Abbey road would turn out to be the last album recorded by the Beatles (let it be despite being released after was recorded before abbey road during the get back sessions) and it would be recorded despite large rifts between members of the band and would result in what was arguably the best Beatles and by extension the best ever album.
Previous to this most albums and all Beatles albums were either mixed in mono or in both mono and stereo. Abbey road was mixed in only stereo which by the time the album was being recorded had become the most widely used format. Whereas other Beatles albums had been recorded using 2 track (even Sgt peppers only used four track) and 4 track machines when recording abbey road a move was made to 8 track and this enabled the Beatles to consider and to realise many more possibilities than they had previously done. Having eight tracks to play around with meant being able to have more complicated instrumentation or simply to improve the quality of the instrumentation already there. Having more tracks allowed Ringo's Drum kit to be miked with more mikes than it had previously been including ambient mikes and therefore to create a thicker fuller sound. This drum sound can be heard on the whole album however it is especially obvious during the drum solo on the end. Music was advancing at a fast rate and new ways of creating music and even new musical instruments were being invented. The moog was a keyboard based instrument and one of the very first synthesisers one of which was commissioned by George Harrison for his own use. The moog may have been a crude instrument however for the time is was revolutionary and would pave the way for other more sophisticated synthesisers to come. The moog is used quite widely in abbey road notably in: Here comes the sun, I want you, Maxwells silver hammer and Because. The album also made use of reverb for instance in come together where a clapping and a Shhh... sound are sent echoing by John Lennon.
The Beatles had a large amount of experience and musical influences to draw on in order to create their sound. Paul McCartney had a father who was a professional musician and from a young age was exposed to music through his father. John Lennon also came from a musical family with an aunt who was very fond of Bach and Tchaikovsky and a mother who taught him how to play guitar, banjo, piano and how to sing as well as to give him an appreciation of rock music. The Beatles grew up in Liverpool which was one of the main ports in England and because of this they had access to a large amount of American and foreign music.
Abbey road is a rock/pop album. Use is made of distorted guitar and the album has a great many rock songs such as: Come together, Oh darling, She's so heavy, you never give me your money etc. As well as being rock influenced the album has a large amount of others. Octopuses garden is a song that sounds very country, Maxwells silver hammer and here comes the sun are brilliant light hearted pop and something is perhaps the best love ballad ever written. As well as popular musical influences abbe road was also greatly influenced by classical music. Inspired by hearing Yoko Ono playing Beethoven's moonlight sonata on piano John Lennon composed because which makes use of spectacular chords heavenly harmonies and the slightly sinister eerie tones of the moog synthesiser. The main way in which the abbey road album however was influenced by classical movements however was the second half of the album: The abbey road medley. The abbey road melody is symphonic. Paul McCartney and George Martin came up with the concept and it included music from both Paul McCartney and John Lennon (who was opposed to the symphonic idea). The medley starts with "you never give me your money" which goes from a ballad on piano to a rocky mid-section and then a children's nursery rhyme. the songs on the medley aren't only connected to each other but in some ways are variations on each other in that they use similar chords. The never give me your money chords and the golden slumber chords are almost the same.
The abbey road album and by extension the Beatles have been hugely influential on popular music. The Beatles rather than creating a disposable product decided to elevate music to an art form the psychedelic here comes the sun king and the symphonic nature of the medley were a great influence on progressive rock such as that of pink Floyd or on the rock operas of queen.
The way that different styles were combined and the experimental and brilliant nature of the album would have a large effect on all popular music.
No comments:
Post a Comment