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Meet the Beatles (Again) - Abbey Road

Posted at 2:03 AM on September 9, 2009 by The Current (3 Comments)
Filed under: Meet the Beatles (Again)

Abbey Road
Originally released in 1969
By Steve Seel

Abbey Road wasn't actually the first Beatles record I called my own- that would be The Beatles 1967-1970 (the "blue" greatest hits record, which obviously doesn't count as an "album")- but it was my first exposure to them, given its powerful prominence in my big sister's record collection that lived across the hall. It may seem like an ironic place to begin one's relationship with The Beatles, since it represents the end (Let It Be was released last, but Abbey Road contains the band's final recording sessions). In hindsight though, I can't imagine a better first window into the kaleidoscopic aural world of the greatest band in rock than this playful, elegant, eclectic masterpiece. At times meticulously composed, at others completely tossed-off, at others a combination of both ... careening from darkness and menace to shimmering, glowing warmth, Abbey Road is perhaps the most beautifully creative lark in popular music. And it's also one of those records that is responsible for the very foundations of my musical taste.

Abbey Road hardly sounds like the sputtering disintegration that the band was going through at the time - this even despite the fact that Side 2 is essentially a grab-bag of unfinished half-ideas, strung together as if the lads were clearing out the attic before selling the house. The Let It Be sessions had been openly hostile - Harrison even quit the band for a time after rehearsals had deteriorated into chaos- and the band seemed headed for a breakup. When Paul suggested a subsequent reunion with the band's longtime producer George Martin, however, a light seemed to appear on the horizon- ironically, because of the very inevitability of a breakup that the band members were sensing. It was as if everyone understood this was it- and it might be nice to go out on a high note. If history is any judge, a high note is exactly what The Beatles achieved.

While Abbey Road still contains its share of what had become a pattern on the band's records- clear distinctions between many of McCartney's and Lennon's songs- there is an interesting cross-pollination that had felt missing with the pair's increasing estrangement. Part of this feels due to the ineffable good-naturedness of some of the tunes: multi-tracked ensemble vocals on "Sun King," "Because" and "The End" (the complex chords on all of these possessing a languid 60's peace-and-love glow the band rarely equaled anywhere else in their catalog); the genial traded-off guitar solos between John, George and even Paul during "The End;" the humor in tunes like "You Never Give Me Your Money" and "Mean Mr. Mustard" from the Side 2 medley. But there's another element to the geniality - or at least illusion of it. George Harrison finally, gloriously emerges as the equal of John and Paul, with not one but two songs: the radiant, joyous "Here Comes the Sun," and the song chosen as the album's first single (and Lennon's professed favorite track on the record), "Something." Heck, Ringo even gets in a reprise of the childlike charm of "Yellow Submarine" in the form of "Octopus' Garden."

As a kid, the affable novelties of "Octopus" and even McCartney's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" were my first easy transitions to rock from the likes of my Sesame Street records ("Maxwell's macabre lyrics notwithstanding). From there, it was the garden-of-Eden, multi-tracked harmonies of "Because" and the dew-on-the-branches optimistic renewal of "Here Comes the Sun" that seduced me down a more emotionally complex path. But that was just the beginning. I began to pick up on subtler things: the mysterious "shump"-and-telephone-dial sound that begins "Come Together" (and the song's menacing, coded-language lyrics), the dark, proto-hard rock of "I Want You (She's So Heavy);" the fact that those cool guitar arpeggios that end "You Never Give Me Your Money" come back at the end of "Carry That Weight"- shoot, that might have been the very moment I discovered the album as a conceptual work, as opposed to the song.

Before long, I would go on to discover the rest of the Beatles repertoire- and from there, a world and a lifetime of rock 'n' roll awaited. But Abbey Road set me up with a musical language that, perhaps unwittingly, I would use to interpret almost everything I'd come across in music from then afterward. I would expect high melodic craft, mystery, humor, thoughtful arrangements, attention to detail, balance, and especially, evidence of a band working together toward a noble end. I am forever grateful to The Beatles for making a record as luminous as Abbey Road; for showing me the Technicolor horizons of music, its simple joys and compositional possibilities; and finally, that something lovely can arise out of a notion, a moment, a desire to say "The End" with a smile and a gracious bow, despite it all.

Steve Seel is the co-host of mornings on The Current from 6-10 a.m. When he was seven and his big sister told him the Beatles had broken up years ago, he cried for a week.

Comments (3)

Ah! Abby Road is probably my favorite as well. You hit it right on the head Steve, the entire concept, timing, and overall meaning of this record makes it something special. I still get choked up when I hear that final note of The End.

Posted by David Hoaglund | September 9, 2009 9:38 AM

I know what you mean--about this album sounding more unified despite the band's standing with each other. I remember the first time I really listened to the album, and I bonded over it with my dad. I remember him telling me how by the time they recorded this album, they all hated each other, but they had made a decision to do the album the way they used to. It seems fitting that the opening track is "Come Together."

I can't imagine an album that's more personal for me. The entirety of The Beatles catalog pulled me out of a dark time in my life, but I'd go as far as to say that Abbey Road single-handedly saved me. The "Golden Slumbers" medley is absolute transcendence, and from start to end, I felt wholly connected with it.

Thanks Steve, for your glorious write-up. I'm glad we see eye-to-eye.

Posted by Caroline | September 10, 2009 10:59 AM

This is a link to one of Newfoundland's best artists. He's several paintings about Abbey Road.

http://ccca.ca/artists/work_detail.html?languagePref=fr&mkey=51748&title=Grid+Lock+-+Abbey+Road%2C+%5Bdetail%5D&artist=Bill+Rose&link_id=5484

Should I mention we're related?

Posted by Michelle B | September 11, 2009 10:04 AM

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