The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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Abbey Road

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I’m not, by any stretch, an avid Beatles fan but I’ve been listening to the remastered version of Abbey Road on Spotify this week, and it struck me what a phenomenal record it really is. Such an innovative record – I find it hard to believe that it was recorded before the 1970s! The production is faultless, and the vocals are, to my ears, the best of any Beatles album. ‘Something’ and ‘Here Comes The Sun’ are works of genius by George Harrison. I think ‘Something’ is actually one of the best records ever written – it’s just amazing. And the medley on side two just works so well – it had the potential to be a self-indulgent disaster, but it’s just so ahead of its time and different. That iconic cover too.. Anyhow, just ordered it on vinyl, a great album from start to finish.

Abbey Road – the First Sleeve Tribute?

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The Abbey Road sleeve is one of the most powerful images in all of rock. The famous zebra crossing photo has been copied by countless artists from The Simpsons to Red Hot Chili Peppers to Sir Paul McCartney himself with his Paul Is Live album.

But how soon did this iconic record cover begin to attract imitators? Very soon indeed it seems. Abbey Road hit the shelves in September 1969 and as early as January 1970 a self-titled LP by Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts appeared showing no fewer than 17 photos on the back cover mimicking the Fabs’ record. Despite the 50s rock & roll revival style name Brett Marvin and the Thunderbolts were actually an also-ran British blues boom outfit with jug band overtones. Just three months after release, I’m saying this was the first Abbey Road pastiche – unless you know different.

Meanwhile let’s see how many Abbey Road tributes/parodies we can come up with.

http://i.imgur.com/spypPB8.jpg