“The love you take is equal to the love you make.”

The Beatles, Abbey Road

Beatle fans know that the last album released by the Beatles was “Let it Be“, but the last album recorded by the Beatles was “Abbey Road”  One of the top 10 albums of all time, recorded 43 years ago if you can believe that, Abbey Road is one of my favorite albums.  One of my three wonderful daughters is named Abbey.  Coincidence?  You make the call 🙂

After the near-disastrous sessions for the proposed Get Back album (later released as Let It Be), Paul McCartney suggested to music producer George Martin that the group get together and make an album “the way we used to”, free of the conflict that began following the death of Brian Epstein and carrying over to the sessions for the “White Album“. Martin agreed, stipulating that he must be allowed to do the album his way. This would be the last time the band would record with Martin.

The climax of the album is a 16-minute medley consisting of several short songs, both finished and unfinished, blended into a suite by McCartney and Martin.Most of the songs were written (and originally recorded in demo form) during sessions for The White Album and Get Back/Let It Be sessions.

“The End” is notable for featuring Starr’s only drum solo in the Beatles’ catalog.  Fifty-four seconds into the song are 18 bars of guitar solo: the first two bars are played by McCartney, the second two by Harrison, and the third two by Lennon, with the sequence repeating. Each has a distinctive style which McCartney felt reflected their personalities: McCartney’s playing is in a somewhat rigid staccato style; Harrison’s is melodic with pronounced string bends and Lennon’s is rhythmic, stinging and had the heaviest distortion. Immediately after Lennon’s third solo, the piano chords of the final part of the song begin. The song ends with the memorable final line, “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make”.

“The End” takes up the last 2 minutes and 20 seconds of the masterful 16-minute medley that brings Abbey Road to a climax. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pM3PVzDUCY

Enjoy the day and the weekend.

Webman