By Penny C
For those unfamiliar with The Beatles (is this even possible?) or the band’s famously emulated album cover, here’s something to pick your brain – What’s so special about Abbey Road that has so many artists (and non recording artists) immortalising it?
The story goes way back to 1960 when a rumour, which even the band members thought amusing, got everyone (well mostly the teenage female population) worked up and confused. Was Paul McCartney really dead in the 1960s? At this point if you are suddenly unsure of Sir Paul McCartney’s existence, chill, the guy’s very much alive.
The rumour gained momentum in 1969 when radio stations and newspapers were discussing Sir McCartney’s alledged death. The cover up was this: the original Paul McCartney was replaced by a double after the “accident”.
The deal about Paul McCartney’s alleged death:
Date: 9 November 1966, Wednesday
Time: 5 am
The story: McCartney, while working on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, stormed out of a recording session after an argument with the other Beatles and rode off in his Austin-Healey which he subsequently crashed into a lamp post, and died.
People have apparently linked anything they could find in lyrics of songs such as Lovely Rita, I Am The Walrus and on album covers such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the one we’re featuring here, Abbey Road.
The clues:
A funeral was implied by the looks of the members’ attire on the Abbey Road album cover:
- John Lennon in white, like a clergyman.
- Ringo Starr in a black suit, like an undertaker.
- George Harrison dressed in blue jeans, depicting a gravedigger.
- Paul McCartney in a blue suit without shoes, like a corpse would. He is also pictured walking out of step with the other Beatles.
So there you go, besides its fun and quirky look, the whole hoo-haa about “Paul is Dead” added to the allure of Abbey Road. Pop into our gallery of Abbey roads and view different variations of the cover!
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