Abbey Road - The Beatles (1969)

 


There was a time when I was completely consumed by The Beatles. From late 1988 to early 1995 hardly a day went by that I didn't listen to something by The Beatles. I may be exaggerating a little bit, because I definitely had to sell my CDs and/or cassette collection more than once in my youth to buy cigarettes or whatever, but it certainly seemed like I was obsessed with them. 

Little can compare to the thrill you get from listening to music during those those first few years when you are really getting into music and The Beatles were one of the (several) bands that I got into. I rmeember listening to them late at night with my dinky little ten dollar headphones and just having what I can only describe as "brain orgasms" whle I was listening. 

They weren't the only group that thrilled me, but as they were quite critically well-received, everybody seemed to like them and media were constantly telling me they were the best, I just fell in love with their melody, their lyrics, their wit, their personalities and their obvious intelligence.

The lustre wore off a bit in 1995 with the release of the (actually subpar) Anthology albums, though I dutifully snapped them up as well as the 8 tape VHS version of the documentary/biography (which I only watched once, but which I enjoyed immensely.) 

After some time, though, when you listen to a band too much, you start to realize that you don't get anything out of their music any more and I eventually realized that this was the case with The Beatles, though it took me a few years to finally realize that I really had long ago stopped listening (indeed, I could play their songs, every single little nuance and detail in my head and thus didn't need to listen anymore.)

Speaking specifically of Abbey Road, I can also remember at least once me and a couple of friends in college (Joe Knouse and Jennifer Camp) singing the entire thing a capella in the Green Room in the now demolished Walnut Inn theatre in Tarkio Missouri while waiting to go onstage in a set of one-act plays. We sang it unaccompanied, with nothing but our syncronized brains keeping time.

 Man, those were fun times. Even if I was basically miserable when I wasn't having fun.

Eventually, as I got into other music, I began to even resent the Beatles, the way various authors and journalists would lay claim to the Beatles being "the first","the best", the greatest", etc.etc...it's like I couldn't read anything about The Beatles that didn't somehow have to heap all these superlatives on them, many of which, did not hold up to analysis once I had a wider understanding and appreciation of music, particularly music of the 60s. 

Now, I tend to see the Beatles as part of a wider spectrum of brilliant sixties music that was really focused on progression and breaking new ground...the most visible and commercial rock band of their time but in the end one of among many greats. Perhaps the first among equals, if you will.

So my opinion of Abbey Road has subtly altered over the years. At the time I first heard it, I considered it the absolute capper of a stellar 7 year career: the perfect swan song. And it actually is that. The Beatles were obviously very self-conscious of the fact that they were, in fact, making their last album when they were making it. (Oh, Let It Be came out afterwards, but was mostly recorded beforehand.) And it really does succeed in making what seems like a very profound, yet still fun and glorious, Last Statement. 

I am now longer sure that it really is all that coherent a statement, but it is testemant to George Martin and probably Paul McCArtney's vision that it is able to come off that way, and of course it's chock full of classics. 

But there are some curiosities to it. Over the years, the cuteness of "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" has worn off for me and I've begun to think of it as more annoying than anythinig else; and "Oh! Darling", a worthy rhythm and blues number, is seriously marred by a ridiculously over-the-top vocal from Paul. I can't hear it without laughing. Paul pulls off the vocal, but only barely, and apparently it took him days to record it. 

"Octopussy's Garden" seems a little silly, but I wouldn't want to live in a world without it's weird psychedelicized country charms, and "I Want You", is hardly a song at all -- yet succeeds from the brilliant arrangement and production: all atmophsere, pure heavy rock.

Another noteworthy thing is that two of the three indisputable masterpieces on the album ("Because", "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun") are written by George Harrison, the second tier writer of the group, generally speaking. 

And the closing medly, while virtually devoid of substance or lyrical coherence, really is a beautiful statement of music-for-music's sake, a collection of half-finished ditties thrown together to somehow make an amazing whole that is a sheer delight to listen to. 

And I've always been fond of John's gobbledegook swamp-rock anthem "Come Together": particularly the ultra-cool drums and deep throbbing bass. 

This is an album that when I hear it, I'm tempted to listen to it all over again. Or would be, if I hadn't heard it some many damn times.

4.8/5

Spotify Link:

https://open.spotify.com/album/0ETFjACtuP2ADo6LFhL6HN?si=xC9uwN_lQ4GEN1zDEE8Vjw

Note:  I got a digital version of The 3 CD Deluxe 50th anniversary edition of this album, which included a remix (completely unnecessary, -- because the original is a damn good sounding album --but hey, it moved units) and a bunch of early takes.

 For the most part, the two "early takes" CD could have been easily shortened to one mildly interesting set; the two CDS were overkill. For all their brilliance, The Beatles were not a band who had, like The Beach Boys or Prince or Bob Dylan, tons of interesting unreleased songs in their vault. There are some interesting bits to it, notably a Paul McCartney home demo and a early edit of "The Medley" (entitled "The Long One" that put "Her Majesty" in the middle rather than the end of the set.) And some of it had basically been previously released on Anthology. In the end, I don't recommend. 

On CD, I don't know if I have a preference for the 1987 remaster or th 2009 remaster. The 1987 might be a little easier on the ears, but it's been so many years since I've heard it that I really don't know.



Coming Up:

A.M. Wilco

A.T.O.M. - Carbon Silicon

ABBA - ABBA 

ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits

Abbey Road - The Beatles

Achtung, Baby! U2

Actually - Pet Shop Boys

Adult/Child- The Beach Boys

Aerosmith's Greatest Hits

After The Gold Rush - Neil Young

Afterglow - Crowded House

Aftermath (UK Version) - The Rolling Stones

Against The Odds: 1974-1982 Blondie (three disc version)

Aimee Mann Live at St. Ann's Warehouse

Aiming For Your Head - Betchadupa

The Album -- ABBA

The Album That Never Was - The Kinks

All Four One - The Motels

All Over the Place - The Bangles

All Summer Long -- The Beach Boys

All the Great Hits -- Diana Ross

All Things Must Pass -- George Harrison

All This Useless Beauty -- Elvis Costello & the Attractions

All-Time Greatest Hits - Neil Diamond

Alluvium -- Eddie Rayner

Almost Blue -- Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Almost Summer - Celebration

Alpha Mike Foxtrot -- Wilco

The Alphabetchadupa - Betchadupa

Altitude - ALT

American Idiot Green Day

American Prayer -- The Doors

Amnesiac Radiohead

And I Feel Fine...The Best of the IRS years (1982-1987) - R.E.M.

Animals - Pink Floyd

Anodyne - Uncle Tupelo

Another Life - Another Life

Another Music in Another Kitchen: The Buzzcocks

Another Side of Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan

Anthology: Diana Ross & The Supremes

Anthology: Smokey Robinson & The Beatles

Anthology 1: The Beatles

Anthology 2: The Beatles

Anthology 3 The Beatles

Anthology: North South, East West - Tim Finn

Apple Venus: Volume One -- XTC

Apollo 18 - They Might Be Giants

The ArchAndroid: Janelle Monae

Are Well-Respected Men - The Kinks

Armed Forces -Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Around the World in a Day - Prince

Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) - The Kinks

At My Piano - Brian Wilson

Autoamerican - Blondie

Automatic for the People - R.E.M.

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