Abbey Road
Abbey Road is the last album recorded by The Beatles, which was released in 1969. Produced and orchestrated by George Martin, for Apple Records.
After the near disasterous sessions for the Get Back album (later, retitled Let It Be for release), the Beatles decided to get together and make an album that they would be more happy with. The two album sides were quite different in character; side one was a collection of singles, while side two contained several medleys of short compositions that segued together.
The song "The End" features the only Ringo Starr drum solo to make it to tape, as well as alternating blistering lead guitar solos from Lennon, McCartney and Harrison.
The song "Her Majesty", tacked on the end, was originally part of the "side 2" medley. The medley had been re-edited at one point and somehow, the song ended up at the end of the tape after a few seconds of silence. The Beatles liked the way it sounded and left it there.
"At one point the album was going to be titled Everest, after the brand of cigarettes I used to smoke," recalls engineer Geoff Emerick. The idea included a cover photo of The Beatles in the Himalayas, but by the time the group had to take the photo, they decided to call it Abbey Road and take the photo outside the studio during a coffee break from recording.
- Come Together (Lennon/McCartney)
- Something (Harrison)
- Maxwell's Silver Hammer (Lennon/McCartney)
- Oh! Darling (Lennon/McCartney)
- Octopus's Garden (Starkey/Starr)
- I Want You (She's So Heavy) (Lennon/McCartney)
- Here Comes the Sun (Harrison)
- Because (Lennon/McCartney)
- You Never Give Me Your Money (Lennon/McCartney)
- Sun King (Lennon/McCartney)
- Mean Mr. Mustard (Lennon/McCartney)
- Polythene Pam (Lennon/McCartney)
- She Came in Through the Bathroom Window (Lennon/McCartney)
- Golden Slumbers (Lennon/McCartney)
- Carry That Weight (Lennon/McCartney)
- The End (Lennon/McCartney)
- Her Majesty (Lennon/McCartney)