THE BEATLES - With last strength: 50 years "Abbey Road"

9. September 2019

The Beatles

THE BEATLES - Mit letzten Kräften: 50 Jahre „Abbey Road“

On 26 September 1969 the Beatles released their last album recorded together: "Abbey Road". An amazing work full of surprises. Above all, however, it was a miracle that the group, shaken by quarrels and financial imponderables, had come together again and recorded a record together. A record that can confidently be seen as the quintessence of the groundbreaking formation's work. eclipsed is once again on the lookout for clues on the 50th anniversary of the release of "Abbey Road".

"'Let It Be' was a nightmare!" This shock sigh of Ringo Starr is shared by many participants - musicians as well as producers. The cracks, which had appeared at the latest during the India trip in 1968, when Paul and Ringo had left prematurely, and which also revealed themselves artistically on the brilliant but heterogeneous "White Album", were to be filled with the mad project "Let It Be". The band wanted to have themselves filmed at Twickenham Studios designing and recording a new album; the result should be a documentary and the new record, which should go back to the roots, that is: less studio experiments, more Rock'n'Roll. Just like in their early days at the Cavern Club.

In order to achieve this simpler, rougher approach, the Beatles didn't bring their ingenious producer George Martin into the sessions. But in the studio it came to never-ending quarrels, which were now also recorded to all evil. Also, the group didn't progress with the music as they had imagined. So in January 1969 the Beatles pulled the ripcord, left the unfortunate film scenery, quickly finished the album in the band's own Apple studios in the Savile Row, crowned the whole thing with the legendary concert on the roof of the studio house and were relieved not to have to see each other again. The end of the Beatles seemed to be sealed; even the album wasn't released at first.

However, other problems followed. After the death of Brian Epstein two years earlier, the Beatles were still looking for a manager to take on the main responsibility, especially as the Apple empire was constantly in the red. The finances, according to one of the most frequent statements made today for the end of the Beatles, literally overwhelmed the group. While Paul McCartney and lawyer Lee Eastman wanted to install his father-in-law as the new manager, John Lennon planned to get windy businessman Allen Klein on board. Lennon and the rest of the band overruled McCartney, Klein took over the business in February 1969 and carried out an internal cleanup. Paul disgusted Klein's Mafia methods, and in retrospect the far more serious Eastman would have been the better choice. Thus Klein became the nail in the coffin of the divided troops. In addition, George Harrison's luxury bungalow Kinfauns in Esher, southern England, was regularly taken apart by the police during a drug raid. In fact, she found what she was looking for. The press had their next Beatles scandal, which they could exploit with relish.

The pressure on the band became immense, the animosities among the musicians - especially Lennon and McCartney worked harder and harder on each other - reached an unbearable level. And yet something happened in this poisoned climate that is still inexplicable today: the musical magic that seemed to be lost in the "Let It Be" project (even if it is an exaggeration, many bands would kill for some of the songs created there) returned by itself and perhaps just in view of the final discord.

This process began on April 14, 1969, when Lennon and McCartney met George Martin at Abbey Road Studios. Lennon had written a song about the adventurous odyssey of his wedding with Yoko, which had taken the couple across Europe in a very short time. As usual, he could hardly wait to take up his new ideas. Actually, the Beatles had already scheduled a session for April 16th, but John wanted to try out the track immediately. Since Ringo was busy shooting and George was abroad, John asked Paul without further ado if they could record "The Ballad Of John And Yoko" on their own. Ten weeks had passed since the end of the "Let It Be" adventure; during this time both had gotten married, and John and Yoko had also staged their "Bed-Ins for Peace". Despite the obvious tensions, Lennon and McCartney worked very well together, as the various takes, which were also a lot of joking, prove. John played guitar and sang, Paul first sat on drums, later they added overdubs, George Martin produced.

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