Abbey Road cover

Abbey Road

Released

In many ways, the strongest evidence that the fellas were just built different. They had already made The Beatles on kind of dicey terms with each other and had struggled through Let It Be. These songs were written in bits and bobs (check Peter Jackson’s Get Back for John coaching an oddly insecure George through “Something”) and then corralled by George Martin for their last real, full-on session in three stretches over 1969. They’re The Beatles, right? So if you feel like you’re going  to find a dud, they always come back and bite you. “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window”? Man, ah, no way, that one’s not that…well, hang on. OK, the melody is killer. Lyrics are really weird and great. Kind of a groove, too. Oh, look they’re doing the harmony thing. George has a lovely little guitar figure in here. (Or is it John?) Yeah, they never slept.

Sasha Frere-Jones