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
4 comments:
classic
Hey 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.
rubenh,
interesting 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.
Good that you dropped by. Take it easy. Maybe a post or two will take your mind off that bug.
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