Here come old flat top - he come grooving up slowly

Continuing my trip up Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time...

...with an album I've never heard - yes, I'm a complete heathen.

#5: Abbey Road - The Beatles (1969) 

“It was a very happy record,” said producer George Martin, describing this album in The Beatles Anthology. “I guess it was happy because everybody thought it was going to be the last.” Indeed, Abbey Road — recorded in two months during the summer of 1969 — almost never got made at all. That January, the Beatles were on the verge of a breakup, exhausted and angry with one another after the disastrous sessions for the aborted Get Back LP, later salvaged as Let It Be [see No. 342]. Yet determined to go out with the same glory with which they had first entranced the world at the start of the decade, the group reconvened at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios to make their most polished album: a collection of superb songs cut with an attention to refined detail, then segued together (especially on Side Two) with conceptual force.

There was no thematic link, other than the Beatles’ unique genius. John Lennon veered from the stormy metal of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” to the exquisite vocal sunrise of “Because.” Paul McCartney was saucy (“Oh! Darling”), silly (“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”), and deliciously bitter (“You Never Give Me Your Money”). George Harrison proved his long-secret worth as a composer with “Something” (later covered by Frank Sinatra) and the folk-pop diamond “Here Comes the Sun,” written in his friend Eric Clapton’s garden after a grim round of business meetings. Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison reputedly sang more three-part harmonies here than on any other Beatles album. That warm feeling — a sense of an increasingly divided band warmly coming together as friends — may be one reason Abbey Road has become the most beloved Beatles album of all time.

"There was no thematic link, other that the Beatles' unique genius"  - you know what, I'm not entirely convinced Rolling Stone approach every album with a completely impartial view.  But, nevertheless, I was looking forward to listening to it and whilst I didn't recognise too many of the tracks from their titles, I was suspecting I'd probably heard a few more of them - so let's find out...

1. "Come Together"
Yeah, I know this one and like it.  It's got a cool bassline as well.
2, "Something"
I didn't recognise this from the title, but did know and like it - it's a very warm song which was something I found missing from large slices of lots of their albums (but particularly The White Album).   Nice strings as well - which was something that someone did well on Beatles tracks when they put their mind to it (see also Eleanor Rigby and She's Leaving Home).

3. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"
Yeah - this is indeed a bit silly.  Nice enough, but you are left thinking "why?".
4. "Oh! Darling"
Sigh - this is Paul making a point, isn't it?  It's "fine" but a bit lightweight.  It feels to go on for ages as well - and it's only 3:27.
5. "Octopus's Garden"
In my head, I always bracket this one with "Yellow Submarine" - some silly nonsense, but well done silly nonsense.  I'm not convinced it needed the bubble noises though.

6. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"
This doesn't feel very Beatlesesque but I've got no problems with that - I quite liked it, although I'm not convinced there was enough there to justify nearly 8 minutes of it.  And it ends weirdly as well - very abruptly (and it was apparently the end of the first side of the album)

7. "Here Comes The Sun"
I've obviously got no problems with this track - "here comes the sun, do, do, do".  It feels like a nice warm hug from George and it does make you think "maybe things are going to be alright!"

8. "Because"
Some nice harmonies.

Soooo - the next eight tracks exist as a 16 minute medley - I'd have to say I'm not entirely sure why.

9 "You Never Give You My Money"
It sounds like Paul is making a point again - he really wasn't as good as John at using that chip on his shoulder though.

10. "Sun King"
There's a weird kind of Shadows feeling to this, which I wasn't expecting - and then Beach Boys harmonies kick in.  A nice enough track though.

11. "Mean Mr Mustard"
The Beatles do like their weird characters don't they?  Although at just over a minute, you are left thinking "what was the point to that?"

12. "Polythene Pam"

See above.

13. "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window"
Really reminds me of another Beatles track, but I can't quite place it.

14. "Golden Slumbers"
Another nice warm hug with lovely strings - I would have liked to see a bit more than the 1:31 we got.

15. "Carry That Weight"
Yeah, I quite liked this.

16. "The End"
A nice round off to the 8 song medley.

17. "Her Majesty"
A hidden track at the end of the album, which apparently inspired Kurt to do the same on Nevermind.  This is a much less unpleasant affair though and only lasts 23 seconds.

So, all in all I found it a reasonable selection of songs - there's a lot of warmth in there, which is something that is missing from a surprisingly large number of Beatles songs.  There's a few obvious classic tracks on there ("Come Together" and "Something" combine for a strong opening and "Here Comes The Sun" opens side 2) but there was a reasonable amount on it I didn't quite get the point to - lots of short tracks combined in a seemingly pointless medley that didn't seem to go anywhere and a fair bit of nonsense as well.  Maybe when you listen to it multiple times it all clicks into place and becomes the much-loved masterpiece that Rolling Stone obviously believes it is, but I can't say I'm there on the back of a couple of listens.  It was interesting to listen to and I was glad to close a cultural gap, but I'm not sure I'll be rushing back to it.

Wikipedia tells us the album was recorded in better spirits than some of the previous albums, but there was still a bit of friction around (as you can tell from some of the tracks).  You'd also have to say John and Yoko's relationship was somewhat strange - they'd had a car accident and she was told to stay in bed, so he installed a bed in the studio so she could still be with him.  It also gives the album the full fanboy track-by-track breakdown and gives us some nice facts.  "Something" was released as a double A-side (with "Come Together") and got to #1 in the US, being their first non Lennon/McCartney composition to do so.  Paul annoyed everyone by attempting perfection on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" (why?) with our old friend Mal Evans playing the anvil in the chorus (what song isn't improved by a bit of anvil?).  "I Want You" features Billy Preston on the Hammond organ who is the only person to be co-credited on a Beatles release (for "Get Back"). And, finally, "The End" was the last thing the group recorded together - which seems like a nice way to go out.  

Wikipedia also tells me that Abbey Road studios wasn't called Abbey Road studios before this album came out - it was renamed in the 70s in honour of the album.  It was also the first album that Alan Parsons worked on as an engineer on - a role he somewhat more famously performed on this.  The album received mixed critical reviews upon release - some people didn't like the "artificial sounds" (whatever that means) - but everyone agrees now it's a masterpiece and obviously quite a few people think it's their finest work.  It's sold a few copies - 31m globally - and apparently this was very much helped by the "Paul is dead" rumour which is both bonkers and fascinating at the same time (some people had far too much time on their hands - even back then before the internet) .  It's also one of those albums that's been covered in full, by both George Benson and Booker T And The MGs - and I can assure you I won't be making any effort at all to seek out either of them.

It may be their last entry, but I'm not going to make any effort to revisit their Wikipedia entry - I've spent far too long there already and I've still hardly scratched the surface.  Instead, I'm just going to include a charming link which did the rounds on Twitter again earlier this week and definitely proves that George Harrison was the nicest Beatle - but to be honest, you really only have to look at his songwriting contributions to this album ("Something" and "Here Comes The Sun") to realise that.  "Customers also listened to" the usual round-up of members of The Beatles and The Turtles again, whoever they may be.  

So, this is our ninth and final visit with The Fab Four (with five of them being in the top 50) - and seven of these have been first time listens for me.  So, what have I learned?  I don't mind the early stuff and I can understand why people went mad for it at the time, but nowadays they "just" sound like a load of good to great tracks and I can't see why I wouldn't just stick their greatest hits on if I was in the mood for it (but I can't say that often happens).  The later stuff works better as albums for me (with the exception of The White Album) and I'd say that currently, Sgt Pepper is my favourite, then Rubber Soul, then this one and Let It Be (which seems harshly positioned at #342) in some unknown order and then Revolver, which just didn't seem to click for me.  However, I do realise I'm ranking some great albums here (featuring some absolutely stone cold classic tracks) on just a couple of listens (with varying chunks of time in between them as well) and I'm certainly tempted to revisit them closer together after a cooling off period to compare them and follow the musical evolution which is very much in evidence (and I imagine must have been exciting to live through at the time). Nine albums does feel like a lot for one group, but you can certainly see there's an argument for most of them and I guess people were prepared to those arguments - personally, I'm never going to be a huge Beatles fan but I do feel I have more of an appreciation for them than I did before, and there aren't that many people who have come out of this exercise with a reputational gain! 

#6 - I found it hard, it was hard to find

#4 - Our last visit with Stevie