The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’: 10 Perfect Moments That Give You Goosebumps
The Beatles’ 11th album, ‘Abbey Road’, was released 47 years ago today, and as the last thing the Beatles recorded together (‘Let It Be’ being mostly recorded before, but released after) it remains a perfect parting gift. To celebrate its anniversary, we set ourselves the piss-easy task of finding the best moments on the album. Of the dozens we came up with, here’s 10.
1. The handclaps on ‘Come Together’ Along with John Lennon’s spittle-flecked whisper of “shoot me” and McCartney’s unmistakably bendy bassline, it’s the sound the handclaps that usher you into ‘Abbey Road’. What a freaky welcome.
2. The guitar line on ‘Something’ Like the bassline on ‘Come Together’, this melody’s also iconic, but in this case it’s one that appears very few times and still manages to be utterly stand-out. It’s even better when it comes back in again right at the end of the guitar solo.
3. The vocal high-point on ‘Oh! Darling’ It’s actually hard to pick out the best part of McCartney’s vocal on this track, but it’s probably the moment his voice jumps up an octave to sing ‘you’ in the second verse, “Believe me when I beg you”. Closely followed by the roar that he sustains in the following one.
4. The final 90 seconds of ‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ The final song on Side A is a snake-hipped devil – one of The Beatles’ most lascivious – and was written by John Lennon. Unsurprisingly, it’s also the Beatles track that The Last Shadow Puppets have taken to covering live. It unpredictably shifts pace and tone, and the final 90 or so seconds are among the best of ‘Abbey Road’ as a whole: an enormous, sinewy bass riff that suddenly comes to an end. And then…
5. All of George Harrison’s guitar part on ‘Here Comes The Sun’ Then comes side B, opened by the polar opposite of ‘I Want You’: a carefree, deliriously optimistic jingle composed by George Harrison while he was enjoying the sun at Eric Clapton’s house. Perfect.
By: Larry Bartleet
Source: NME
