The Many Views of Abbey Road | Mental Floss The Many Views of Abbey Road Image credit: Like us on Facebook The Iain MacMillan photograph gracing the 1969 Beatles album Abbey Road made it one of the most famous album covers ever. It's such an iconic image that whenever you see a group walking single file on a zebra crossing, you automatically think of Abbey Road. It's been imitated, honored, lampooned, and recreated by countless artists. We'll take a look at just a few of their creations, but first, the original. The Simpsons The Simpsons TV show contains frequent Beatles references . This is one of three Simpsons covers that Rolling Stone used for its November 2002 issue. The Zimmers The Zimmers recorded their 2007 album at Abbey Road studios, and took the opportunity to pose for a classic picture . Lots more Abbey Road recreations after the jump. The Yale Record The Yale Record rock and roll issue (winter 2007) combined the classic image of evolution with the Abbey Road picture.

T-Shirt In another clever combination of cultural idioms, this Threadless T-Shirt asks the question, "Why did the chicken cross Abbey Road?" Freeda Freeda , the Free Range Canberra chook mascot takes the "chicken crossing the road" symbolism to heart in recreating the image. Tribute Band Abbey Road LIVE! is a Beatles tribute group from Athens, Georgia. They play music from the Beatles later albums, including Abbey Road. Here they are in a publicity shot. Pocoyo This image was created by Pedro Bascon , a designer for Pocoyo , a preschool television show from Spain. The characters from the show do the Beatles' walk. Lego Lego artist Dunechaser committed the image to brick form. See more of his work at The Brothers Brick . Tabby Road Even LOLcats get into the act! This photo was featured at I Can Has Cheezburger . Sumo Wrestlers A Reuters photographer caught a group of Sumo wrestlers in New York during the World Sumo Challenge in 2005. Paul McCartney You'll find Abbey Road reincarnations on other album covers more than anywhere else.

Paul McCartney released an album in 1993 entitled Paul is Live , using the background of the original Abbey Road photo for its cover art. A contemporary picture of McCartney was edited in. Kanye West The cover of Late Orchestration by Kanye West (recorded at Abbey Road studios) is also a tribute to the Abbey Road cover. The Red Hot Chili Peppers released The Abbey Road EP in 1988. It contained five songs that were all eventually available on other albums. The cover of the EP featured the four band members walking single file on a zebra crossing, naked except for socks over their penises. See it here . Other Album Covers Many musicians have used the same imagery as cover art. See a large collection of them at Am I Right . mental_floss But the best one of all is the cover of mental_floss issue #2! Mangesh says: That was our second issue from all the way back in Oct. 2001, and it shows how little we knew about putting together a magazine. People take their own Abbey Road pictures every time they see a chance, in London or anywhere they can cross the street. Abbey Road Studios even has a live webcam trained on the zebra crossing.

Check in during English daytime to catch tourists setting up their own photo shoots! It is a busy street, as you can see in this video . Still, I can't imagine passing up the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of The Beatles. More from mental_floss... Happy 40th Birthday Abbey Road - Amazing Parodies Of The Iconic Album Cover! | Gigwise Happy 40th Birthday Abbey Road - Amazing Parodies Of The Iconic Album Cover! The Beatles photo celebrates a landmark... In November 2002, Rolling Stone Magazine released three parody magazine covers under the headline 'The Simpsons Make Rock History'. As well as the above Abbey Road parody, Simpsons creator Matt Groening also aped Nirvana's 'Nevermind' and Bruce Springsteen's 'Born In The USA'. OAP group The Zimmers shuffle along Abbey Road after recording their charity single, a cover version of The Who's 'My Generation' in the studios. Towards the end of Danny Boyle's 1996 movie Trainspotting, the four hapless characters cross a London street in unison on their way to sealing a £20,000 heroin deal.

Although they're crossing the road in the opposite way, it's an overt homage to Abbey Road. Argentinian comedy group Longua de Trapo unleashed this slightly dark parody cover for their 2000 live album 'Vinte e Um Anos na Estrada'. Nice. Probably the most bizarre parody on the list comes from the Jewish monks The Friars Of The Community Of St. Saviour's Monastery. Weird. Another Argentinian band obsessed with The Beatles are Kapanga on their album 'Un Asado en Abbey Road'. Lovely dangling sausages. In the cult comedy series The Young Ones, a 1982 episode called 'Boring' sees Rick, Mike, Vyvyan and Neil cross a London street Abbey Road-style. Kanye West's 2006 live album 'Late Orchestration' featured a cover directly parodying Abbey Road with The Beatles replaced by the rapper's mascot bear. Paul McCartney himself even took to mimicking 'Abbey Road' with his 1993 album 'Paul Is Live'. We're not sure what the Old English Sheepdog is all about though.

A collection of songs from the kids TV show, 'Sesame Road' was released in 1993. We reckon Oscar The Grouch is the spitting image of Paul McCartney – the likeness is uncanny. Easily the funniest musical 'Abbey Road' parody is Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'The Abbey Road EP'. All four band members are stark bollock naked except for socks covering their genitalia. Controversial children's cartoon Ren & Stimpy mimicked Abbey Road in 1993 with an compilation album of music from the show. The pastiche band The Rutles – featuring Eric Idle and – parodied The Beatles's album covers on a string of fictional releases. This is perhaps our favourite, the aptly titled 'Shabby Road'. Even Jive Bunny and the Mix Masters got into 'Abbey Road' parody game with this 2001 album. German Beatles tribute act The Punkles and their 2006 album 'For Sale' A hideous album called 'Immer Geradeaus' by German country & western band Truck Stop. An insult to The Beatles album we're sure you'll agree. A Lego re-enactment of the Abbey Road cover.

The attention to detail is damn impressive. KISS rocker Gene Simmons and his family do the tourist thing and cross Abbey Road whilst in London in 2007. 'Snoopy's Classiks: Beatles' from July 2000 which features the cartoon characters singing such classiks (sic) as 'Here Comes The Sun', 'Blackbird' and 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' Limited to just 1,000 copies, this brilliant version of United Nations' 2008 eponymous album has quickly become a collector's item. It never appeared in stores, however, as it was in breach of copyright of the Iain Macmillan shot. Booker T. & The M.G.'s released 'McLemore Avenue', a largely instrumental album of Beatles covers just a year after 'Abbey Road' came out. The cover itself is more of a homage than a parody – we assume they couldn't afford the plain tickets to London. Unlike their ridiculous name, Percewood's Onagram's Abbey Road parody on their 1971 album 'Lessons for Virgins' is surprisingly subtle.

1974's 'Soulful Road' by New York City is one of few Abbey Road cover parodies that switches the direction of those walking across the zebra crossing. The video to Blur's 1994 anthem 'Parklife' which sees Phil Daniels' car almost crash into the band members as they cross a zebra crossing in homage to Abbey Road Showing their humorous side, these scientists posed on Abbey Road for the 1994 edition of the 'Molecular Biology of the Cell' textbook. Crazy guys. Screaming Afterbirth: 'Split with Methadone Abortion Clinic' – Just like their name and album title, this cover is horrific. Switching John Lennon for Osama Bin Laden meant this 2006 EP was also highly controversial. Tags: The Beatles Exactly 40 years ago on Saturday (August 8), John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison stepped out in unison onto the zebra crossing outside Abbey Road Studios in North London. History was made. The photograph, taken by Iain MacMillan, became one of the most famous, parodied and talked-about album covers of all time when 'Abbey Road' was released the following month.

Here Gigwise takes a look at the parodies and celebrity mimics of the legendary album cover in celebration of its 40 years... 8 August 1969: The Abbey Road cover photography session | The Beatles Bible The Abbey Road cover photography session The Abbey Road cover photography session Friday 8 August 1969 Photography 51 Comments All four Beatles gathered at EMI Studios on the morning of Friday 8 August 1969 for one of the most famous photo shoots of their career. Photographer Iain Macmillan took the famous image that adorned their last-recorded album, Abbey Road . Here is a photograph taken on the same day, showing the empty crossing. Iain Macmillan was a freelance photographer and a friend to John Lennon and Yoko Ono . He used a Hasselblad camera with a 50mm wide-angle lens, aperture f22, at 1/500 seconds. Prior to the shoot, Paul McCartney had sketched his ideas for the cover, to which Macmillan added a more detailed illustration. As the group waited outside the studio for the shoot to begin, Linda McCartney took a number of extra photographs.

A policeman held up the traffic as Macmillan, from a stepladder positioned in the middle of the road, took six shots as the group walked across the zebra crossing just outside the studio. The Beatles crossed the road a number of times while Macmillan photographed them. 8 August was a hot day in north London, and for four of the six photographs McCartney walked barefoot; for the other two he wore sandals. Shortly after the shoot, McCartney studied the transparencies and chose the fifth one for the album cover. It was the only one when all four Beatles were walking in time. It also satisfied The Beatles' desire for the world to see them walking away from the studios they had spent so much of the last seven years inside. Macmillan also took a photograph of a nearby tiled street sign for the back cover. The sign has since been replaced, but was situated at the corner of Abbey Road and Alexandra Road. The junction no longer exists; the road was later replaced by the Abbey Road housing estate, between Boundary Road and Belsize Road. Latest Comments shivabeach Wednesday 15 February 2012 The vast number of stories about that shoot are funny to think of now.

Paul was dead because he wasn’t wearing shoes, I buried Paul on the album, innumerable facts about the cars etc and none of it is true. The shoot was just taken, nothing set up Bless the Beatles forever BID316 Wednesday 8 August 2012 Well, of course the photo was “set-up.” The Beatles used “deceit” as a means of drawing publicity. All of the “Paul is dead” clues were “a coincidence (according to The Beatles).” Do you believe that (maybe) the four most famous guys in the world couldn’t find four red carnations during the filming of Magical Mystery Tour and Paul just “happened” to wear the only black carnation? According to The Beatles, that’s what happened. We’re still talking (writing) about it 45 years later!! Reply iselliot Sunday 12 August 2012 They probably gave Paul the black carnation in MMT because at that point they WISHED he was dead. The Beatles had much better (and worse) things to deal with in this period than to try to perpetuate an absurd fan rumor.

Reply iselliot Sunday 12 August 2012 I think what people forget is the Beatles more than anyone understood the value/ non-value of “meaning”. John’s writing in 67 was absurdist and confounding because he understood that no matter what he said it would be parsed for deeper meaning. So the Beatles became masters of the random- i.e. Strawberry Fields and Walrus. They did whatever they did and let other people make stuff up because that was what they were going to do anyway. And we’re still doing it. But of course it’s all a moot point because they never really existed. Laura Nelson Saturday 27 June 2015 Huh????? It’s all fun, Let It Be. embrasure Wednesday 28 November 2012 And John was the black wizard in MMT! The other three being in red Pintpot Thursday 29 September 2016 Yes, I’m going to start a rumour that John is dead George Edwards Sunday 13 March 2016 Everything is a cosmic set up. Didn’t you learn that from the 60’s “experience”?

Reply islander5160 Wednesday 15 February 2012 The fact that Paul wore sandals in two of the shots proves there was no intent to give a clue about his “death”. It was just another photo shoot, as shivabeach also observed. What’s really cool is that these are pics of the Beatles that even I have never seen; and I thought I’d seen them all! Kevin Friday 6 April 2012 is it a coincidence that there is a VW beetle parked on the side of the road? Reply John Sunday 15 April 2012 The VW Beetle belonged to one of the people living in the block of flats across from the recording studio. They tried to have it moved but the owner was on holiday so they just left it there. After the album was released, the number plate (LMW 281F) was stolen repeatedly from the car. In 1986, the car was sold at auction for £2,530 and in 2001 was on display in a museum in Germany Reply Daniel Tuesday 15 May 2012 I don’t see the VW in the morning photo.

So, if the car’s owner was on a “holiday”, why wasn’t the VW parked there?. Was the “beetle” parked later to be with the “beatles” in the mid-morning shoot? (see the shadows). Deano Tuesday 29 May 2012 picture was taken from the other direction as if you look closely it’s different Reply Iain Tuesday 26 June 2012 Daniel is right! The picture is the same shot without the Beatles in. It isn’t taken from the other side. You can see the white pillars on the left in both shots. You can see the horizontal line in the tarmac behind Ringo’s head in both and the big branch high in the middle of the picture is in both. Reply John Sunday 22 July 2012 If the photo without the VW had been taken from the other direction it would have been totally different. Right behind the camera on the cover photo is the corner of Grove End Road. This junction would have taken up most of the shot if the photo had been taken from the other direction Reply Dan Wednesday 5 September 2012 Funny about the guy’s license plate being continuously stolen.

In the US, he’d get a new plate with a different plate number. In New York someone has a personalized plate# ‘LMW281F’. It must belong to a Beatle fan willing to spend about $50/year (£32/year) extra for the plates. Reply darrenholmesphotography Thursday 16 May 2013 Actually no, it’s the same spot. Facing the other way would reveal a very obvious island and sculpture in the road. The VW was parked there after the first shot. Reply jm Thursday 12 July 2012 No one ever mentions that Paul had just turned 27 – i guess he was in his 28th year of life?? Reply ak Wednesday 8 August 2012 One of the “clues” that Paul was dead was the plate, 28IF — he’d be 28 if he lived. Also, his eyes are closed, he’s out of step with the others, he’s smoking and he’s barefoot (as are bodies when buried). The others are dressed – John in white as a preacher, George in jeans like a gravedigger, Ringo in black like a pallbearer.

Reply Jim Sunday 29 April 2012 plz. paul is out of step. cig in right hand. a well planned out picture. RIP Paul Cole in right side. Lennon represented God,Ringo the preacher,Paul the body & George the grave gigger. Reply iselliot Wednesday 8 August 2012 please, with your absurd PID bullsh*t. would you say the other five shots are “well planned out”? clearly it was all very random and only one shot was usable. i can’t believe people are still on about that nonsense. it’s embarrassing. and John was killed by the CIA, right? amazing. John Thursday 9 August 2012 No. John was the Minister, Ringo, the Undertaker, Paul, the “Corpse” and George, the Gravedigger… Someone above mentioned”I buried Paul” being on Abbey Road,” but that was at the end of “Strawberry Fields Forever,” 2 years earlier. I think The Bealtles played up the “Paul is Dead” hoax, and palnted “clues… They were “Merry Pranksters,” ya know!

🙂 Reply Anna Sunday 19 August 2012 I agree, John. I think they knew they weren’t going to stop the rumours from spreading, so they planted more ‘clues’. But I don’t think all these clues were intended – some, but not all. Joel Friday 15 June 2012 I wonder where that original street sign is now and how much it would be worth. Guybrush Threepwood (@Threepwood53) Monday 11 February 2013 Four of the original tiles came up for sale on the Channel4 programme Four Rooms 1n 2012 They went for £7,000. They were the A a B the E and the Y. Andrew Lamberty bought them and he hopes to flog them for up to £16,000 each on ebay. Tidy profit. Reply charlie Friday 22 June 2012 my uncle still owns the 32 ford with all the beatles in the car in NYC its on the inside cover , was shot in manhatten . how cool is that ?

Reply Joe Friday 22 June 2012 I’ve no idea which photograph you’re referring to. There was no gatefold cover or inner sleeve artwork for Abbey Road. iselliot Sunday 12 August 2012 that would be cool i suppose if there were such a thing. what is he talking about? Reply Scott Olsen Sunday 23 June 2013 Photo was taken on August 8, 1969 apx 11:30 am; on or about the exact date and time of the 1st Manson Family murders. Creepy… John Wade Friday 17 April 2015 If it’s 11:30…that’s three hours after the Manson murders still close enough for jazz… Reply Michael Campbell Monday 4 January 2016 Sorry to be picky, but the Tate murders happened just after midnight on the 9th August 1969. Given that LA is 8 hours behind GMT, that would put the murders at around 08.15am on the 9th August British time. Roughly 21 hours AFTER the photoshoot. Still within the same 24 hour timeframe though.

Some reports state that the FIRST killing that evening was just before midnight of 18 year-old Steven Parent who was visiting a friend who lived in the gatehouse behind the main building. Reply Mike Bulley Wednesday 21 August 2013 Can anyone identify the lady in the purple stripped coat talking to Ringo and then seen with another few people as they prepared to cross the road. Was she part of the photographic team (wardrobe lady?) or just a bystander. Only curious. Thanks Reply Melissa Thomas Sunday 26 October 2014 She lives in the house they are standing in front of. I visited this crosswalk with my family and was admiring all of the graffiti on the wall written to the Beatles. My dad wanted to write something and my mom told him no, but then he kept bugging he for a pen. I didn’t write anything but somehow ended up with the pen. She came out of her house and of a fairly large crowd, picked me out, and shoved me! She sad, “How dare you write on my wall! Haven’t you any respect?” I was so stunned I didn’t have anything to say. My mom and dad just stared in disbelief and had nothing to say, either.

She the stormed past me on her merry way. I have a feeling she gets up and does that at least once a day, haha. Reply Thord Holmqvist Saturday 8 August 2015 In Linda McCartney’s photo, the lady in the purple stripped coat talking to Ringo was a neighbour of the studios. josh adams Thursday 14 November 2013 What was paul holding in his right hand was it a cig or a coffin nail. Daniel LESUEUR Friday 6 December 2013 and what was the name of the man looking at them ? I saw a paper about him about one or two years ago. in 1969 he didn’t knew the Beatles and was just wondering why four crazy guys were crossing the street several times ! Joe Friday 6 December 2013 His name was Paul Cole. He died in 2008.

Reply jeff Friday 28 March 2014 yeah isnt it strange that there were 2 pauls on the cover,and a 5th BEATLE such as Billy Preston,i mean WILLIAM PRESTON,LIKE WILLIAM CAMPBELL,,,HMMM,,,, Reply Tiffany Tuesday 27 May 2014 When I see this picture I always think about how on this same day and year in America Sharon Tate was being murdered by some crazies who read too much into the Beatles’ songs… Reply Michael gregory Saturday 7 June 2014 If you look at the live cams of the abbey road crossing at any time of the day you will see people trying to relive that photo,very funny. rainyday56 Saturday 21 June 2014 Paul was out of step because he is a south paw and started on the other foot. Reply Michael Ciardi Friday 8 August 2014 Interestingly, on the same day that this photograph was taken…August 8, 1969, Charles Manson and his family were about to slaughter Sharon Tate and her house guests in Southern California. Why is this important?

Manson’s whole premise Helter Skelter was based off the Beatles recordings, particularly the White Album. Manson was obsessed with the Beatles music. His motives for ordering the killing of the residents at Celio Drive was most likely based on a vendetta he had against Terri Melcher, who produced the Beach Boys music. Melcher reneged on a promise to give Manson a recording contract about a year earlier. Melcher rented the house on Celio Drive, a place Manson was familiar with, but unbeknownst to Manson, Melcher moved out, and Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski became the new occupants. When Manson ordered the girls and Tex Watson to kill everyone at that address on August 8th 1969, it was not a random choice. It was what Manson wanted, revenge pure and simple. Kyösti Tirkkonen Thursday 25 September 2014 I wonder, whose car was that white Volkswagen Beetle, anyone?

Reply Neil Wednesday 15 October 2014 The Beetle was my fathers Car His name is Malcolm Tanner, He used to live in the flats opposite the studio, (he actually still has a spare set of keys for the car) His number plate was stolen numerous times after the release of the album..As far as any hidden messages in the number plate I’m afraid its obviously a coincidence..Wish he’d held on to the thing it must be worth a fortune now.. Reply terry Saturday 25 October 2014 neil was your father on holiday as someone stated earlier on the blog? The car didnt seem to be parked there in the morning shots so did he come home and park there and did he see the shoot? Reply mikie Monday 1 December 2014 The cars were parked on the curb to make the street look less crowded. Two mocked license plated are visible and do have meaning.

Reply Pallav Friday 30 October 2015 The “Paul is Dead” rumor/conspiracy was perpetuated by some American college students..as it’s often the case with so many other conspiracies and urban legends – big foot, Sasquatch, chupacabra, alien abduction..ah, being an American is such an intellectual burden..so many things happen only to them..and it therefore took an American by the name of Mark David Chapman to bring down the lion-head of The Beatles, the one guy who consistently wrote such meaningful stuff as A Day in the Life.. alan watt Wednesday 4 November 2015 That guy on the right,Paul Cole…looks very much like Buddy Holly…erie huh? Beatle "Ed" Saturday 12 December 2015 I have spent the morning googling headings for the front cover of The Beatles “Abbey Road”. You are in safe hands, here. The Beatles Bible, thank you.

For the last year, my son’s lasting legacy before leaving for College was to pin up an enormous giant color poster of the iconic abbey Road album, it help inject new life in the room I grew up in during the sixties, and in turn help house and raise our firstborn. The house that I inherited and grew up in is a small rambler, my father was an architect and engineer and responded to my sister’s request to buy and play albums by The Beatles, starting with their first two albums shortly after the Ed Sullivan Show, Winter ’64. All the children on the block came to dance and listen to them, at what may have been a burden for my sister, garnering attention the wrong way this was my territory. It really was something to see, the way that my parents let down their hair over the years, buying all The Beatles’ albums as they were released each succeeding year up to the white album.

And so, it really is a dreadful miscarriage that there was something about the Beatles double album that stopped my parents from purchasing their albums after 1968,, I knew most of the songs from The Beatles Abbey Road off my transistor radio but it wasn’t up until the late 70’s when I was 18 and had moved out, starving at my first rental flat that I finally got to hear how Abbey Road was meant to be heard, perfect really to experience it for the first time trying to make sense of the world as a young man starting out fresh. Lord knows, when I inherited my parent’s house. I worked hard to collect all of The Beatles albums for our kids, I would have never predicted the direction how music would be traded a short few years after that, I am pleased to say our kids children went through a rite of passage listening to all The Beatles licensed CD’s or watching Yellow Submarine, for the first time, it really clicked for them when they understood where I got silly cryptic references or remarks like, “It’s no longer a blue world”! Or, “Where do we go from here, Argentina”?

So… yes, Abbey Road really fills in the gap for our family, to be young, vital and overall feeling that you are invincible as each succeeding generation ought to if they care and want to make a difference. It is with some relief that I am able to finally organize my thoughts exactly what I am looking at. 1). The photographer attests, The Beatles were walking from left to right. 2). The left side of the lens is Abbey Road, the right side opens up to a garden fence with long chairs next to the street for weary pedestrians. 3).Paul McCartney had some thumbnail sketches that he had drawn up to convey what he was looking for, the fifth photo of the shoot, captures the spirit what he wanted perfectly. 4). All their legs are in a V-shape formation, demonstrating their ability to be in synch of one another, important for a band. 5). It is totally appropriate to assume by being a, “lefty” that McCartney would have a little different swagger, walking and holding his cigarette, all beautiful in The Beatle cannon. 6). All of THe Beatles look beautiful.

Three of the members wore suits by the same designer, putting to rest in my mind, that they could go shopping whenever they liked, the new young millionaire that had outfits made for them. 7). Beatle George and the new up and coming blue collar look at the cusp of an exciting new decade where The Beatles promoted the working class hero, right on time and right on the money. 8).The photographer only having ten minutes to clip off some shots, remembers having to carry a ladder to position and use in the middle of the street, and that they hired a policeman to direct traffic, another Beatle moment, who’s job was to pick up the phone and enlist aid. 9). Ftting, that the photographer was able to attest, the real symbolism behind the photograph tbesides being in synch, they are walking away from the studio and their private sweat shop way of life,for those of us that never made the sojourn, who would’ve ever guessed across the crosswalk opens up to a lawn to catch the sun and lawn chairs for reprise. 10) A picnic in the middle of the freeway, really. 11).

By knowing that they are walking left to right, on Beatle John’s side of the street traffic is approaching, and exiting on the left, no symbolism necessary besides to know the negative hasn’t been flipped flopped. 12). The Apple licensed product that I recently bought at a giant retail chain has The Beatles walking the opposite direction, right to left, Beatle John leading the way back to the EMI salt mines, symbolic perhaps Apple feels their work was meant to carry on, how could licensed Apple product have The Beatles going in the other direction, intentional or an oversight, really… Apple? 13). There is a picture of The Beatles’ contract that clearly shows their contract was picked up and not intended to be up for review until 1975, instilling into my heart and lifeblood, Abbey Road was the new direction where to go. 14). By knowing the proper direction, lamp post are across the street opposite from EMI, their color tone borders on white, and serve to to repel the harsh properties of the sun, black street post are on the other side, and there is an iconic red mail box beyond the V.W. 15).

By all purposes the direction of the street heading toward the general vicinity of Abbey Gardens, the park that the street may have been named after, most palatial and upscale, some history there, who were the original settlers before the advent of a state of art recording studio, a place for people in the neighborhood to gather, no doubt. 16) Abbey Road helps to put The Beatles on the map. 17). Linda, Paul’s wife was present her photos attest there are all kinds of people within range of a Beatle sighting, 18). Our dear Miss Linda is wearing a black sleeveless one piece dress with lace for a collar, very British and important to discover in my book. 19). An incidental shot of he “little old lady” in a very mod housecoat and dress print talking to the band in front of her house and the website where a fan says many years after the shoot, the little old lady picked her out among a group of tourist to accost because the young lady happened to have a pen in her hand, her parent’s pen, I think that must be true. 20).

In the original photo the “little old lady” looks very advanced for her age, but is probably only around her fifties, life was much harder and rougher after the war, I do believe as she progressed it must have taken all morning just to step out and accost the fans for writing graffiti on her bulkhead. 21). The American tourist to the right of Beatle John in a smart dress suit thatt lies to rest that he nay have been an EMI executive, which the media was able to locate many years later and get his testament is a bit of a creep to miss going into the local museum with his wife in order to take in some sights and sounds off the street, it’s a character right out of an unwritten Beatle tune. 22). How much did the tourist doctor his account by stating years later that he discovered himself in the picture when his wife was back home learning to play one of their songs on ther electric organ, another account to chalk up to, “Something”. 23). There is a picture of Linda on the corner of EMI where there is another older lady in a one piece dark dress that looks remarkably like George Martin’s wife, what are the odds. 24).

Photographs for the album were taken with the Beatles walking in both directions, coming towards and walking away from Abbey Road studio, I obsess over who are the three people in the main photo just beyond the V.W. There are appears to be a blond lady and a large rugged man leaning over to her side, and a professional looking man next to the giant. 25). Outtakes where the band is walking the other direction to EMI show the rugged man is larger than the other man, and the lady is absent, where did she go in the length of the ten minute shoot, could The Beatles not occupy her time and attention for the length of ten minutes, is she one of them, her outfit may be a blouse and flair pants but the way that the light and distance blends she looks a lot like she is wearing overalls, the rugged man looks a lot like Tom Jones, although I think he is shorter. 26). There are pictures of very smart looking people to the side of the V.W. one lady, a brunette has a one piece black dress, very interesting that color would be popular at the height of summer. 27).

When blown up to the size of our giant poster on the wall the speckled pavement indeed appears to crackling and sizzling in the summer sun, multi-colored jewels to my reckoning, and the first modern roads for horseless carriage. 28). The outtake of the duffel bag in front of Beatle John as the group lounges and smoke on the EMI steps, priceless outtakes for certain, their clothes limp from the heat, they sweat and breathe like you and i, oh, my. 29). Nice to have one picture where all the elements come together, no pun intended, but that is how it goes when you have a broad vision to attempt to try and record and preserve some of the magic in the air, floating freely when we were all still in our young bodies. No last hurrah for me, although time is precious and friends matter, The Beatles legacy is only just beginning.

Make all the seasons of your life a summer of love~ Robby Stoneman A Myth that Rocks: The Premature Death of Paul McCartney A Myth that Rocks: The Premature Death of Paul McCartney By Massimo Polidoro | December 20, 2005 08:54am ET MORE From the January-February issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine. Did you know that Paul McCartney, the ex-Beatle, never actually left the band because . . . he died in 1966 and was then replaced by a lookalike? It sounds bizarre, and it is. The "Paul is dead" myth is one of the most popular myths set in the world of rock music and perhaps the most fun to follow up. It all began on October 12, 1969, when Russ Gibb, a DJ for Detroit's underground station WKNR-FM, received a phone call by a man named "Tom," who claimed that some Beatles records contained hidden clues suggesting that Paul McCartney had actually died. The evidence for a conspiracy revolved around the theory that Paul had been decapitated in an automobile wreck after he left Abbey Road studios in London, where the Beatles recorded their music.

Paul had apparently left upset over an argument with the other Beatles, took his Aston Martin sportscar, and perished in a horrible accident that killed him. This accident supposedly took place at 5 a.m. on November 9, 1966, and was caused by a hitchhiker named Rita who Paul had picked up along the road. With Paul's death, however, a big problem arose: the Beatles were at the peak of their career and the loss of one of their members would mean the end of the show for them and for the industry behind them. Thus, somebody had the idea of never revealing Paul's death and hiring an impostor in his place, somebody who looked like him and could play music. Some sources claimed that the imposter was an actor named William Campbell, the winner of a Paul McCartney lookalike contest and, conveniently, an orphan from Edinburgh. Of course, it didn't hurt to assume that Campbell could write the same type of songs as McCartney and just happened to have the same voice.

The arrival of an impostor in November 1966, then, could have explained why the Beatles stopped touring that same year (it would have been too easy to spot a fake McCartney performance on stage) and started to grow moustaches (the face was almost identical, but not perfect: it needed some disguise). However, this terrible secret generated in the remaining Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, a strong sense of guilt and induced them to insert many hints and clues to the truth in their songs and album covers. I buried Paul What had revealed the existence of a conspiracy to the mysterious "Tom" was the publication, two weeks before his telephone call, of the Beatles's latest album, titled Abbey Road. The album cover showed the four Beatles walking in a single file across the now-famous crosswalk at Abbey Road. This was thought to symbolize a funeral procession: John Lennon, dressed in white, represented the Church (and white is the traditional color of mourning in many Eastern cultures); Ringo, dressed in black, represented the undertaker.

Paul was out of step with the other three Beatles, with his eyes closed and barefoot: in a number of societies, it appears that corpses are buried without their shoes; furthermore, Paul held a cigarette in his right hand, when everybody knew that the real McCartney was left-handed! George Harrison, last in line, was dressed in work clothes and, to many, represented the gravedigger. On the street there is also a parked Volkswagen Beetle whose license plate shows an eerie message: "LMW 28IF," interpreted to mean that Paul would have been 28 if he had lived. The fact that Paul was actually 27 years old when Abbey Road was released doesn't seem to make much difference, for in far Eastern societies (the Beatles had quite a fascination with the Far East) an individual's birth included the time spent in the mother's womb. In that case, Paul would indeed have been 28. These "revelations" quickly launched an unprecedented outbreak of hysteria in the pop world and in the media, as more and more "clues" were found in previous Beatles records. First of all, the clue-diggers looked at Sgt.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the first album that the Beatles recorded after Paul's supposed demise. Released on June 1, 1967, the record was among the most influential in music history. The cover, another famous picture, showed the four Beatles dressed in band uniforms, gathered around a bass drum bearing the album title and with a crowd of cut-out people around them. It proved to be a goldmine for clue-diggers. Again, the spectators resembled the mourners at a funeral and the flowers in front of them not only spelled the word "Beatles," but also a set of yellow hyacinths formed the shape of a left-handed bass guitar, McCartney's instrument. Paul had a right hand raised above his head: again, supposedly, in certain Far Eastern societies, this was a symbol of death. Also, while the other Beatles held bright, golden, band instruments, Paul held a black clarinet: another supposed symbol of mourning? A doll wore a striped "Welcome the Rolling Stones" sweatshirt: on her leg there is a small model car, strongly resembling an Aston Martin that seems to be heading towards the word "Stones." Perhaps a hint of the accident?

If you then held a flat mirror perpendicular to the center of the words "Lonely Hearts" appearing on the bass drum this hidden message appeared: "I ONE IX HE ‡ DIE". "I ONE IX" is a direct reference to the supposed fatal crash day (11/9/66), "HE" refers to Paul, as the diamond that points directly to McCartney confirms, "DIE". In the open album jacket, the Beatles appear still in the Sgt. Pepper's uniforms and McCartney wore an arm patch that read "OPD": an abbreviation for "Officially Pronounced Dead"? This was also the first album in history that included the lyrics to the songs appearing in the record, and they were published on the back cover, along with a picture of the four Beatles in their outfits. Strangely, Paul is the only one turning his back to the camera, and also strange is the fact that George's thumb points to the opening lines of "She's Leaving Home." The lyric states: "Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins," another reference to the day and time of Paul's fatal accident?

In another song of the album, "A Day in the Life," John sings "He blew his mind out in a car," and in another, "Good Morning, Good Morning," he starts by singing: "Nothing to do to save his life" (and was the title a play on the words "morning" and "mourning"?) And what about "Lovely Rita"? Was the song a reference to the girl that caused Paul's death? Could be, since in it McCartney (or the imposter) sings: "Took her home and nearly made it." More clues were also found in subsequent albums. The Magical Mystery Tour cover showed the Beatles dressed in animal costumes. In the center was a black walrus and, in certain Scandinavian countries, a walrus is considered a harbinger of death. Was the imposter dressed in the walrus skin? Apparently not, for John Lennon sings in the album the song titled "I am the Walrus." But on the album cover, as if scribbled later, the complete title appears to be: "I am the Walrus (‘No You're Not!' Said Little Nicola)." So who was the walrus?

In a later Beatles release (titled simply The Beatles, the record became better known as the White Album because the cover was plain white), in a song titled "Glass Onion," Lennon sings: "Well here's another clue for you all, the walrus was Paul"! On the booklet included in Magical Mystery Tour, the clues abounded: Paul is shoeless in some pictures, is the only one to wear a black flower on his lapel while the others are red, has a hand above his head in various pictures, and he even sits behind a sign stating "I Was." Near the end of the song "Strawberry Fields Forever," upon careful listening, a faint voice stated something like "I buried Paul." You could also turn the Magical Mystery Tour album jacket upside-down and look at its reflection in the mirror: the title, detailed as stars, became the digits to a phone number. The rumor further explained that if the numbers were dialed, the listener would get the true details of Paul McCartney's death. On the White Album, if you listened to a strange murmuring following the song "I'm So Tired," you couldn't make out what it said.

But, should you decide to play the record backwards the words became something like: "Paul is dead now, miss him, miss him, miss him." Nothing compared to the chilling revelations of "Revolution No. 9," where, after reversing the song, you could hear a voice saying: "Turn me on dead man," and then the sound of a terrible collision, the sounds of crackling flames and a voice screaming "Let me out! Let me out!" A recreation of Paul's terrible accident? "My death? An exaggeration" It seems unimaginable that the American public would believe such an unfounded rumor. However, this same generation had been raised on the idea that there may have been a conspiracy to kill President John F. Kennedy and that the Warren Commission had actually worked to hide this fact from the public. Would it be so impossible, then, to believe that Paul McCartney's death may have been hidden from the public? The rumors became so noisy that Paul McCartney himself had to reassure his fans that he was still alive. In an exclusive interview with Life magazine (November 7, 1969) he stated, paraphrasing Mark Twain, that "Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

However, if I was dead, I'm sure I'd be the last to know." He also offered a number of explanations for the mysterious clues. The OPD patch he wore on Sgt. Pepper's actually meant "Ontario Police Department"; he wore a black flower in Magical Mystery Tour because they had run out of red ones; it was John wearing the walrus outfit and, on Abbey Road, he was barefoot only because it was a hot day. Other "clues" had similar simpler explanations: John did not say "I buried Paul" at the end of "Strawberry Fields" but, as can be clearly heard now on a clearer take of the song in Anthology 3, he says "cranberry sauce." However, while it is true that most clues can be easily attributed to coincidence and wishful thinking, there are little things that must have been put there by the Beatles for some purpose, like the various "walrus" claims, the backward messages, and some other hints in the album covers. It may just be, as John Lennon said, that they only wanted to have a laugh at the expense of those critics reading cryptic messages in everything they did.

What is sadly true is the fact that Charles Manson and his "family" also believed that there were hidden messages in Beatles songs hinting at the Armageddon. He thought that the Fab Four were actually angels sent by God to reveal the secrets of the approaching apocalypse and that, in order to start the end of the world, they needed Manson's help. This is the tragically absurd reasoning he gave for the murder of Sharon Tate, the pregnant wife of film director Roman Polanski, and the guests she was hosting at their house in Hollywood. According to R. Gary Patterson, author of the well-researched "The Walrus Was Paul" (New York: Fireside, 1996), "Perhaps the Beatles became concerned that if they admitted to planting clues they could very well be charged in some sort of conspiracy that would indirectly link them to the Manson murders. Perhaps it would be much safer to give up the hoax and deny it ever happened. This way, the Beatles would be safe from any lawsuit implicating the band members." Perhaps.

In a lighter vein, however, the rumor also helped to further boost the sale of the Beatles catalog and inspired a lot of cartoons and comedy skits, like one that was presented on The Ed Sullivan Show on Februrary 23, 1970, involving two angels in heaven: Angel One: Is there any truth to the rumor that Paul McCartney is still alive? Angel Two: I doubt it. Where do you think we get those groovy harp arrangements? Massimo Polidoro is an investigator of the paranormal, author, lecturer, and co-founder and head of CICAP, the Italian skeptics group. His Web site is . This article appears in the January-February issue of Skeptical Inquirer magazine and is republished here by agreement with LiveScience.com. Science Newsletter: Subscribe Beatles Album Critique - Abbey Road - Brett Durbin Professor Jenkins IDS 205 Beatles Album Critique - Abbey Road Beatles Album Critique - Abbey Road - Brett Durbin... SCHOOL View Full Document Brett Durbin Professor Jenkins IDS 205 11/26/12 Abbey Road Album Critique The Beatles released their 11 th studio album in Abbey Road .

The band released it on September 26, 1969 in the United Kingdom, and on October 1, 1969 in the United States. Even with the band barely operating as a unit, this album was one of the most tightly constructed. Abbey Road is considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time. The album was voted 14 th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” The album cover for Abbey Road is one of the most popular covers of all time. It is a side picture of the band walking across a street single file. They all have their left foot forward except for Paul McCartney. Paul also has no shoes on which lead people to believe that Paul was dead. The road going off into the distance makes me feel like they were letting people know that they are going their separate ways. Many people imitate this picture of the album cover in their own ways. There were two sides once again on Abbey Road . One side consisted of six songs and the other side had 11 songs.

The shortest song on the album was “Her Majesty” lasting only 23 seconds and the longest song was “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” that lasted 7:47. Lennon took lead vocals on 4 of the tracks. McCartney was lead vocals on 6. Harrison had 2 tracks with lead vocals and Starr had 1 track. Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison shared lead vocals on 2 songs and all four of the members took lead vocals on 1 song. This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. View Full Document The first song on the album, “Come Together”, was a song written by Lennon and McCartney. I feel like this song is describing someone in each verse. In line 5 he could be talking about Paul when he says, “he wear no shoeshine” because Paul isn’t wearing shoes on the This is the end of the preview. Sign up to access the rest of the document. TERM Beatles Album Critique - Rubber Soul Mount St.

Joseph Brett Durbin Professor Jenkins IDS 205 9/30/12 Rubber Soul Album Critique Rubber Soul Beatles Album Critique - Rubber Soul Learn and talk about Abbey Road, London, English Heritage sites in London, Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster, St John's Wood, Streets in Camden Abbey Road is a thoroughfare in the borough of Camden and the City of Westminster in London , running roughly northwest to southeast through St. John's Wood , near Lord's Cricket Ground . It is part of the B507 road. This road is best known for the Abbey Road Studios and the 1969 album, Abbey Road , by The Beatles . The north-western end of Abbey Road begins in Kilburn , at the junction with Quex Road and West End Lane. The road was once a track leading to Kilburn Priory and its associated Abbey Farm, and was developed in the early 19th century. [2] It continues south-east for roughly a mile, crossing Belsize Road, Boundary Road, and Marlborough Place, ending at the junction of Grove End Road and Garden Road.

The Abbey National Building Society (now Santander UK ) was founded in 1874 as The Abbey Road & St John's Wood Permanent Benefit Building Society in a Baptist church on Abbey Road. The Beatles' album, Abbey Road, features the Beatles walking across the northwestern zebra crossing on the intersection Abbey Road and Grove End Road. EMI 's Abbey Road Studios are located at the south-eastern end, at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood. The Beatles and many other famous popular music performers have recorded at this studio, and The Beatles named their last studio LP after this street. The album's cover photograph shows the four group members walking across the zebra crossing just outside the studio entrance. As a result of its association with The Beatles, since 1969 this part of Abbey Road has been featured on the London tourism circuit. In December 2010 the crossing was given Grade II Listed Building status by English Heritage despite its age not being contemporary to that era. [3] The zebra crossing featured on the Beatles cover, as well as the crossing directly north of it, have become popular photo-opportunity areas, despite the road still being a busy thoroughfare for traffic.

The iconic Beatles album cover has been parodied many times over the years on the crossing. Abbey Road street sign The tin street sign on the corner of Grove End Road and Abbey Road is now mounted high on the building on the corner, to save the local council the expense of cleaning and replacing the sign, which was frequently defaced and stolen . The council repaints the wall next to the zebra crossing every three months to cover fans' graffiti . [4] Abbey Road is also a ward of the City of Westminster. At the 2011 Census this ward had a population of 11,250. [5] Pictured: The Beatles album cover that started a decades-long conspiracy theory | Daily Mail Online Pictured: The Beatles album cover that started a decades-long conspiracy theory comments Forty years ago yesterday, at 11.35am, The Beatles walked across a zebra crossing in an innocuous North London street. The photoshoot for their new Abbey Road album happened just yards from the eponymous recording studios and took ten minutes - only six frames were taken by the photographer, Iain Macmillan, who was perched on a stepladder.

It has since become one of the most iconic covers in history for two reasons - no album cover has inspired more imitations, and none has spawned such a mass of conspiracy theories. The Beatles' world-famous Abbey Road album cover that sparked a million conspiracy theories For Beatles obsessives with fevered imaginations, it was ultimate proof of the bizarre theory of the time - that Paul McCartney was, in fact, dead. According to the legend, Paul had died in a car accident and been replaced by an impostor. The band, it was said, subsequently felt guilty about the deception, and so placed hidden clues on the album cover for their fans. Thus, even today, despite the apparent rude health of McCartney, they insist that if you look closely at the images on the front and back of the album it is packed with deathly symbolism. Beatlemania: A tribute band joined hundreds of fans in Abbey Road yesterday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the famous photoshoot Surrounded: A bus comes to a standstill as fans mob the Abbey Road site What is certain is that the album denoted one death of sorts.

Unbeknown to the public at the time, The Beatles were in the final throes of a bitter break-up and would never record another album. Relations had deteriorated to such an extent that the group abandoned their original title of Everest, together with a shoot in the Himalayas, and were photographed instead walking away from the studios and everything they had once shared. For other devotees, however, far more could be read into the image... 1. THE FUNERAL The procession of The Beatles across the zebra crossing, say the conspiracy theorists, represents Paul's funeral. John Lennon leads in a white suit and symbolises the preacher; Ringo Starr is the mourner, dressed in black; George Harrison, in scruffy shirt and trousers, denotes the grave-digger; Paul is wearing an old suit and is the only one who is barefoot. He later explained that he began the shoot wearing sandals but, because it was a hot day, he kicked them off. The theorists believed that if this was the case, the hot tarmac would be too uncomfortable. This, they argued, was a sign that Paul was the corpse. 2. THE CIGARETTE Paul McCartney is left-handed, but here holds his cigarette in his right hand.

At the time, cigarettes were commonly referred to as 'coffin nails'. This, therefore, could be seen as a message that Paul's 'coffin lid' had been nailed down and that the man in the picture was a lookalike. Paul is also out of step with the other band members. Each of the others has his left leg forward, but Paul has his right leg forward - again marking him out as different. 3. THE REGISTRATION PLATE The white VW Beetle in the background has the registration LMW 28IF - 28 being the age conspiracy theorists say Paul would have been IF he hadn't 'died'. In fact, Paul was 27 when Abbey Road was released - but fortunately for the theorists, Indian mystics count a person's age from conception, not birth, in which case Paul would have indeed been 28 at the time. Besides, the band were famously followers of the Indian guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It has also been suggested that the LMW stands for 'Linda McCartney Weeps' - referring to his new wife whom he had married earlier that year. 4.

THE SPECTATORS In the background, a small group of people dressed in white stand on one side of the road, while a lone person stands on the other. Is this meant to be Paul, alone and different from the others? 5. THE POLICE VAN On the right-hand side of the road is a black police van, believed to be a reference to the police who kept quiet about Paul's 'death'. According to legend, the band's manager, Brian Epstein, bought their silence, and the presence of the Maria is meant as another subtle thank you. 6. THE LINE OF CARS A line can be traced from the VW Beetle to the three cars in front of it. If it is drawn connecting their right wheels it runs straight through Paul's head, with theorists suggesting that means Paul sustained a head injury because of a car crash. 7. THE BLOODSTAIN On the Australian version of the album, the cover showed what could be a bloodstain splattered on the road just behind Ringo and John, supposedly backing claims of a road accident. 8. THE CRACKED S On the back cover there is a picture of the Abbey Road sign and above it the name Beatles has been written.

There is an obvious crack running through the S - thought to suggest problems within the group. 9. THE DOTS To the left of the name 'BEATLES' there are a series of eight dots. When joined together they form the number three. Did this mean there were only three Beatles left? 10. IMAGE OF DEATH If the back cover is turned 45 degrees anticlockwise a crude image of the Grim Reaper appears, from his skull to his black gown. Theorists believed it was a sign that someone in the group had died. 11. THE GIRL Nobody knows the identity of the girl dressed in blue on the back cover. On the night of the theorists' 'car crash' it was raining heavily and Paul is said to have given a lift to a fan called Rita. It could be that this girl is her, either fleeing the scene or running to get help. 12. PAUL'S FINAL RESTING PLACE If the writing on the wall is split into sections, it conveys the cryptic message, 'Be at Les Abbey'. In numerology the following two letters, R and O, are the 18th and 15th letters in the alphabet.

By adding this together (33) and multiplying by the number of letters (2), we get 66, the year Paul is supposed to have died. Three also represents the letter C so 33 could also stand for CC. Cece is short for Cecilia, with theorists claiming Paul was 'laid to rest' at St Cecilia's Abbey, a monastery in Ryde, Isle of Wight.

Question: What iconic album cover featured the four band members walking across a street in single file?
Answer: Abbey Road