Abbey Road

After the near disastrous sessions for the Get Back album (later, retitled Let It Be for release), the Beatles decided to get together and make an album that they would be more happy with. The two album sides were quite different in character; side one was a collection of singles, while side two contained several medleys of short compositions that segued together.

The album is notable for George Harrison's songs Something and Here Comes The Sun which fully established him with the public as being the creative equal to Paul McCartney and John Lennon in composing[?]. The song "The End" features the only Ringo Starr drum solo to make it to tape, as well as alternating blistering lead guitar solos from Lennon, McCartney and Harrison.

The song "Her Majesty", tacked on the end, was originally part of the "side 2" medley. The medley had been re-edited at one point and somehow, the song ended up at the end of the tape after a few seconds of silence. The Beatles liked the way it sounded and left it there.

"At one point the album was going to be titled Everest, after the brand of cigarettes I used to smoke," recalls engineer Geoff Emerick. The idea included a cover photo of The Beatles in the Himalayas, but by the time the group had to take the photo, they decided to call it Abbey Road and take the photo outside the studio during a coffee break from recording. That cover photograph has since become one of the most famous and most imitated album covers in recording history.

One imitation cover came with a unique tribute. Booker T. & the MG's, famed soul combo, covered most of the songs on the Abbey Road in their 1969 album McLemore Avenue, named after the street address of the Stax[?] records studio. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers have also imitated the album cover, on their Abbey Road EP, with the band appearing nude, apart from strategically placed socks.

1. "Come Together" (Lennon/McCartney)
2. "Something" (Harrison)
3. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" (Lennon/McCartney)
4. "Oh! Darling" (Lennon/McCartney)
5. "Octopus's Garden" (Starkey/Starr)
6. "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" (Lennon/McCartney)
7. "Here Comes the Sun" (Harrison)
8. "Because" (Lennon/McCartney)
9. "You Never Give Me Your Money" (Lennon/McCartney)
10. "Sun King" (Lennon/McCartney)
11. "Mean Mr. Mustard" (Lennon/McCartney)
12. "Polythene Pam" (Lennon/McCartney)
13. "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" (Lennon/McCartney)
14. "Golden Slumbers" (Lennon/McCartney)
15. "Carry That Weight" (Lennon/McCartney)
16. "The End" (Lennon/McCartney)
17. "Her Majesty" (Lennon/McCartney)