Monday, September 26, 2005

The Beatles walk the walk...

If you were to ask most people what the Beatles "Abbey Road" LP was most famous for, the album cover or the music inside, you'd probably get an even split on that answer. Was it the Beatles crossing the street or an album containing 2 of their all-time classic hits, "Come Together" and "Something" ? And oh yes, let's not forget "Octopus's Garden", "Here Comes The Sun", "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and the 16-minute medley that contained "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window", "Golden Slumbers" and "Carry That Weight"...Wow what an album !!!

"Abbey Road" was released on this date in 1969 in England and the rest of the world followed quickly. While the U.S. release date was set for October 1st, cuts from the LP were heard on U.S. radio stations well before that date. Back then what was heard anywhere in the world would follow shortly everywhere in the world. Especially if it was the Beatles...

More on the album cover in my commentary...

1955) Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher said their "I do's"...

1957) "West Side Story" opened on Broadway...

1960) Ted Williams hits a home run (#521) at Fenway Park in his last at-bat...

1960) The first TV debate between presidential candidates Richard Nixon and JFK airs...

1962) "Beverly Hillbillies" premieres on CBS-TV...

1964) "Gilligan's Island" premieres on CBS-TV...

1964) The Kinks release "You Really Got Me"...

1965) The Beatles are decorated with the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth...

1966) "Cherish" by the Association tops the charts...

1968) "Hawaii Five-O" says aloha on CBS-TV...

1969) "Abbey Road" is released in Britain (feature story)...

1969) "The Brady Bunch" debuts on ABC-TV...

1969) The Fillmore West (the original Fillmore) opens in San Francisco...

1975) "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" opens in theaters...

1979) The Clash debut in the U.S. with their first single, "I Fought The Law"...

1984) Prince releases "Purple Rain"...

1986) The episode of "Dallas" featuring Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy) returning from the dead airs to huge ratings...

1986) William H. Rehnquist is sworn in as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court following the retirement of Warren Burger...

1991) An 8-person (4 men, 4 women) crew begin a 2-year stay inside "Biosphere II" in a project to develop technology for future space colonies...

1993) The 8-person crew yells "let me out, let me out" as they leave "Biosphere II" as scheduled...

1995) JFK Jr.'s "George" Magazine premieres...

Happy Birthday to...

1914) Jack LaLanne...

1946) Christie Todd Whitman...

1947) Lynn Anderson...

1948) Olivia Newton-John...

1962) Melissa Sue Anderson...

1981) Serena Williams...

Commentary...

The photo of the Beatles crossing the zebra stripes at Abbey Road had all kinds of symbolism attached to it which just fed the raging flames of the "Paul Is Dead" worldwide rumors...

First of all, Paul is barefoot and out of step with the rest of the Beatles. He also holds a cigarette in his right hand despite being left-handed. A car license plate "281F" supposedly refers to McCartney being 28 if he was still alive (the "I" is actually a "1"). John dressed in white represents Jesus, Ringo in black is the undertaker, George in jeans and a denim work shirt is the gravedigger and Paul is the only one barefoot, like a body in a casket. An American tourist (Paul Cole) is captured by chance in the photo. Hmmm, I wonder if he got royalties ???

Of course by now we know that those rumors were fiction not fact. The Beatles made that spot on Abbey Road, still in use, famous as a popular tourist site and well, how about the album based on musical merit ? It's been ranked as high as 8th greatest album of all-time by VH1 in 2003 and in 2004, 14th best album by Rolling Stone Magazine...