In mid-1969, The Beatles recorded their last joint album, which was called " Abbey Road". Many consider it the best album of the famous four, despite the fact that later Lennon spoke of it extremely negatively. Recording of the disc took place in an atmosphere of open hostility between all members of the group, but despite this (or maybe because of this), many of the songs on the album have a cheerful and joyful sound.

The album's working title was "Everest"; it was even suggested that the band would have to travel to the Himalayas for the cover photo. But they, of course, had neither the time nor the inclination. When asked where they wanted to be photographed, Paul McCartney replied: "Why not take it on a regular street." He quickly threw a draft of the future cover on a piece of paper. Meanwhile, John Lennon and Yoko Ono agreed with their friend, 30-year-old English photographer Ian Macmillan.

Ian Macmillan at that time was little known. He graduated from high school in 1954, then briefly worked as an apprentice manager in small firm. Since 1959, Macmillan became a photographer, in the early 1960s, his photographs began to appear in the English press. In the mid-sixties, he met and became friends with Yoko Ono, who in turn introduced him to Lennon.

The famous photograph was taken on August 8, 1969, around half past eleven. “I remember we hired a policeman to stop the traffic while I climbed up the stepladder and took pictures,” recalled Ian Macmillan, “I took a couple of photos of The Beatles crossing the street in one direction. Then we passed the crowded cars, and they went in the other direction - I took a few more pictures. In the end, I chose the fifth shot out of six. It was the only shot where the legs of all four were in an inverted 'V' shape, which is what I was aiming for."

This photo has become the most popular in the music world - even more famous than Richard Avedon's The Beatles, which is one of the twenty most expensive photographs in the world. Every year, thousands of fans gather at the now famous pedestrian crossing. Everyone dreams of taking a picture a la the Beatles, although it is not so easy: Abbey Road is a rather busy street, and no one stops traffic for the sake of tourists.

Anna Gruzdeva

I want to warn you right away that I took all the information from open sources and something from my own memory. I can assume that people from among the real fans of the Beatles are very jealous of the history of the group and the details associated with it. I apologize if I made any inaccuracies.

2. For starters, I want to show a diagram of how to get to this place in London. You need to take the metro to St. John's Wood station (link to the metro map) and go down about 400 meters to Abbey Road:

3. We leave the subway. This is what the station looks like:

3. We go down the Grove End Road. On the left side drew attention to the hospital of St.John and St.Elizabeth. To the left, the window of the hospital dining room overlooks the planted flowers on the hill. What care for the sick:

4. At the intersection of Abbey Road and Grove End there is a memorial to the famous sculptor Edward Onslow Ford:

5. The memorial offers a view of the very passage where the Beatles and just tourists are constantly crowded:

6. Everyone wants to get themselves in the frame at the transition:

7. And back in 1969, during a photo shoot of the Beatles, everything was different:

8. There are many legends about the history of this cover and photography. Why is Paul barefoot, why is John in white, etc. There is a lot of information on the net, here are a couple of links to these topics and:

9. Well, according to tradition, photos with me are clickable. In order to add my LJ as a friend, you can click on my cool scarf:

10. Let's look at the transition closer. They say (write) that he was slightly shifted from his historical place. Read the details on Wikipedia:

11. Well, we continue to admire the creativity of enthusiastic:

12. Asians have always been famous for plastic:

13. Look, the same guy as in the first photos. Although a lot of time has passed. Everyone walks and walks along the transition. Enjoys and angers car drivers:

14. Let's take a break from the Beatles for a while and go a little further along Abbey Road. Literally 200 meters away is a very beautiful Baptist church Abbey Road Baptist Church:

15. Pay attention to the car behind the fence. The parishioners arrived

16. Well, we'll go back, because we haven't looked at another Abbey Road Studios legend:

17. She continues to work today thanks to her popularity:

Very famous world musicians recorded here. From Russia, in 2006, the group Mashina Vremya recorded their album Time Machine here. Andrei Makarevich spoke very flatteringly about the work on the album at that time.

18. Entrance:

19. The same porch 1969:

20. They didn’t let me inside:

22. A few more places where fans love to leave their footprints here. Brickwork studio fence:

24. And the gate supports:

26. Another attraction is the studio webcam:

It is directed to the Abbey Road pedestrian crossing. If you go to the studio's website, you can see what's happening online. Here is a link to the camera: http://www.abbeyroad.com/Crossing. Picture delay about 2 minutes.

28. And finally, a bench, which indicates in which area of ​​London the famous crossing is located:

In conclusion, I propose to watch my video, the frames of which were shot in parallel with the photos of this post:

That's all. See previous parts

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Exactly 44 years ago, The Beatles took their famous Abbey Road album cover photo.

For almost half a century, the legendary "Liverpool Four" has been the most popular and respected group. The musicians, who worked together for only 8 years, managed to record 13 full-fledged albums, and had a huge impact on the development of music.

Abbey Road is considered one of the most significant albums. It was she who became the last joint project of all four members of the ensemble, containing all the best that they managed to create during The Beatles. Widespread fame Got a cover with the Beatles photographed crossing the street Abbey Road. Photographer Ian McMillan had ten minutes to take a picture: this section of the street was specially blocked by the police, since already at that time Abbey Road was one of the busiest in London. McMillan filmed the group from the stairs and took six shots, one of which made it onto the cover. Subsequently, she was recognized as one of the most recognizable covers in the world.

On this day website collected for you the most Interesting Facts about The Beatles and offers photos of the band that changed the world.

Abbey Road cover

[McCartney death theory]

● The cover provided a lot of food for those who developed the "Paul McCartney is dead" theory. According to her, Paul died in 1966, and was replaced by a double. At the same time, the other three members of the group inserted hints of "truth" into the lyrics and covers. So it is here: for some reason, Paul McCartney is barefoot (in some cultures it is customary to bury barefoot), he holds a cigarette in his right hand, and not his left, although he is left-handed. Also, it is in the direction of Paul that a car is driving, which can be seen in the distance. According to the theory, he died in a car accident.

Musicians in 1957

John Lennon is 16, George Harrison and Paul McCartney are 15

[Childhood]

● I must say that the musicians' relatives were skeptical about their work at first. For example, John's aunt, Mimi, always repeated the phrase: “The guitar is a good instrument. However, it is unsuitable for making money.” After becoming rich, John bought his aunt a villa that had a marble wall with the above quote.

● None of the band members ever learned the basics of musical notation.

Photo shoot with champagne, 1965

[The appearance of The Beatles and the first contract]

● At the beginning of its existence, the musicians changed the name of the group more than once: Beatals, Silver Beats, Silver Beetles, Silver Beatles and, finally, The Beatles appeared in April 1960. According to the memoirs of the group members, Sutcliffe and Lennon are considered to be the authors of the neologism, who were fascinated by the idea of ​​coming up with a name that had different meanings at the same time.

● The start of a serious career for The Beatles is usually associated with the name of the band's manager, Brian Epstein. It was he who saw the potential in the group and gave them all possible auditions on record labels. Using his connections in the show business world, Epstein secured an audition with Decca Records, which was scheduled for January 1, 1962. On the morning of the first day of the new year, the foursome and Epstein arrived in London for recording and listening. The result had to wait more than a month and it turned out to be negative. The company's management showed no interest in the material. Epstein was rejected with the wording: "Guitar bands are going out of style." A year later, having signed on another label, the group will lead the national hit parade.

Paul McCartney signs an autograph for a happy fan

[Global Success]

● In October 1962, the group's first single (“Love Me Do”) was released, and in March 1963, their debut album (“Please Please Me”), which led the national hit parade for six months and marked the beginning of the insane popularity of the musicians. While touring in America, The Beatles performed twice on The Ed Sullivan Show, bringing together a record number of viewers in the history of television - 73 million (40% of the US population at that time). This record has not yet been broken by anyone.

● The autograph of the famous "Beatle" Paul McCartney compared to 1997 "has risen in price" nine times and is estimated at $2370.

The Beatles during the filming of Help! in the Bahamas, 1965

[Divine Providence]

● John Lennon once said at the height of his fame that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ. Outraged by this statement, radio station KLUE from a small Texas town held a public burning of records and other symbols of The Beatles, in which many of its listeners took part. The next day, the building of the radio station was struck by lightning, after which the equipment was disabled, and the announcer fainted.

The Beatles rehearsing while relaxing in Miami Beach, 1964

[The truth about the song Yesterday]

● When Paul McCartney was recording the song Yesterday, the professional musicians from the string quartet accompanying him called the composition "a seven-bar non-square construction" and said that music was not written that way. After the recording, the other members of the band questioned whether it should even be included on the album and insisted that the song not be released separately. As a result, she entered the British hit parade performed by singer Matt Monroe, who released his own version of the hit. In other countries, the song was released as a single and soared to the top of the charts almost everywhere.

Ringo Star in concert, 1964

[Ringo Star]

● The school desk where Ringo Starr once studied is today one of the objects of pilgrimage. You can even sit behind it for a while: however, fork out for five pounds. But once on the abilities of a sickly boy who studied at school for only two years, everyone put an end to it.

Paul McCartney talking to his future wife Linda Eastman, 1967

[Women]

● Women played a special role in the life of the band members. At one time, all four, being British, married American women. The appearance of Yoko Ono at the band's rehearsals caused protests from the rest of the Beatles. Because of this, the musicians felt uncomfortable, and the tension within the group increased. At the same time, John and Yoko were engaged in joint creativity. Yoko took part in the recording of some songs by The Beatles.

Photo from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967

[Drug influence]

● When The Beatles recorded the song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, John Lennon attributed the origin of the song's title to his son Julian's christening of his drawing. However, many saw in this name a hint of the drug LSD, because it was such an abbreviation that was formed from its first letters, and the BBC completely banned the song from rotation. Paul McCartney later revealed that the influence of LSD on the song is pretty obvious.

The Beatles in London, 1968

[Royal Reception]

● During the performance of the Beatles in the royal variety show, the royal family joined their listeners. The audience, feeling the "highest" presence, behaved rather stiffly and even applauded with an eye on the royal box. Noticing this, John said after performing one of the songs: “People in the cheap seats, don't be shy, clap! And the rest of you, too, join in - shake your jewelry! The queen was not at all offended by the joker (here it is, a good sense of English humor!) And even gave Lennon an expensive ring.

John Lennon on the set of The Magical Mystery Journey

[Experimenting with creativity]

● During the recording of one of The Beatles' albums, Lennon sang part of the song Yellow Submarine into a microphone while wearing a condom. At first, John wanted to record underwater to create a presence in the submarine. But since that was impossible, he took a bottle of water and stuffed the microphone into it. And to protect the microphone from shorting, he took a condom and put it on the microphone. Otherwise, John might just explode because there are 240 volts going through the microphone. This was part of the lead vocal, but it was never used.

● It is believed that the Beatles were the first to use a kind of sound effect called signal winding or feedback. The characteristic sound of this effect can be heard at the beginning of a song called I Feel Fine, recorded in 1964.

Police struggle to contain crowd of fans at Buckingham Palace

Beatles fans in New York

[ Beatlemania]

● Many of the Beatles' jokes were taken seriously by their fans. Once Paul told reporters that he loves chocolate candies, but eats them extremely rarely - George will confiscate everything sweet from him. After that, Beatlemania turned into chocolate mania: the Apple studio was filled with piles of chocolate, and many parcels came with a note: “This is not for George, but for Paul!”. Fans showered the musicians with sweets and "live" - ​​during performances.

● Fans of the legendary four wanted to keep at least some “artifact” about them as a keepsake. This particularly amused McCartney, who liked to lean out of the hotel window and throw a half-smoked cigarette on the ground. Dozens of girls fought for the right to own a cigarette butt.

The last joint picture of The Beatles, 1969

[Group Breakup]

“We dreamed of changing something in this world ... but everything remained the same. They still sell guns to South Africa and blacks get killed in the street. People still live in poverty, and rats run over them. Only crowds of wealthy loafers walk around London in fashionable rags. I no longer believe in the Beatles myth. John Lennon

● Relations within The Beatles finally deteriorated in 1968. Lennon and Paul McCartney have accumulated a lot of claims to each other. Lennon, for example, did not like the fact that McCartney pulled the blanket over himself, and he was dissatisfied with Lennon's apathy and constant stay in the studio during Yoko Ono's recordings. In addition, their creative collaboration practically ceased, Lennon was increasingly inclined towards psychedelic (“Strawberry Fields Forever”), acid rock (“I am the Walrus”) and avant-garde (“Revolution 9”).

John Lennon autographing his killer Mark David Chapman, 1980

[Assassination of John Lennon]

● On December 8, 1980, John Lennon was assassinated by US citizen Mark David Chapman. At 22:50, when Lennon and Yoko Ono were returning from the studio, Chapman, seeing Lennon, shouted after him “Hey, Mr. Lennon!”, After which he shot him five times (Lennon was hit by four bullets). Then Chapman sat down on the pavement under the lamp and began to read the book by the American writer D. D. Salinger "The Catcher in the Rye." Lennon was taken to the hospital, where he died from severe blood loss. Death was pronounced at 23:15. Chapman did not attempt to flee the scene of the crime and did not resist arrest. He applied for parole 7 times (most recently in August 2012), but they were all denied.

The Beatles

● The Beatles had a significant impact on rock music and are recognized by experts as one of the most successful bands of the 20th century, both in a creative and commercial sense. Many famous rock musicians admit that they became such under the influence of the songs of this group. Despite the fact that the former glory of the musicians is long gone, fan concerts are regularly held all over the world.

● The Beatles have sold more than one billion records and more albums sold in the US than any other artist.

Almost 43 years ago the Beatles crossed a zebra street in north London. The famous photo shoot on Abbey Road began at 11:30 am on August 8, 1969 and lasted only 10 minutes.

To commemorate the Beatles' trip to the recording studio, photographer Ian McMillan ( Iain Macmillan) took only 6 frames. The rest of the photos were taken by Mel Evans and Linda McCartney...

Photographer Ian McMillan had ten minutes to take a picture: this section of the street was specially blocked by the police, since Abbey Road was already one of the busiest in London at that time. McMillan filmed the group from the stairs and took six shots, one of which made it onto the cover.

Ian received this sketch from Paul McCartney a few days before filming. The thumbnail shows where to shoot and what the photo should look like. Yen added his sketch in the top right corner to confirm the layout.

Let's follow the order in which Ian McMillan took the pictures:

Photo 1 - The Beatles begin their session across the street from Abbey Road Studios. Paul McCartney is still in sandals. The VW Beetle is present until the end of the session, but the police van is not yet visible.

Photo 2 - Paul continues to walk in his flip-flops, but by the next frame he has left them on the pavement.

Photo 3 - A queue of cars and a bus appears. Paul is already walking barefoot.

Photo 4 - Another bus is waiting for the Beatles to cross the road.

Photo 5 - Friend, famous photo from the cover where they keep pace. A police van appeared. This photo has been edited for use on the cover. The original photo has not been published.

In 2011, the album cover was ranked 26th in the list of the best album covers of all time, according to readers of the online publication. Music Radar

This is the same photo as above, but with a slightly different tint. 2009 remastered version of the photo.

Photo 6. Last shot of the session. Another bus is visible in the distance.

During his lifetime, Macmillan said in an interview: "I took several pictures of The Beatles crossing the street in one direction. Then we let the cars pass and went the other way - I took a few more pictures. In the end, I chose the fifth shot from six. It was the only shot where the legs of all four were in an inverted "V" shape, which is what I was aiming for."

The car "Volkswagen Beetle" with the number LMW281F, standing near the crossing, belonged to a resident of one of the neighboring houses. After the release of the album, the plate with the number was repeatedly stolen. In 1986, the car was sold at Sotheby's to an American collector for £2,530.

White suit of The Beatles leader John Lennon was sold at the auction house Braswell Galleries in the US for 46 thousand dollars. It was in these clothes that the legendary musician was captured on the cover of the Abbey Road album.

The white suit, in which Lennon is photographed crossing a pedestrian zebra outside the Abbey Road recording studio in London, was custom-made in 1969 by Russian-born French designer Edmond (Ted) Lapidus.

A random passer-by onlooker (Paul Cole, a resident of Florida), who got into the camera lens while on vacation in London, became widely known. He later said that at that time the musicians seemed to him like crazy people.

Paul Cole himself noticed himself on the cover of the album only a year later, and he had to convince his relatives that it was he, and not anyone else.

In a 2004 interview with the Scripps newspaper, Mr. Cole told an amazing story...

In the 1960s, Paul Cole ran a small shop in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Worked a lot, rested little. In 1969, his wife persuaded him to take a vacation and rush to London for a week. Paul agreed.

While in London, his wife dragged him to numerous museums and exhibitions, which very quickly bored Paul. Refusing to enter another museum, he said to his wife: “Honey, we have already visited ten museums! If you want to enter the eleventh, then without me.” His wife granted his desire and left him to chill outside. Paul found shade as he turned onto Abbey Road, which was lined with trees on both sides.

And this is a dramatization - 'Abbey Road' from the perspective of Paul Cole

Twenty meters away from him, four guys kept crossing from one side of the street to the other. This process was filmed by a photographer who periodically ran out with a ladder to the middle of the street. "Crazy, those Englishmen!" Paul thought to himself. Being a man far from popular music, he absolutely did not recognize these guys George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr And John Lennon.

As you know, the photographer took several pictures for the cover 'Abbey Road' to select one of them. So Paul Cole is present in all the pictures.

Only a year later, in 1970, Paul noticed a record with the same photograph on the shelves of music stores. Paul bought it and brought it home to show his wife and kids. "Take a magnifying glass, kids, and find your father!" he grinned.

All these years, he silently shared the glory with the Liverpool Four, appearing with them on the covers of magazines, T-shirts, posters, mugs, badges, postage stamps and other products.

Paul Cole died in 2008 in Florida, a little before the age of 96. In 1969, without knowing it, he proved the efficiency of the phrase "IN right time, in the right place".

Since then, the cover of the new album has become a legend for two reasons - no cover like this one has become the object of so many imitations, and no cover like this one has generated so many conspiracy legends.

For crazy fans with inflamed imaginations, this was the ultimate proof of the delusional legend of the time - that Paul McCartney is really dead.

According to this legend, Paul died in a car accident and was replaced by a doppelgänger. The band, legend has it, felt guilty about this deception and placed hidden signs on the album cover for their fans.

Thus, even today, despite Sir Paul's pronounced health, they continue to insist that if you look closely at the images on the front and back cover, you will find symbols of death hidden there.

There is no doubt that this album meant only one death. It was not yet known to the public at that time that the Beatles were in the last stages of disintegration, and this was their last album.

Relations between the band members deteriorated so much that they abandoned the original title of the Everest album and the Himalayan photography, and instead filmed outside the studio - and this was the only thing they did by mutual agreement.

Die-hard fans, however, could read much more from the photographs.

1.FUNERAL

The procession of the Beatles, walking along the "zebra", means a funeral for Paul. John Lennon walks in front in a white suit and symbolizes a priest.

Ringo Star is a mourner dressed in black. George Harrison, in a scruffy shirt and jeans, represents the gravedigger. Paul is wearing old suit and he is the only one who goes barefoot.

He later explained that he started filming in sandals, but later took them off as it was a very hot day. Adherents of the legend say that if this is true, then walking on hot asphalt is uncomfortable, and this once again confirms that Pol is a corpse.

2. CIGARETTE

Paul is left-handed, but here he is holding a cigarette in his right hand. Cigarettes are commonly referred to as "nails in the coffin." Thus, this is a sign that Paul's "coffin lid" is boarded up, and the man in the photo is his doppelgänger.

Paul is also out of step with the rest of the group. Everyone has a left foot in front, and Paul has a right foot, which again confirms that he is different from the others.

3. REGISTRATION NUMBER

The white Volkswagen Beetle in the background has registration number LMW 28IF. Conspiracy theorists say this means Paul would have been 28 IF he hadn't died.

Paul was actually 27 years old when "Abbey Road" was released, but fortunately for conspiracy theorists, Indian mystics calculate a person's age from conception, not birth, so in this case, Paul would indeed be 28 years old.

This is supported by the fact that the musicians were famous adherents of the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. LMW is also believed to stand for "Linda McCartney Weeps" - referring to Paul's wife, whom he married earlier this year.

4. spectators

In the background, a small group of white-clad people stand on one side of the street, and a lone person stands on the other side.

Does this mean that Paul is alone and separate from the others?

5. POLICE MINIBUS

There is a black police van parked on the right side of the street, a reference to the police remaining silent on "Paul's death".

According to legend, the band's manager Brian Epstein bought this silence, and the presence of a police "bean" in the photo is another "thank you".

6.LINE OF MACHINES

You can draw a line from the Volkswagen Beetle to the three cars in front of it. If it is passed through their right wheels, it will just touch Paul's head, and according to theorists, this means that Paul received a head injury in a car accident.

7. BLOOD SPOT

A stain can be seen on the Australian version of the album. It can be seen as a bloodstain on the road, it is located between Ringo and John, indirectly confirming the version of a car accident.

Linda McCartney and Mel Evans were present throughout the session and took many photographs. Many of them have not yet been published due to litigation. But some of them are available.

Before shooting, while waiting for the police, and during the rehearsal, several photos were taken:

The Beatles' discography has two components that are inseparable from each other: the music itself and the envelopes in which this music is packaged.

In retrospect, one can sympathize with the artists, photographers, and designers who created the covers for the Beatles' vinyl records. No matter how flawless the envelope intended to store the records of the greatest band in the world looked, the attitude to it in the 60s of the XX century was the same as to simple wrapping paper. The most valuable, from the point of view of the music buyer, was inside, not outside. Over time, it became clear that the covers of the Beatles vinyls are not just beautiful packaging. They not only complement the music stored in them, but are also independent works of art. The original works of artists and photographers, which served as the basis for the design of envelopes, are sold at auctions for a lot of money. Beatles record covers develop creative potential modern society, inspiring ordinary people, far from music business, to rethink and even parody the plots depicted on them.

Let's take a look at how the Beatles' album covers evolved along with the music they played.

Please, please me

Photographer: Angus McBean

When it came to the cover for the band's first LP, Beatles producer George Martin suggested calling the record "Off The Beatle Track," using a homophone to beat the English idiomatic expression "off the beaten track" - "go off the beaten track." Thus, Martin wanted to kill two birds with one stone: to emphasize the innovative side of the music of his wards and to draw attention to the name of the band. The photo session was planned to be held in the insectarium of the London Zoo, next to the pavilion that contained the beetles. To realize an unusual artistic concept, the famous surrealist theatrical photographer Angus McBean was invited. The idea with the beetles was good, but the conservative Zoological Society of London did not appreciate the bold idea. Martin's request to shoot at the zoo was resolutely refused.

After the zoo idea failed, it was decided to take a series of shots in McBean's own studio. The photos turned out good, but for some reason George Martin didn't like them.

McBean began to think about turning down the capricious client, but agreed to do another photoshoot with the Beatles. This time he chose the place for shooting himself.

The photograph for the Beatles' first LP was taken on March 5, 1963, on the inside staircase of EMI's London office, which at the time was located in the Manchester Square area. McBean only had a regular portrait lens with him. In order to get the right angle, he had to lie on his back.

In 1969, McBean once again photographed the Beatles standing in the same poses on the EMI office stairs for the cover of the unreleased Get Back album.

With The Beatles

Photographer: Robert Freeman

In August 1963, the Beatles toured small towns on the north coast of Great Britain. Together with them, at the invitation of Brian Epstein, a young photographer Robert Freeman went on tour. Epstein was impressed by his black-and-white photographs of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane and expected that Freeman, after spending a few days with the Beatles, would take photos for their new record, which was due out in the fall.

From conversations with the band, Freeman realized that the Beatles needed a cover with black and white photography, similar to Astrid Kirchherr's gloomy and unsettling photographs taken by her in 1960 during the Beatles' performances in Hamburg.

The location for the photo shoot was the dark corridor of the Palace Court Hotel in Bournemouth. To make the serious, unsmiling faces of the musicians look like they are emerging from the dark space that enveloped them, Freeman greatly increased the contrast of the image. To do this, he used high-grain sensitive film and a 180mm telephoto lens.

The management of the record company EMI, on which the record was published, was against black and white image groups. At the time, monochrome photographs were being used on the cover of jazz musicians, and marketing managers feared that redesigning the cover of popular music artists would negatively affect sales of the disc. Their fears were not justified. The record received half a million pre-orders even before its official release.

A Hard Day's Night

Photographer: Robert Freeman

The photo on the cover of the Liverpool Four's third record is another classic work by Robert Freeman. Most of the songs included in "A Hard Day's Night" were recorded for the film of the same name. Freeman, trying to emphasize the connection of the record with the cinema, designed portrait photographs musicians in the form of film frames. To convey the dynamics of the filmmaking process, the photographer, while shooting, asked the quartet members to constantly change their position in the frame.

The cover design changed depending on which country the record was released for. For example, in the American and Brazilian editions, the usual blue background of the envelope was replaced with red. In addition, the American edition has four large shots of the Beatles on the cover, instead of twenty small shots like in the English one.

The Beatles For Sale

Photographer: Robert Freeman

In late 1964, the Beatles, Brian Epstein and Robert Freeman met to discuss a new album cover. They decided to make it in the form of a drop-down envelope with a color photograph. The shooting was supposed to take place outdoors.

One autumn day, the Beatles and Robert Freeman went to Hyde Park, intending to get a breath of autumn air and, at the same time, take a few pictures for the future cover. The photographer didn't want the Beatles to prepare for the shoot, so the guys dressed as usual in black coats and white shirts. Their necks were decorated with black scarves.

The walk dragged on, and when it came to the photos, it turned out that it was seven in the evening and the sun was about to set. Freeman, based on the circumstances, decided not to delay the process and quickly took a few pictures, hoping in the future to use the best ones for the envelope.

As a result, a photograph was chosen for the front cover with two blurred color spots in the foreground, which, in fact, were leaves of a branch held by an assistant. The Beatles look tired and distant. Apparently, the musicians' emotional state was affected by the sudden fame and busy schedule of performances.

On the back of the envelope Freeman placed a picture of the Beatles against the background of fallen autumn leaves which he did by climbing a tree.

Help!

Photographer: Robert Freeman

To work on the cover of Help! Robert Freeman was invited again.

Thinking about the design of the envelope, Freeman recalled footage from the commercial of the film of the same name, in which the Beatles waved their arms to the music. It seemed that they were using the sailors' signaling system - the semaphore alphabet.

The scene was filmed in the Austrian Alps, and the Beatles, dressed all in black, looked great against the pure white snow.

The result of Freeman's creative efforts was unusual idea- put on the front side of the cover the word HELP, made up of figures of the Beatles, depicting letters using semaphore signals.

To achieve this goal, he built a special platform in his studio with a backdrop painted white. The Beatles put on coats and caps, as in the commercial, but in blue, and, depicting semaphore signals with their hands, took their places in the right order. When everything was ready for shooting, Freeman, looking at the composition through the camera's viewfinder, realized that the order of gestures with which the Beatles depicted letters did not look at all in the frame.

To make the picture more expressive, the order of the depicted letters had to be changed, and the photographs of the musicians themselves were mirrored, swapping the left and right sides.

From a graphical point of view, the result turned out to be impeccable, but the original idea had to be abandoned. A word made up of semaphore signals transmitted by a group has no meaning. On the cover of the British edition, the Beatles are portrayed by the hands of NUJV. On the American record, the same letters are in a different order, NVUJ.

rubber soul

Photographer: Robert Freeman

Robert Freeman wanted the cover of Rubber Soul to be dominated by browns, blacks and green shades. So he asked the Beatles to wear brown suede jackets and several times photographed the group against the background of thickets of rhododendron. According to Freeman, it was in Kenwood, in the garden that belonged to John Lennon.

A few days later, Freeman invited the "cool four" to his studio to see the resulting pictures with them and choose the best ones. For clarity, he projected photographs onto a vertically standing white piece of cardboard, the dimensions of which corresponded to the dimensions of the envelope. During the demonstration of the next photo, the cardboard screen began to fall, and its position relative to the slide projector changed. The random distorted projection with elongated faces was liked by everyone except Freeman. Despite his protests, the Beatles insisted that an out-of-proportion photograph be printed on the cover of Rubber Soul.

George Harrison later said: “Thanks to the long faces, for the first time we stopped looking like little innocent children. On the cover of Rubber Soul, the Beatles look like heavy marijuana smokers."

Revolver

Designer: Klaus Voormann

Photographer: Robert Whitaker

Initially, the irreplaceable Robert Freeman was invited as the photographer for the cover of Revolver.

On the front side of the envelope, Freeman suggested placing a photo montage consisting of the faces of the band members filling the surface of the conditional circle.

It was assumed that the photo could be rotated. In the process of rotation, many images had to merge into one face, simultaneously resembling all four Beatles.But for some reason, Freeman did not succeed in realizing this wonderful idea. The photographer did not have time to create another design for the design of Revolver - he was working on his first film, and this was the end of the Beatles' collaboration with Freeman.

Despite the fact that Robert Freeman was never the official photographer of the Beatles, it was he who took the best photos groups.

Klaus Voormann became the new designer of Revolver. A friend of the Beatles since their Hamburg trip, he recently moved to London and happily agreed to work on the cover of his old pals' record.

After listening to a few tracks, Wurman decided that the cover art for Revolver should be different from appearance previous envelopes. He wanted it to reflect the psychedelic vibe that pervaded the record. With a fountain pen and black ink, the artist drew four large images of the Beatles. He then superimposed on the resulting drawing black and white photographs of the Beatles taken by Bob Whitaker (Bob Whitaker) and added a few photos from his personal archive.

Creating a collage, Wurman did not forget about himself. Between the heads of Ringo and George, you can see a photo of the author of the cover.

In 1967, Wurman won a Grammy Award for Best Album Cover, Graphic Work for his Revolver cover.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Designer: Peter Blake

Photographer: Michael Cooper

The starting point for old photo jazz band in which Paul's father Jim McCartney once played.

“At that point, everyone was a little tired of the Beatles. So we decided to pretend that we were a completely different band, a street brass band that plays in the park on weekends, ”Paul later recalled.

In the original sketches McCartney made for the envelope, the Beatles dressed in military uniform stood against a wall of celebrities and dignitaries.

Paul showed the drawings to his friend, the owner of an art gallery, Robert Fraser.

To translate Paul's ideas into a complete solution, Fraser brought in pop art artist Peter Blake, who had already painted the Beatles in 1963.

After discussing with Paul the basic concept of the future record, Peter suggested placing on the front side of the cover a collage in which the band members, dressed in military band uniforms, are surrounded by historical figures, famous writers, musicians and actors. The artist even had a list of characters ready to appear on the sleeve of the record. The Beatles did not like Blake's choice, and they proposed other candidates for their entourage. As a result, it was accepted compromise solution, and on the cover were both the idols of the Beatles and those chosen by Peter Blake.

Blake decided to abandon the usual way of creating a collage - the layout of cut out pictures on paper. He built a spatial composition, using for this both real objects and life-size photographs of characters pasted on cardboard, and placed the real Beatles in its center.

Photographing the incredible 3D scene was entrusted to veteran photographer Michael Cooper, who did a brilliant job.

Peter Blake's wife, artist Ian Haworth, was involved in the layout and placement of three-dimensional objects.

Designer Jean Mahon was hired as project coordinator. He reviewed and selected the photographs that Cooper took over the three days of filming.

The famous drum, which allegedly indicates the date of Paul McCartney's death, was painted by decorator Joe Afgrave.

The psychedelic-colored military uniforms worn by the Beatles were specially made by the Burman Theater Agency.

As a result, the cost of developing the cover design exceeded one and a half thousand pounds sterling, which greatly upset the management of the EMI company, which had a contract with the Beatles to publish Sgt.

But the costs paid off. In 1967, the album received four Grammy awards, including the award for the best cover of the year.

Magical Mystery Tour

Photographer: John Kelly

Designer: John Van Hammersveld

Despite the fact that the group was left without management after the death of Brian Epstein in 1967, the Beatles, against all odds, decided to make their own television film about the bus journey. Moreover, the soundtrack for it was, one might say, ready: these were six songs that, for various reasons, were not included in the Orchestra of the Lonely Hearts Club of Sergeant Pepper. Film enthusiasts basically abandoned a pre-written script, believing that there is nothing better than natural improvisation. The initiator of a bold creative experiment was Paul, who independently took on the duties of a team leader.

Of course, the Beatles did not succeed in cinema, but, as always, the music turned out. In December 1967, the soundtrack to the film found its own existence. The recording was released in the UK as two mini-albums, the so-called EP (extended play), with three songs on each.

In the US, the EP format was not in demand and the disc was published as a full-fledged longplay (LP), supplementing it with five tracks that had already been released on singles. Subsequently, the American version became the official version of the recording.

The English edition of the Magical Mystery Tour was a self-closing booklet with two 45-rpm vinyl records inside. beatles pictures by John Kelly, stills from the film and an animated comic book based on the film. In addition, lyrics were printed on four pages in the middle of the booklet.

In the American edition, the lyrics were printed on a separate tab. The booklet, identical in content to the British version, was also enclosed in an envelope and had the printing format of a vinyl LP.

The artwork on both covers was the same and depicted the Beatles in animal costumes. In the American version, a yellow border was added around the photo with the song titles printed on it. The frame was designed by John Van Hammersveld, a well-known American designer and future cover artist for rock icons such as the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead.

Like Sgt. Pepper, the cover of the Magical Mystery Tour caused an unhealthy stir among a certain part of the Beatles fans, associated with allusions to the death of Paul McCartney and his subsequent replacement with a doppelgänger. From the film it is clear that the walrus is Lennon, McCartney is the hippo, Harrison is the rabbit, and Ringo got the chicken costume. However, many have decided that the walrus was Paul, because in the culture of some northern peoples this animal is a symbol of death.

Designer: Richard Hamilton

After the release of "Sergeant Pepper", the colorful and compositionally complex cover of which contained many mysterious allusions and encrypted allusions, the Beatles, considering the design of the next disc, decided to get by with a minimum of artistic means.

According to the original idea, her envelope was to be made of transparent material and inside it was the same transparent vinyl disc. Ultimately, a beautiful idea had to be abandoned due to the fact that at that time there was no technology for the production of transparent vinyl.

The Beatles' friend and art gallery owner Peter Fraser advised the band to approach London's well-known avant-garde artist Richard Hamilton.

Hamilton already had experience working with images of rock musicians. Shortly before meeting the Beatles, he responded to the arrest of Mick Jagger, who was accused of possession of drugs, with the painting Swingeing London (Stunning London), giving new meaning to the well-known expression swinging London (swinging London).

After speaking with Paul McCartney, Hamilton, who was close to the ideas of concept art, proposed a completely white cover without images and text with a single embossed "The Beatles" lettering on the front side. On the first editions of the record, you can see a unique serial number stamped in an arbitrary place.

Yellow Submurine

Designer: Heinz Edelmann

The Yellow Submurine soundtrack LP may not be an outstanding piece of music, but its cover is one of the most striking artworks in the history of rock music. This happened due to the fact that the cartoon, the characters of which are depicted on the envelope, revolutionized the world of cartoon cinema and became long years a source of inspiration for animators, graphic designers and advertising creators.

It was not the first time that the Beatles became movie characters, including cartoon ones. In America, several short cartoons with their participation were released, which teenagers watched with pleasure. At first, the producers of Yellow Submurine wanted to use existing characters in their film, but they turned out to be too simple for the musical ideas that appeared in the music of the Beatles with the release of "Sergeant Pepper". The new cartoon required a different creative approach.

The main artist of Yellow Submurine was the graphic artist Heinz Edelmann, whose unusual illustrations in the German avant-garde magazine Twen interested the film's directors.

Edelmann had a lot of experience with posters, and he successfully used it, making the cartoon characters flat and painting them in bright colors.

Although Edelmann was never addicted to drugs, he managed to imbue the film with a psychedelic feeling with the help of unusual color schemes and fast-paced events. Many critics credit Edelmann's drawings as a decisive influence on the film's plot.

Abbey Road

Photographer: Ian McMillan

Designer: John Kosh

The Beatles wanted to call their twelfth record Everest.

This brand of cigarettes was smoked by one of EMI's sound engineers, and the Beatles liked the pack, which depicted the silhouette of an ice-covered mountain peak.

They even planned a trip to the Himalayas in order to be photographed against the backdrop of an impregnable mountain. But the budget allocated for recording the record was completely spent by that time, and the trip did not take place.

The resourceful Paul, since the money had run out, offered to abandon the expensive photo shoot with exotic landscapes and take pictures "on the spot" right on the pedestrian zebra in front of the recording studio. He illustrated his idea with the help of a rough pencil sketch that later became famous.

John liked McCartney's offer, and he asked his friend freelance photographer Ian McMillan to take part in the shooting. The photograph of the Beatles crossing the road was taken by McMillan at approximately 11:30 am on August 8, 1969. The policeman agreed to stop the traffic for only ten minutes, during which time Macmillan, having climbed a stepladder set in the middle of the road, managed to take six pictures.

Paul, having studied the finished negatives, chose frame number five, because it was the only frame where all four Beatles were walking along the pedestrian markings at the same time.

Upon its release, the record achieved unprecedented commercial success, spending 17 weeks in the UK and 11 weeks in the US at No.

Let It Be

Photographer: Ethan Russell

Designer: John Kosh

The album Let It Be was released on May 8, 1970, and became the last studio work of the musicians. The recording consisted of old backing tracks recorded for the unreleased Get Back LP and several new songs. On the back of the envelope was an annotation stating that Let It Be is a new step in the work of the Beatles, which they managed to climb thanks to their collaboration with American sound engineer Phil Specter. The merit of the Specter was that he changed the original sound of the group beyond recognition, causing, thereby, the indignation of Paul McCartney and scathing criticism in the music press.

The publishers wanted to design the front side of the Get Back cover with a photograph that repeated the composition of the photograph on the Please, please me sleeve and depicted mature Beatles standing in familiar poses on the stairs of the EMI studio.

The name of the record and its artwork indicated that the Beatles were returning to their roots: rhythm and blues and rock and roll. But since, thanks to Phil Specter, nothing remained of the original concept, the design of the envelope had to be changed.

By the time Let It Be was released, the Beatles no longer existed as a single group, and it was impossible to hold a photo shoot with the participation of all members of the group. Cover designer John Kosh, who was responsible for the cover art, used four separate photographs of John, Paul, Ringo and George taken by Ethan Russell in January 1969 during the filming of Let It Be to solve the problem.

In the UK, the record was packaged in a box, inside of which, in addition to the vinyl disc, there was a 164-page booklet with many color photographs and voluminous text telling about the making of Let It Be.

The records that make up the Beatles discography were designed in different ways. Their design was not united by a single concept. But, despite this, the artistic level of the covers has always met the high musical standards of the Fab Four.

Sources

1. Album covers: Please Please Me
2. The Beatles' Album Artwork Secrets: Each Sleeve's Story Revealed
3 Designing Revolution: The Beatles Album Covers
4. Robert Freeman (photographer)