An interesting back story and history.
Posted on 08/19/2019 6:57:50 AM PDT by Rummyfan
A dear and now departed friend of mine used to have a flat in the handsome red-brick building that sits on the southern end of Abbey Road in St John's Wood in north London - at the corner of Grove End Road. And, whenever I went round for dinner, it was always a kick to walk over the street via the internationally famous zebra crossing - not because I was a tourist or a Fab Four fanatic but just because that was where the taxi from the West End would always drop me off.
At one level, naming an album after the studio in which you recorded it suggests a certain slackening of creative energy, at least by comparison with the title of its immediate predecessor, Yellow Submarine, and especially so given the studio itself is named merely for the leafy thoroughfare on which it sits. And then you double-down on your lack of imagination with a cover photo of your stars crossing said thoroughfare. But the stars were the Beatles, and Paul forgot his shoes and socks that day, and what with one thing and another the zebra crossing connecting the studio with my friend's flat soon became the most famous and recognizable pedestrian crosswalk in the world, and has held that title for half-a-century.
The photograph was taken fifty years ago this month - August 8th 1969 - and the album itself wrapped up fifty years ago this week - August 20th. So I thought we'd mark the occasion with the best song of the set - don't take my word for it; John Lennon himself pronounced it "the best track on the album"...
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
An interesting back story and history.
amazing piece of writing....I’m gonna put a few more anecdotes below, as I get a chance....
I never noticed before, but it looks like Paul is also holding a cigarette.
That right there is enough to date the album....
That photo proved Paul was dead.
Did Paulie lose a bet?
Is that why he had no shoes?
Or had he stepped in a bit of doggie doo?
How is it possible to forget your shoes and socks?
How is it possible to forget your shoes and socks?
Paul’s gonna outlive Ringo just for spite.
Drugs
Thanks for the photo of all five of the Beatles/beetles...
The Fifth Beetle!
Albert Einstein did ... in the snow ... deep in thought ...
“If you don’t like how I drive stay off the sidewalk!”
You mean “replacement” Paul, William Campbell.
I played my White Album backwards. Ringo clearly says, “Turn me on, dead man”.
George Harrison was reportedly the inspiration for "The Rain Song" when he made a comment to Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, about the fact that the group never wrote any ballads. In Light and Shade: Conversations with Jimmy Page, biographer Brad Tolinski quotes Page: "George [Harrison] was talking to Bonzo one evening and said, 'The problem with you guys is that you never do ballads.' I said, 'I'll give him a ballad,' and I wrote 'Rain Song,' which appears on House of the Holy. In fact, you'll notice I even quote 'Something' in the song's first two chords." However, there is some disagreement about exactly what was said by whom.
From right to left: preacher, undertaker, deceased, and grave digger...lol
Paul didn’t forget his shoes. He says it was such a hot day that he just felt more comfortable without them. There are earlier shots of them preparing for the crossing photo, and he is wearing sandles.
Well, that’s a horrible song...
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