Here Comes the Sun – George Harrison
Subtitulada en Españo
Why The Beatles’
‘Abbey Road’ Album Was Streets Ahead Of Its Time
With some of
the most magisterial songs The Beatles ever wrote, ‘Abbey Road’ was the final
album they recorded, and now stands as many people’s favourite.
Published August 8, 2019
by Richard Havers
Prior to 26 September 1969, most people in
the world were blissfully unaware that Abbey Road was the location of EMI’s
London recording studios. Some keen fans may have spotted the name in
news reports of The
Beatles’ activities, but this was a time when it was of
little importance to most fans where something was recorded. Ironically, given
the album’s title, not all of Abbey Road was recorded
at Abbey Road, and, in truth, the title is as much about the street and the
zebra crossing outside as it is about the studio itself.
But when all is said and done, the album is
for many, including this writer, the absolute pinnacle of the band’s
achievements. All this, despite having been recorded as the band was breaking
up amid internal strife and bitterness.
“A natural born gas”
Abbey Road was
The Beatles’ 11th studio album and the very last to be recorded (their 12th –
and last-released – studio album, Let It Be,
was mostly recorded prior to this record). Rolling Stone magazine
called it “complicated instead of complex”, while Nik Cohn, writing in The New York Times, suggested that “individually” the songs are “nothing
special”, The Guardian called the album “a slight matter”, and
the Detroit Free Press suggested, “We expected inventiveness. We
got a good LP.”
However, Chris Welch, writing in Melody Maker,
felt just the opposite: “The truth is, their latest LP is just a natural born
gas, entirely free of pretension, deep meanings or symbolism.” Similarly
enthusiastic, The Record Mirror said that Abbey Road was
“every bit as good as the last three” albums by the group. History, too, has
been much kinder, with many now citing this as their favourite Beatles album.
What makes Abbey Road a masterpiece?
What is it that makes Abbey Road a
masterpiece? Well, the breadth of the musical vision, the sheer scale of the
band’s collective musical imagination, and the audacity of it all, at a time
when The Beatles were coming to the end of their time together.
And then there are the two George
Harrison masterpieces, ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and
‘Something’; both rank alongside the best songs the band ever recorded. Of the
former, uDiscover’s Martin Chilton, writing in the Daily Telegraph, says “it’s almost impossible not to sing along to” – and he’s
right.
‘Something’ is sublime, the perfect love song and John
Lennon’s favourite track on the album. Often prior to performing
it in concert, Frank
Sinatra would describe it as “the greatest love song ever
written” (while also erroneously saying it was his favourite “Lennon
and McCartney composition”).
Something
to luxuriate in
Side Two’s 15-minute “medley” begins with ‘You Never Give Me Your
Money’, a Paul
McCartney song. It transitions beautifully into ‘Sun King’,
which was written by John and features John, Paul, and George’s impeccable
harmonies. From there the medley runs into two more Lennon songs, ‘Mean Mr
Mustard’ and ‘Polythene Pam’ (both written in India). Then it’s a quadruple
shot from McCartney: ‘She Came In Through The Bathroom Window’, the beautiful
‘Golden Slumbers’ and ‘Carry That Weight’ (which includes elements from ‘You
Never Give Me Your Money’), before the medley closes with ‘The End’.
Opinion is divided among
some fans and critics about some of the remaining tracks. However, there is no
disputing the power, no denying the magnificence, of two of John Lennon’s
compositions. ‘Come Together’ is one of the great opening tracks on any album.
Likewise, ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ just takes the band to a place they had
never been before… towering.
The songs not entirely recorded at Abbey
Road were ‘Something’, which features some overdubs recorded at Olympic Studios
in Barnes, West London. For ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ the band recorded the
rhythm track in February 1969, at Trident Studios in Soho’s Wardour Street,
where a composite of the song was then assembled. Work continued on the
song until August (including a session on 8 August, when the
album’s cover shoot also took place), as recordings
were added to the original Trident tape; the finished song, completed at
Abbey Road, was another composite made from two versions of the song.
Meanwhile, ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ was started at Olympic in May 1969,
and then finished at Abbey Road over a number of sessions in July and August.
Abbey Road is far greater than the sum of its parts, a record
that, more than any other Beatles album, stands the test of time when played as
a whole. It is not an album to cherry-pick tracks on random play – this is one
to put on, to luxuriate in ‘Come Together’, and to finish with a smile on your
face as Paul sings about Her Majesty being “a pretty nice girl” on the closing,
“hidden” track.
 |
| The 5th Beatle Sir George Martin |
TRACK LISTING
·
Come Together
·
Something
·
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
·
Oh! Darling
·
Octopus's Garden
·
I Want You (She's So
Heavy)
·
Here Comes the Sun
·
Because
·
You Never Give Me Your
Money
·
Sun King
·
Mean Mr. Mustard
·
Polythene Pam
·
She Came in Through the
Bathroom Window
·
Golden Slumbers
·
Carry That Weight
·
The End
·
Her Majesty
Album Selections
Beatles Come Together
(Double click for full screen)
Beatles Something
Beatles Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Beatles Oh! Darling
Beatles Octopus's Garden
Beatles Because
Beatles Golden Slumbers
Beatles Carry That Weight
Beatles The End
Beatles Her Majesty
Here
Comes the Sun Background Story
