Lennon unt McCartney: then unt nau.

Lennon unt, as I clearly state in the blog post title, McCartney, then unt, as I clearly state in the blog post title, nau, above. John circa Pepper, Paul circa New.

But woooah there Padre! Just you hold on a minute! Who is this little fanny pack?:

Yes, that's right! It's me! (As ye will shurely know if ye read the almost identical post from blahblahblah...)

Abbey Road: further flotsam.

Anne Copley lived opposite the corner of Abbey Road and Alexandra Road in 1969, and had the presence of mind to nip over and salvage the very tiles featured on the rear of the titular sleeve (or what was left of them) mid-demolition, as the famous intersection was being consumed by the Alexandra Housing development.
She glued the bits together, stuck 'em in a cupboard, and there they remained for 40 years. And now she's sold them. Price? 7 grand.
Amazing (or not) how much remains: the white suit worn by John, the non-white suit sported by the Schnoz, the metal studs from the side of the crossing, the VW...and now the tiles. Whither the Black Maria?
Another bit o' fluff, filched from the estimable Beatles Bible site, purportedly shows the actual crossing captured later on the actual day that the actual sleeve shot was actually err... shot. Looks like it too; while that may or may not be the same car parked near the far gate, the outline of the trees is identical:

Mmmmmmmmmm...sweet trivia.

The Beetle: 281F

Yaaaah, apparently the Chassis number is 118583936, and, this is fascinating, the engine number is actually 0920080 (it's a rear mounted air-cooled transverse flat-four, of course), and blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
Right?


Errrr...right. There are limits, but I am ashamed to "admite" that I read the above (taken from the 1986 auction where the actual VW was actually sold, for the actual sum of 2530 quid) with some degree of interest (though what it "means" vis-a-vis Paul being "ex", I know not).

Abbey Road: or is it?

Above: Abbey Road, this morning, 13th August 2011.
Below: Abbey Road, errr...at some point, 30th October 1971.


Is it Abbey Road, though? On the one hand, a stupid question: of course it is. But on the other...still a fairly stupid question. However, infallible rumour would have it that the crossing, subject as it has been to numerous repaintings over the years, now sits a few feet away from its original position. Thus, if so, the unhinged hordes who descend upon it each and every day, causing fury among the local transport 'n' truckage, are actually walking over the wrong bit of tar.
Richard Oliff recently, and kindly, sent some of his snaps from autumn 1971, when there could have been no doubt as to the crossing's bona fides: this was the very same upon which they traipsed. It struck me that it might be amusing to go and take an exact "now" shot, and see how far, and if at all, the thing has shifted.
Here's the result:


I'd say it's in pretty much exactly the same position. The lamp-post has been replaced, and is now a bit to the right, and the road has clearly been resurfaced a few times, but the crossing itself hasn't moved. Unhinged hordes, go about thy business.
Next, the entrance to the studio. The bell, the railings, and probably the wooden surround survive intact. The steps may have been replaced, or just repaired. Various fripperies have been added:


So there we have it. The river, as Robert Robinson might have put it, does not, and indeed, cannot remain the same, though ever onwards it do flow, and errr...etc.
But hold yourselves a second, what's this? There's something a little odd about today's shot:


Errr...:


Many thanks to Richard Oliff for sharing his pics.

Abbey Road: August 8, 1969.

Having achieved the, by that point, mildly improbable feat of all making it to EMI by around 11am, they decided to sit on the steps en masse for a bit, taking advantage of the rare summer weather, whilst photographer Iain Macmillan fiddled with his apertures.
These photos are new to me, and therefore I assume, in my swaggeringly insouciant fashion, new (possibly) to some of you too. A few other candid moments from that morning swill around on t'internet, and so let's add to those with these:


Thus, so legend has it, having sat their collective fill, at precisely 11.35am, out they strode onto that fabled zebra-crossing-of-dreams. (What is this fuc*ing drivel?) At around 11.34am, however, shortly before striding out onto that fabled zebra-crossing-of-dreams, Paul (and possibly John) bollocked Macmillan for not having fiddled with his apertures sufficiently, or something:


(Or not.) It's accepted that there were six shots en-zebra-crossing-of-dreams, in the following sequence; 1-3


And 4-6, with 5 being, clearly, the best, and thus, the sleeve:


Now. I don't think we can say there was actually a 7th, as this isn't quite a sleeve contendah, but I can say, with swaggering insouciance, that there was a point 5th:


So 0.5: note the relative position of the red vehicle compared with 1:


It's always (not literally - that would be ridiculous) intrigued me that these photos were taken whilst Manson's cohorts slithered (not literally - that would be ridiculous) towards Cielo Drive.
We have much to thank Linda McCartney for (and I am being serious for once), including these great photos, tracked down by Guus Limberger - and many thanks to him too.

Abbey Road: studio 2 creep-fest.

I made a vow to the pagan God of fermentation never to include a picture of myself on this blog; a vow I must now, with profound regret, break. However, in order to appease, I have taken the liberty of Photoshopping out my face (thus making this pic even creepier than it already is), and adding several pounds to my beergut (in reality, my stomach is a finely honed testament to a life well lived).
And so to business. When I visited Abbey Road a couple of years back, a conscious decision was made not to take then & now shots; after all, where does one start (or, more pertinently, stop)? That way madness lies.
Instead, I concentrated on downing as many pints of overpriced lager from the basement cafe/bar as possible in the alloted time, annoying staff with inane questions about ludicrous Beatles trivia, and generally having a whale of a time running between studios 1 and 2, talking utter pish all the while.
That being said, there was one "then & now" that I couldn't resist: probably my favourite pic of John in studio 2, staring down from the control room in 1967, looking both weird and menacing.
So, here it is, numpty years later.

Abbey Road: AKG D19c - then & now.

Just a little addition to the Mellotron post/comments (and a slightly unusual then & now shot); being fortunate enough to attend a session at Abbey Road a while back, I was shown some of the microphones that remain there from the '60s (ie those not sold/chucked in a skip/etc).
Off the top of my head, I'd say these are AKG D19cs (I jest - I identified them with the help of the weighty Recording The Beatles tome, a veritable pornucopia (if you will) of vintage gear).
The mics are kept in a little room off the corridor running outside Studio 2, and staff assured me that these very ones were used on many Beatles recordings. An example of the AKG D19c in situ can be seen in the photo of John getting wiggy on Richie's traps during the AYNIL rehearsal.