanish Productores de Musica de Espana Archived from the original on 8 October 2019 Retrieved 9 October 2019 Veckolista Album vecka 40 Sverigetopplistan Archived from the original on 20 October 2021 Retrieved 4 October 2019 Swisscharts com The Beatles Abbey Road Hung Medien Retrieved 9 October 2019 Official Albums Chart Top 100 Official Charts Company Retrieved 5 October 2019 Caulfield Keith 6 October 2019 DaBaby Earns First No 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With Kirk Billboard Archived from the original on 27 December 2019 Retrieved 7 October 2019 The Beatles Chart History Top Rock Albums Billboard Retrieved 17 September 2020 a b The Official UK Charts Company ALBUM CHART HISTORY Archived from the original on 17 December 2007 Retrieved 17 December 2007 1970s Albums Chart Archive everyhit com The Official Charts Company Archived from the original on 6 October 2009 Retrieved 12 October 2012 Billboard BIZ TOP POP ALBUMS OF 1970 Archived from the original on 8 October 2012 Retrieved 12 October 2012 Top Billboard 200 Albums Year End 2017 Billboard Archived from the original on 24 December 2017 Retrieved 17 June 2020 Top Rock Albums Year End 2017 Billboard Archived from the original on 14 February 2018 Retrieved 17 September 2020 Top Billboard 200 Albums Year End 2018 Billboard Archived from the original on 21 March 2020 Retrieved 17 June 2020 Top Rock Albums Year End 2018 Billboard Archived from the original on 7 October 2020 Retrieved 17 September 2020 ARIA End of Year Albums Chart 2019 Australian Recording Industry Association Archived from the original on 23 November 2020 Retrieved 10 January 2020 Jahreshitparade Alben 2019 austriancharts at Archived from the original on 13 March 2020 Retrieved 2 January 2020 Jaaroverzichten 2019 Ultratop Archived from the original on 22 February 2020 Retrieved 20 December 2019 Rapports Annuels 2019 Ultratop Archived from the original on 22 February 2020 Retrieved 20 December 2019 Album Top 100 2019 in Danish Hitlisten Archived from the original on 14 January 2020 Retrieved 15 January 2020 Jaaroverzichten Album 2019 dutchcharts nl Archived from the original on 11 January 2020 Retrieved 5 January 2020 Top 100 Mexico Los mas vendidos 2019 in Spanish Asociacion Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas Archived from the original on 25 January 2020 Retrieved 25 January 2020 Top 100 Albums Annual 2019 El portal de Musica Retrieved 21 January 2022 Arslista Album 2019 Sverigetopplistan Archived from the original on 22 March 2020 Retrieved 14 January 2020 Copsey Rob 1 January 2020 The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2019 Official Charts Company Archived from the original on 1 January 2020 Retrieved 1 January 2020 Top Billboard 200 Albums Year End 2019 Billboard Archived from the original on 23 February 2020 Retrieved 6 December 2019 Top Rock Albums Year End 2019 Billboard Archived from the original on 6 December 2019 Retrieved 17 September 2020 ARIA Top 100 Albums for 2020 Australian Recording Industry Association Archived from the original on 14 January 2021 Retrieved 15 January 2021 Jaaroverzichten 2020 Ultratop Archived from the original on 22 December 2020 Retrieved 18 December 2020 Jaaroverzichten Album 2020 in Dutch MegaCharts Archived from the original on 19 January 2021 Retrieved 6 January 2021 Top 100 Albums Annual 2020 El portal de Musica Retrieved 21 January 2022 Top Billboard 200 Albums Year End 2020 Billboard Archived from the original on 3 December 2020 Retrieved 4 December 2020 Top Rock Albums Year End 2020 Billboard Retrieved 7 January 2021 Jaaroverzichten 2021 Ultratop Retrieved 5 January 2022 Jaaroverzichten Album 2021 dutchcharts nl in Dutch Retrieved 4 January 2022 Top Billboard 200 Albums Year End 2021 Billboard Retrieved 2 December 2021 Top Rock Albums Year End 2021 Billboard Retrieved 3 December 2021 Jaaroverzichten 2022 in Dutch Ultratop Retrieved 14 January 2023 Top Billboard 200 Albums Year End 2022 Billboard Retrieved 3 December 2022 Top Rock Albums Year End 2022 Billboard Retrieved 3 December 2022 Premio Diamante Los premiados in Spanish Camara Argentina de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas Archived from the original on 18 March 2005 Retrieved 16 September 2012 Franco Adriana 27 October 1999 Nuevo galardon en la industria del disco La Nacion in Spanish ARIA Charts Accreditations 2009 Albums PDF Australian Recording Industry Association Retrieved 20 August 2012 Ultratop Goud en Platina albums 2022 Ultratop Hung Medien Retrieved 1 August 2022 O sargento Pimenta faz 20 anos Jornal do Brasil in Portuguese 1 June 1987 p 37 via National Library of Brazil Sgt pepper s que toca em cinco paginas desta edicao e o terceiro mais vendido 290 mil Perde Abbey Road 390 mil e para Help 320 mil Canadian album certifications The Beatles Abbey Road Music Canada Retrieved 20 August 2012 Danish album certifications The Beatles Abbey Road IFPI Danmark Retrieved 28 May 2020 French album certifications The Beatles Abbey Road in French InfoDisc SelectTHE BEATLESand clickOK Gold Platin Datenbank The Beatles Abbey Road in German Bundesverband Musikindustrie Retrieved 20 August 2012 Italian album certifications The Beatles Abbey Road in Italian Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana Retrieved 3 January 2023 Latest Gold Platinum Albums Radioscope 17 July 2011 Archived from the original on 24 July 2011 British album certifications The Beatles Abbey Road British Phonographic Industry American album certifications The Beatles Abbey Road Recording Industry Association of America Retrieved 20 August 2012 Arashi Best Of Tops Taylor Swift for IFPI s Best Selling Album of 2019 Billboard 19 March 2020 Archived from the original on 19 March 2020 Retrieved 22 March 2020 Best Sellers and Global Artist of the Year IFPI Representing the recording industry worldwide IFPI org 10 March 2020 Archived from the original on 19 March 2020 Beatles albums finally go platinum British Phonographic Industry BBC News 2 September 2013 Archived from the original on 10 April 2014 Retrieved 4 September 2013 The Beatles Abbey Road 50th Anniversary Edition CDx4 Rough Trade Archived from the original on 29 September 2019 Retrieved 29 September 2019 Bibliography edit Beatles The 2000 The Beatles Anthology San Francisco Chronicle Books ISBN 978 0 8118 2684 6 Buckley Peter 2003 The Rough Guide To Rock Rough Guides Illustrated ISBN 978 1 84353 105 0 Emerick Geoff Massey Howard 2006 Here There and Everywhere My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles New York Penguin Books ISBN 978 1 59240 179 6 Everett Walter 1999 The Beatles As Musicians Revolver Through the Anthology Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 512941 0 Gottlieb Gary 2010 How Does It Sound Now Legendary Engineers and Vintage Gear Cengage Learning ISBN 978 1 59863 921 6 Gould Jonathan 4 November 2008 Can t Buy Me Love The Beatles Britain and America Random House Digital ISBN 978 0 307 35338 2 Archived from the original on 25 June 2020 Retrieved 6 November 2020 Larkin Colin 2006 Encyclopedia of Popular Music Vol 1 Muze ISBN 978 0 19 531373 4 Lewisohn Mark 1988 The Beatles Recording Sessions Harmony Books ISBN 978 0 517 57066 1 Lewisohn Mark 1992 The Complete Beatles Chronicle Hamlyn ISBN 978 0 600 60033 6 MacDonald Ian 1997 Revolution in the Head The Beatles Records and the Sixties First Revised ed London Pimlico Random House ISBN 978 0 7126 6697 8 MacFarlane Thomas 2007 The Beatles Abbey Road Medley Extended Forms in Popular Music Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 978 1 4617 3659 2 Miles Barry 1997 Many Years From Now Vintage Random House ISBN 978 0 7493 8658 0 Roberts Jeremy 2011 The Beatles Music Revolutionaries Twenty First Century Books p 80 ISBN 978 0 7613 7294 3 Rodriguez Robert 2010 Fab Four FAQ 2 0 The Beatles Solo Years 1970 1980 Milwaukee WI Backbeat Books ISBN 978 1 4165 9093 4 Schaffner Nicholas 1978 The Beatles Forever McGraw Hill ISBN 0 07 055087 5 Lennon John Ono Yōko Sheff David 2000 All We Are Saying The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono New York St Martin s Press ISBN 978 0 312 25464 3 Spizer Bruce 2005 The Beatles Solo on Apple Records New Orleans LA 498 Productions ISBN 978 0 9662649 5 1 Stark Steven D 2005 Meet the Beatles A Cultural History of the Band That Shook Youth Gender and the World HarperCollins ISBN 978 0 06 184252 8 Archived from the original on 22 August 2021 Retrieved 6 November 2020 Turner Steve 1994 A Hard Day s Write Harper Urish Ben 2007 The Words and Music of John Lennon Greenwood Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 275 99180 7 Wallgren Mark 1982 The Beatles on Record New York Simon amp Schuster ISBN 978 0 671 45682 5 Wenner Jann Lennon John 2001 Lennon Remembers The Full Rolling Stone Interviews from 1970 Verso ISBN 978 1 85984 376 5 Archived from the original on 22 August 2021 Retrieved 6 November 2020 Winn John C 2009 That Magic Feeling The Beatles Recorded Legacy Volume Two 1966 1970 New York NY Three Rivers Press ISBN 978 0 307 45239 9 Womack Kenneth 2009 Beatles Discography 1962 1970 In Womack Kenneth ed The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles Cambridge Cambridge University Press pp 286 293 ISBN 978 0 521 68976 2 Womack Kenneth 2019 Solid State The Story of Abbey Road and the End of The Beatles Ithaca NY Cornell University Press ISBN 978 1 5017 4 6857 Archived from the original on 22 August 2021 Retrieved 19 September 2019 External links editAbbey Road at Discogs list of releases Beatles comments on each song Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick on Abbey Road A track by track walkthrough Live webcam at the Abbey Road zebra crossing The Beatles y la foto de la portada de Abbey Road Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Abbey Road amp oldid 1217108151, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.