100 DAYS OF THE BEATLES: TOP 100 SONGS NUMBER 23: Abbey Road Medley (You Never Give Me Your Money/Sun King/Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window/Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/ The End/Her Majesty) (Lennon/McCartney – September 26, 1969) Abbey Road – Side 2, Tracks 3-11 (16:18) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (sans footnotes/references) and About – Abbey Road is the eleventh studio album released by the English rock band The Beatles and their last recorded. Though Let It Be was the last album released before the bands dissolution in 1970, work on Abbey Road began in April 1969. Abbey Road was released on 26 September 1969 in the United Kingdom, and 1 October 1969 in the United States. Abbey Road is widely regarded as one of The Beatles most tightly constructed albums, although the band was barely operating as a functioning unit at the time. Rolling Stone placed it at number 14 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2009, readers of the magazine also named Abbey Road the greatest Beatles album. Background – After the near-disastrous sessions for the proposed Get Back album (later re-titled and released as Let It Be), Paul McCartney suggested to George Martin that the group get together and make an album the way we used to, free of the conflict that began following the death of Brian Epstein and carrying over to the sessions for the White Album. Martin agreed, stipulating that he must be allowed to do the album his way. In their interviews for The Beatles Anthology, the surviving band members stated that, although none of them ever made the distinction of calling it the last album, they all felt at the time this would very likely be the final Beatles product and therefore agreed to set aside their differences and go out on a high note. With the Let It Be album partly finished, the sessions for Abbey Road began in April, as the single The Ballad of John and Yoko / Old Brown Shoe was completed. In fact, recording sessions of John Lennons I Want You (Shes So Heavy) had already started in February 1969 in Trident studios, with Billy Preston on the organ—only three weeks after the Get Back sessions. Photos from these sessions are included in the book Get Back, which came along with the Let It Be album but not in the Let It Be film. McCartney is shaved and Lennon has started to let his beard grow. Most of the album was recorded between 2 July and 1 August 1969. After the album was finished and released, the Get Back / Let It Be project was re-examined. More work was done on the album, including the recording of additional music (see Let It Be). Thus, though the bulk of Let It Be was recorded prior to Abbey Road, the latter was released first, and Abbey Road was the last album properly started by The Beatles before they disbanded. Lennon was on hiatus from the group and working with the Plastic Ono Band during the September 1969 lead-up to Abbey Roads release, which was effectively the first official sign of The Beatles impending dissolution. The two album sides are quite different in character. Side one is a collection of unconnected tracks, while most of side two consists of a long suite of compositions, many of them being relatively short and segued together. The main impetus behind the suite approach was to incorporate the various short and incomplete Lennon and McCartney compositions the group had available into an effective part of the album. Medley – The climax of the album is the 16-minute medley consisting of several short songs, both finished and unfinished, blended into a suite by McCartney and Martin. Most of these songs were written (and originally recorded in demo form) during sessions for The White Album and the Get Back/Let It Be sessions. You Never Give Me Your Money is the first song of the Abbey Road medley. It was written by McCartney and based on his feelings towards Allen Klein and what McCartney viewed as Kleins empty promises. It slowly and quietly follows into Sun King (which, like Because, showcases Lennons, McCartneys, and Harrisons overdubbed harmonies), Mean Mr. Mustard (written during The Beatles trip to India), and Polythene Pam (contributed by Lennon). These in turn are followed by four McCartney songs, She Came in Through the Bathroom Window (written after a fan came into McCartneys residence literally through the bathroom window), Golden Slumbers (based on lyrics from Thomas Dekkers 17th-century poem, but not the music of a song based on the poem), Carry That Weight (featuring chorus vocals from all four Beatles), and the climax, The End. The End is notable for featuring Starrs only drum solo in The Beatles catalog (the drums are mixed across two tracks in true stereo—in a similar way to the studio single version of Get Back). Normally, even though mixes were in stereo, the drums were mixed in mono, locked together with other instruments and often panned hard left or right in the stereo picture. Fifty-four seconds into the song, before the famous last line, which is played over piano chords, are 18 bars (or measures) of guitar solo: the first two bars are played by McCartney, the second two by Harrison, and the third two by Lennon, then the sequence repeats. Each has a distinctive style which McCartney felt reflected their personalities: McCartneys playing included string bends similar to his lead guitar work on Another Girl from the Help! album; Harrisons was melodic with slides yet technically advanced and Lennons was rhythmic, stinging and had the heaviest distortion. Immediately after Lennons third 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. An alternative version of the song, with Harrisons lead guitar solo played against McCartneys (with Starrs drum solo heard in the background), appears on the Anthology 3 album. Production notes – Abbey Road, The Beatles (partially) and Let It Be were the only Beatles albums to be recorded on professional eight-track reel to reel tape machines, rather than the four-track machines that were used for prior Beatles albums starting with the single I Want to Hold Your Hand in 1963 and the album A Hard Days Night in 1964. EMIs management had not approved the use of their then-new 3M eight-track deck until shortly after the sessions for their 1968 single Hey Jude. Also, the Moog is prominently featured, not merely as a background effect, but sometimes playing a central role, as in Because where it is used for the middle 8. It is also prominent on Maxwells Silver Hammer (played using a ribbon strip) and Here Comes the Sun. The instrument was introduced to the band by Harrison who, earlier in 1969, had used one to create his Electronic Sound album. Abbey Road was also the first and only Beatles album to be entirely recorded through a solid state transistor mixing desk as opposed to thermionic valve. One of the assistant engineers working on the album was a then-unknown Alan Parsons. He went on to engineer Pink Floyds landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon and produce many popular albums himself with The Alan Parsons Project. 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. Because Takes: 16 John Lennon: lead harmony vocals, guitar (1965 Epiphone E230TD(V) Casino) Paul McCartney: lead harmony vocals, bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S) George Harrison: lead harmony vocals, synthesizer (1968 Moog IIIP) George Martin: harpsichord (Baldwin Electric Combo CW-8-S) You Never Give Me Your Money Takes: 30 John Lennon: harmony vocals, lead and rhythm guitar (1965 Epiphone E230TD(V) Casino) Paul McCartney: lead and harmony vocals, bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S), pianos (Alfred E. Knight, Challen upright), tape loops George Harrison: harmony vocals, lead and rhythm guitar (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster) Ringo Starr: drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), tambourine Sun King Takes: 35 John Lennon: lead harmony vocals, rhythm guitar (1965 Epiphone E230TD(V) Casino), maracas Paul McCartney: lead harmony vocals, bass guitar (1961 Fender Bass VI), piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand Mrs. Mills), harmonium (Mannborg), tape loops George Harrison: lead harmony vocals, lead and rhythm guitar (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster) Ringo Starr: drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), tambourine George Martin: organ (1965 Lowrey Heritage DSO-1) Mean Mr. Mustard Takes: 35 John Lennon: lead and harmony vocals, piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand Mrs. Mills), maracas Paul McCartney: lead harmony vocals, bass guitar (1961 Fender Bass VI) George Harrison: lead harmony vocals, lead and rhythm guitar (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster) Ringo Starr: drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), tambourine Polythene Pam Takes: 40 John Lennon: lead, harmony and backing vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar (1964 Framus 12-string Hootenanny) Paul McCartney: harmony and backing vocals, bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S) George Harrison: harmony and backing vocals, lead guitars (1966 Gibson Les Paul Standard SG, 1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster) Ringo Starr: drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), tambourine, maracas, cowbell She Came in through the Bathroom Window Takes: 40 John Lennon: backing vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar (1964 Framus 12-string Hootenanny) Paul McCartney: lead and backing vocals, bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S) George Harrison: harmony and backing vocals, lead guitars (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster) Ringo Starr: drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), tambourine Golden Slumbers Takes: 17 Paul McCartney: lead vocals, piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand Mrs. Mills) George Harrison: bass guitar (1961 Fender Bass VI) Ringo Starr: drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple) Unknown: violins, violas, cellos, double bass, French horns, trumpets, trombone, bass trombone Carry That Weight Takes: 17 John Lennon: harmony vocals Paul McCartney: lead and harmony vocals, piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand Mrs. Mills), rhythm guitar (1965 Epiphone E230TD(V) Casino) George Harrison: harmony vocals, lead guitar (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster), bass guitar (1961 Fender Bass VI) Ringo Starr: harmony vocals, drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple) Unknown: violins, violas, cellos, double bass, French horns, trumpets, trombone, bass trombone The End Takes: 7 John Lennon: harmony vocals, lead and rhythm guitar (1965 Epiphone E230TD(V) Casino) Paul McCartney: lead and harmony vocals, lead and rhythm guitar (1965 Epiphone E230TD(V) Casino), bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S), piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand Mrs. Mills), electric piano (Fender Rhoads) George Harrison: harmony vocals, lead guitar (1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster) Ringo Starr: drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), tambourine Unknown: violins, violas, cellos, double bass, French horns, trumpets, trombone, bass trombone Her Majesty Takes: 3 Paul McCartney: lead vocals, acoustic guitar (1967 Martin D-28) Today in Beatles History (From The Beatles Internet Album) – 1963 – Concert at the ABC, Gloucester (Chris Montez and Tommy Roe tour). 1964 – Please Please Me LP, 52nd week in the Top 10 (UK New Musical Express chart). With The Beatles number 1, 17th week (UK New Musical Express chart). 1967 – John and Yoko purchase two small islands called Dorinch (20 acres) in Clew Bay off County Mayo, Ireland, for 1550 pounds. 1968 – US single release: Lady Madonna/The Inner Light. 1969 – John appears on the cover of the magazine Look. Thames Embankment, London. Ringo shoots scenes for The Magic Christian. For the lunch break, cast and crew go inside the Star & Garter. George and Pattie appear on Esher and Walton Magistrates Court, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. 1982 – Startling Studios. Rough mixes of titles recorded for Old Wave up to date: Alibi; Hopeless; In My Car; Be My Baby; I Keep Forgettin; Love Letters; Picture Show Life; Going Down; Everybodys In A Hurry But Me. Producer: Jim Nipar.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 20:44:48 +0000
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