Great Rock Albums (1) the Beatles - Abbey Road

Released in 1969, Abbey Road was the last great album by The Beatles, following on from Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and The White Album.

Deceptively bright, Abbey Road showed, musically at least, no real signs of the tensions within The Beatles, and certainly no strong signs of the imminent disintegration of the greatest pop and rock band of them all. George Harrison introduced a sparkling new guitar sound, and Here Comes the Sun was described by British TV and radio presenter, Michael Parkinson, as "the most optimistic song ever written." The Beatles, it seemed, were keen to bow out on an uplifting note.

In the circumstances, Come Together was a rather wry song to kick off the album, and John Lennon's voice, though pleading, sounded somewhat tired of it all. George Harrison, though, seemed to grow and develop as a songwriter during this unhappy period for the group, and was actually beginning to match Lennon and McCartney as a songwriter. Indeed, his Something was regarded by Frank Sinatra, no less, as the best love song he'd ever heard.

Beatles Humor Intact

There was a lot of humor on Abbey Road, too, from the connected trilogy of Mean Mr Mustard, Polythene Pam, and She Came in Through the Bathroom Window to Ringo Starr's whimsical and endearing Octopus's Garden.

One of the most underrated gems by The Beatles is on Abbey Road - I Want You (She's So Heavy). It's uncomplicated, long, and repetitive - but the repetition has a hypnotic quality, and was one of their many groundbreaking pieces.

The Beatles were also renowned for their harmonies, of course, and on Abbey Road they were never on better form, as on Because and Sun King.

Paul McCartney showed he could sing heavy rock - on Oh! Darling, and his moving vocals were more to the fore on You Never Give Me Your Money and Golden Slumbers. The latter leads into the awesome Carry That Weight, followed by, appropriately in more ways than one - The End. The famous line about love - that what you give then you receive, was a nice thought, if, in reality, often not true at all! But The Beatles certainly gave us a lot of joy - and received OUR love in return.

Abbey Road Track Listing for the original 1969 album
(All Lennon-McCartney songs unless otherwise stated)

Side One
Come Together
Something (Harrison)
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Oh! Darling
Octopus's Garden (Starkey)
I Want You (She's So Heavy)

Side Two
Here Comes the Sun (Harrison)
Because
You Never Give Me Your Money
Sun King
Mean Mr Mustard
Polythene Pam
She Came in Through the Bathroom Window
Golden Slumbers
Carry That Weight
The End
Her Majesty

My other Beatles related article on Associated Content: Why the Beatles Remain the Greatest of All Groups AC have mangled that link, so please try cutting and pasting this link into your browser instead...http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1485226/why_the_beatles_remain_the_greatest.html