Though Let It Be was their final release before officially disbanding, Abbey Road was the final proper record from the Beatles, and today is its 42nd birthday!
John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and George Harrison recorded the bulk of Let It Be prior to beginning Abbey Road and it was a disaster. The tensions within the Beatles, which had long existed but began to boil over during the sessions for The Beatles (aka The White Album), had taken a toll on the band and they were unhappy with the results of the Let It Be sessions and temporality shelved the songs they recorded in January 1969.
Sensing that the band was on the verge of collapse, Paul McCartney contacted producer and composer George Martin – who is sometimes referred to as the "fifth Beatle" – to suggest that the group reconvene to record one last album free of the drama that had plagued the group. And that's exactly what they did, setting aside their personal problems to hit the studio in the late spring of 1969 to assemble the record Rolling Stone would later dub the 19th greatest album ever.
It's cover image, of Lennon, Starr, McCartney and Harrison crossing the street in front of EMI Studios on Abbey Road, has become one of the most iconic images in all of music. You know you had it on your dorm room wall too!
Love Abbey Road? Tell us about it in the comments.






