Speakers' corner
The Beatles' Abbey Road

Following up our retroscope series of 2006 and 2007 - here's the New Speakers' corner! Luna Kafé's focused eye on great events, fantastic happenings, absolute milestones, or other curious incidents from the historic shelves/vaults of rock. This moonth's album is about to turn 40. Fab four, fab fourty!

The Beatles
Abbey Road
Apple Records

On 26 September it's 40 years ago... The swan song.

One great song each by John and Paul, a couple of immortal ones by George (that's been played to death on the radio during the years) and a humorous one each by Ringo and Paul. But it's the rest of the album that really makes it for me. John's "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" - the closest the band got to a heavy progressive song - would've made it into a grunch classic in the hands of, say, Pearl Jam 20 years later. And then there is nearly the entire side 2 of the original LP. Mastered by Paul, his best achievement, ever! Several short bits neatly tied together unlike anything else the Fab Four recorded.

'She came in through the bathroom window, Protected by a silver spoon, But now she sucks her thumb and wanders, By the banks of her own lagoon...' Wicked!

'And in the end, The love you take, Is equal to the love, You make.' There's even a short song after "The End"...

Along with the rest of the Beatles' albums, a remastered version of Abbey Road will be launched on September 9.

Copyright © 2009 JP