Book Review: Classic Rock Albums: Abbey Road / Let It Be by Peter Doggett

November 1998

Peter Doggett is the editor of Record Collector and an authority on the Beatles. This book documents the making of the final two Beatles albums and is a study into the break-up of the world's greatest-ever group. The book takes us through the making of the film that turned out to be Let It Be. It describes the conflicts within the band, many of which are visible in the film although sometimes edited out of context. By this time, the Beatles had become a collection of individuals. John Lennon was besotted with Yoko who was constantly at his side during rehearsals and recording, breaking the unwritten rule that wives and girlfriends were not present at sessions. His lack of interest in the Beatles and consequent poor quality of songs (by his standards anyway) left Paul McCartney to try to keep the group together and motivate anyone. Paul was clearly the group's leader by now following the loss of Brian Epstein and Lennon's disinterest. George Harrison was by now writing some very memorable songs but still had trouble finding group time. This led to his frustration as McCartney seemed to dismiss his work and Lennon did not always turn up for sessions working on Harrison's songs. Just imagine if Something and Here Comes the Sun had been lost! Ringo Starr appeared to be happy avoiding conflict but the group did pull together for his Octopus's Garden.

The book details the saga of the on/off film and the arguments about where the Beatles were going to play a live gig. As we all know, it was finally on the top of Apple's roof. The presence of a film crew and Yoko Ono as well as the unfamiliar and "cold" surroundings of Twickenham Studios magnified the tensions within the groups to the extent that the rehearsals became a shambles. Eventually, the band moved back to the familiar territory of Saville Road, albeit to a new and poorly constructed studio in the basement. George Martin was able to configure the studio to a useable state and rehearsals continued. These culminated in the rooftop gig that was interrupted by the police.

The Beatles had amassed a huge amount of material that was handed to Glyn Johns to produce the Get Back album. This was never released and was finally handed over to Phil Spector, the resulting LP being Let It Be. While this is undoubtedly a good album, it remains somewhat "messy" and can be viewed as over-produced in places. Witness the strings and choirs on the title track and the Long & Winding Road. These are both excellent McCartney songs but Spector's trademark has effectively removed the Beatles' sound.

Switch now to Abbey Road. The band returned to the studio although ironically not Abbey Road. The highlights of Abbey Road, in my opinion are the two George Harrison songs Something and Here Comes the Sun. Abbey Road is altogether a stronger effort than Let it be. It does not suffer the lack of cohesion, indeed the songs on Abbey Road flow together, not just the medley on side two.

The book describes in detail the making of these two albums and explores how they were made against all the odds. It is a full stop on the Beatles' recording history and an exploration of the band's break-up.

mp, October 1998

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Details

ISBN: 0-02-864772-6

Published1998 September 1998 by Schirmer Books

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