8 August: Abbey Road

50 years ago today, the famous photo of the Beatles' Abbey Road LP cover was taken in London. 10 things you didn't know about that album cover.

1. Had The Beatles kept the working title for the album, the cover photograph would have been very different. The working title was Everest, after a brand of cigarettes which had Mount Everest on the packet. Initially, they discussed taking a private plane over to the foothills of Mount Everest to shoot the cover photograph there, but decided that was too much hassle and would take too long. In the end, Paul McCartney suggested naming the album after the street, and taking the cover photo outside.
2. The cover was designed by Kosh, Apple Records creative director, based on ideas sketched out by Paul McCartney.
3. It was Kosh who suggested that the cover should not have the name of the album or the name of the band on it. EMI were doubtful that an album would sell without that information, but Kosh said, "We didn't need to write the band's name on the cover ... They were the most famous band in the world." Abbey Road is the only original UK Beatles album sleeve not to have the band's name or title on it.
4. The photographer's name was Iain Macmillan. Since police had to hold up the traffic in Abbey Road to allow the photoshoot to take place, there was limited time to do it. Macmillan stood on a step ladder with the police holding up the traffic behind him, and took six photographs. Later, he and Paul McCartney chose which shot to use.
5. In the image selected, the group walk across the street in single file from left to right, with Lennon leading in a white suit, followed by Starr in a black suit, McCartney barefoot and out of step with the others, and Harrison, in denim. Apart from Harrison, the group are wearing suits designed by Tommy Nutter.
6. In the background is a white Volkswagen Beetle with the number plate LMW 281F. The car belonged to a resident of the block of flats across the street. After the album came out, the number plate was repeatedly stolen from the car, which was sold at auction for £2,530 in 1986, and is now on display in a museum in Germany. Also parked in the street is a police van with the number plate SYD 724F. It's not known where that vehicle is now, but the Rolls Royce on the cover of the Oasis album Be Here Now has the same number.
7. There were also some people, other than the four Beatles in shot, something that would never be allowed today, thanks to GDPR. A man standing on the pavement was an American tourist named Paul Cole. Cole wasn't a music fan and had no idea who the four “kooks” on the crossing were, but months later he saw the album cover and made it public he was the bystander. Look very closely and you might also see three decorators, subsequently identified as Alan Flanagan, Steve Millwood and Derek Seagrove, who'd been doing a decorating job in the studio. They stumbled upon the photoshoot on their way back from lunch and stopped to watch.
8. The cover of Abbey Road was seized upon by conspiracy theorists who claimed there was a whole lot of symbolism in it which was conveying the message that Paul McCartney was actually dead. It was, they said, a funeral procession. Lennon was wearing White, a mourning colour in the east, Starr was wearing the western mourning colour of Black, and Harrison, in denim, was the grave digger. As for Paul himself, he was the barefoot corpse (according to Paul he'd started the shoot wearing sandals but had taken them off because it was hot). The conspiracy theorists claim it wasn't Paul at all, but a look alike. Paul, they said, is left handed yet in the picture he holds a cigarette in his right hand. Even the number-plate of the VW Beetle allegedly has a secret meaning. LMW stands for ‘Linda McCartney Weeps’ and 281F means McCartney would have been 28 if he had lived. The police van is there to represent the car crash they alleged had killed Paul.
9. The back cover is also alleged to carry secret messages on a similar theme. The woman in the blue dress is said to be Rita, a fan Paul was driving with when the crash happened, and she was fleeing the scene. She is, in fact, a simple photo bomb. McMillan had gone looking for an interesting Abbey Road street sign for the back cover and was initially irritated when the anonymous woman in blue walked into frame. In the end, however, he decided that was the most interesting shot.
10. The back cover also has the band's name written in tiles, and this sign has a crack in it. While the above mentioned conspiracy theorists say this is another code symbol for Paul being dead, it was the case that the Beatles had already broken up but the public simply didn't know yet.

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Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

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