Masterpiece #6: George Martin's album
It's well known that the recording sessions for "Let It Be" actually predated "Abbey Road". The "Let It Be" (known as "Get Back" at the time) sessions ended in a morass of failure, disputes and blame games, so the Beatles collective egos must have been knocked down as well.
Moreover, as expected, the reception for the Beatles four song contribution to the cartoon movie "Yellow Submarine" was also underwhelming. Yes, the animation was great, but being reduced to mere cartoon figures didn't inflate their egos either.
So when the Beatles meekly decided to give it one more go for "Abbey Road", producer George Martin was able fill the power and ego vacuum with his own pure vision of how the music should unfold.
In sum, everyone wanted to get as far away as possible from the minimal back-to-basics, less-is-more aesthetic of "Let It Be". This time, more would be more. And "more" meant more production from George Martin. Many have called this album a miracle, and if so, it's George Martin's miracle.
This was demonstrated most on Side Two, where the cross-fade and medley format of "Sgt. Pepper" was taken to an even greater level of intervention. The segues sometimes stand out more than the songs. And then there's vocal harmonies! And the instrumentation! Interestingly, the songs are not really all that great. John's "Mean Mr. Mustard"? Who goes around whistling that? But some of Paul's songs aren't much better. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer"? Really?
Its a clear consensus that the two best songs on the album are George Harrison's, "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun". The memorable guitar and orchestra riff on "Something" sounds like it was taken from the same French folk tune that 19th century composer Vincent D'Indy lifted for his most well-known symphony. That sounds like the work of George Martin.
But John didn't really buy into all this at all. He didn't see the point of melding Side 2 into a single unified work. It's hard to hear where he had much involvement in the great climactic second half of Side 2 at all. George brought in Eric Clapton for the great guitar part to return the favor for his contribution to the Cream song, "Badge".
So while "Abbey Road" was a triumphant return to form for the Beatles, making them perhaps even more popular than ever, it is a very singular work that did not leave them in any better position to move forward from there. The album is unified, but the Beatles weren't.
1 - Come Together
2 - Something (George Harrison)
3 - Maxwell's Silver Hammer
4 - Oh! Darling
5 - Octopus's Garden (Richard Starkey)
6 - I Want You (She's So Heavy)
7 - Here Comes the Sun (George Harrison)
8 - Because
9 - You Never Give Me Your Money
10 - Sun King
11 - Mean Mr. Mustard
12 - Polythene Pam
13 - She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
14 - Golden Slumbers
15 - Carry That Weight
16 - The End
17 - Her Majesty
(all songs Lennon / McCartney except as indicated)
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