photograph by iain mcmillan for apple records.
As has been noted elsewhere - though where, precisely, I don't recall - if "Sgt. Pepper" was inspired in part by group experimentation with lysergic acid, then "Abbey Road" is a very public exposure to analgesics. The overall colour of this album is brown. Browner, even, than their "Old Brown Shoe".
And what a slow motion rollercoaster of an album it is. To listen to this in its fine totality is to wade through treacle with the hem on your bell-bottoms adhering to bare, unvarnished floorboards. There are brief flashes of colourful counterpoint - George's "Here Comes The Sun", for instance - but that flower is a lotus; blooming in a river of raw sewage.
Oh, and if you genuinely rate the Beatles' last album as highly as you ought to, you owe it to yourself to invest in a copy of Phil May and the Pretty Things' "Parachute", 1970, produced by Norman Smith.
Written by Lennon & McCartney. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, 3 Abbey Road, London NW8; Olympic Studios; Trident Studios between 22nd February and 20th August 1969. Produced and orchestrated by George Martin; engineered by Geoff Emerick and Alan Parsons.
▼ THE BEATLES: I WANT YOU (SHE'S SO HEAVY) from "Abbey Road" LP (Apple) 1969 (UK)
PURCHASE ABBEY ROAD
classic
ReplyDeleteHey Ib, Greetings from California. I'm down with some sort of bug. I'll be spending most of the week home. Maybe I'll post some stuff. I wanted to at least drop around and say hi.
ReplyDeleterubenh,
ReplyDeleteinteresting site you have (?) or contribute to. I have added Social Reformer to my sidecar links under 'honorary siblings'.
Hey, Jon. I too have been hit with something viral. It's probably just a cold, but it feels like a full-on flu and although I thought it'd run its course a couple of weeks back it's back with a vengeance. Of course, I have no doubt my uncurtailed cigarette habit is contributing nicely to my current bronchial misery.
ReplyDeleteGood that you dropped by. Take it easy. Maybe a post or two will take your mind off that bug.