They found one on the junction of Abbey Road and Alexandra Road. The 5th pic taken – the one used on the album coverĪfter the session on the crossing Iain MacMillan got in a car with Anthony Fawcett, John and Yoko’s assistant, to find a suitable road sign for the back cover. Another shot was taken but this was far inferior. Shot five was the best by far and the one used on the album cover. Maybe they already had it in mind that the shot would look better going the other way across. Like shot two, the Beatles don’t seem to be concentrating on getting the right pose. Shot four again shows them going from right to left. By shot three Paul has removed the open top sandals he was wearing and is now barefoot – an historic decision! Shot three was probably the best so far, but has traffic too near to the crossing to be perfect. In both shots Paul has his head bowed and is seemingly preoccupied with his feet. Shot two has them walking the other way across, towards the studios. Shot one shows them walking from left to right, with a Mercedes car coming out of the car park of the studios. In the end six photographs were taken, and the whole session only took about 10 minutes. The Beatles were asked to cross the road in procession, while MacMillan attempted to get the best shot. The day was gloriously sunny and Iain MacMillan stood on a stepladder in the middle of the road to get the required angle. This was done deliberately to ensure fans would not interrupt the photo session. This was an early start for them, as normally recording sessions didn’t start until around 5pm. His photos illustrated the catalogue for Yoko’s exhibition Unfinished Paintings and Objects, at which the couple first met.įor the photo shoot, the Beatles congregated by the crossing at around 11.35am. MacMillan had known Yoko before she met John, and it is quite possible that John’s first site of Yoko might have been on one of MacMillan’s photos. The photographer was Iain MacMillan, a long time friend of John and Yoko. A sketch drawn by Paul showing how the picture should look still exists. The idea for the picture was probably Paul McCartney’s.
The famous pose of the Beatles on the Abbey Road crossing endures as one of the most memorable LP covers of all time, and one of the easiest for fans to replicate. The studio was then called EMI and didn’t change its’ name until after the album came out. Incidentally the album was NOT named after the studio, but the road where the studio is situated. Someone had the bright idea that the Beatles should go to the mountain of the same name to shoot the album cover! The Beatles reaction to that idea can’t be repeated here without offence! Finally, it was decided to call the album Abbey Road. Originally the LP was going to be called Everest – after the favourite brand of cigarettes smoked by Geoff Emerick, the Beatles’ recording engineer. However, it wasn’t until after the Beatles named their album after the street it was recorded in that it became world famous and a shrine for fans. A select few even camped in the car park to see their heroes come out after a late night recording session. Their die-hard fans often visited the studios in the hope of catching a glimpse of them coming or going. The Beatles had been coming to Abbey Road for many years to record at the EMI Studios. Abbey Road has never been the same since.Įvery day, fans from around the world come to the crossing to walk in the footsteps of their heroes and to see the studios where they recorded most of their songs. The ‘Fab Four’ were posing for the photo that was to be used on their last album to be recorded. Of course, the four men in question were the Beatles, and the crossing is in Abbey Road.
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