Episode 36 – Beatles ’69 pt9

The Beatles’ Abbey Road was an instant worldwide hit and would go on to become a template for modern popular music...but which side the listener prefers is a musical inkblot test, sharply dividing listeners even amongst the Beatles themselves. Side A’s straightforward compilation of tracks features benchmarks for each member of the band and their respective songwriting abilities, but what George Martin and Paul McCartney cooked up for side B was truly groundbreaking in its innovation and execution. Like Brian Wilson’s fabled (and at the time unreleased) Smile LP from a few years prior, Martin and McCartney attempted a long suite of songs which, like a classical symphony, would include various movements, recurring themes and integrated melodies. George Harrison’s optimistic Here Comes The Sun opens the side, followed by the three-part harmony dripping off of Lennon’s beautiful Because. From there we launch into You Never Give Me Your Money (a snarky little swipe at Apple business woes) into Sun King, which by the nature of its lyric loosely connects to Harrison’s opening track. Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came In Through The Bathroom Window are next, proving John Lennon offered quite a hefty contribution to the album side he would later pass off as “junk” in interviews following the band’s split. Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End bring the side to its dramatic culmination, somewhat echoing the musical climax that ended Sgt. Pepper. And the comparison’s to Sgt. Pepper don’t stop there - Abbey Road could easily be considered Pepper’s follow-up, as the prominence of George Martin and its slick, purposeful production link those two LPs together far more than the erratic (but masterful in its own way) self-titled double album the year prior. No matter which side you prefer, Abbey Road was yet another triumph by the Beatles, who inched closer and closer to disintegration with each passing day...