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Classic Album Art

Cover Front

the Beatles - Abbey Road

Hey! Hello! What about this?

Classic Album Art

release - 1969
album art - Ian MacMillan


cover front

For the first and only time, the front cover of a Beatles Album included neither their name nor a title - just the now iconic picture taken by Iain MacMillan.

A beautiful detail of the photograph is that McCartney is bare feet and out of step with the rest of the band. This has prompted a series of bizarre conspiracy theories among some enthusiasts who believe that McCartney actually died in the Sixties and has been replaced by a body double. They see the album cover as filled with hidden clues – with McCartney’s bare feet representing his difference from the rest of the band.


cover back

Cover Back

Ian MacMillan

MacMillan

In 1969, on a hot August day, Iain MacMillan stood on a ladder in the middle of Abbey Road, London to replicate a sketch drawn by Paul McCartney depicting what he wanted the Abbey Road album cover to look like. Abbey Road was just a few yards away from the entrance of EMI's studios where most of the Beatles' songs were recorded since 1962.

The photo session took only 10 minutes, with a police officer holding up the traffic. Nevertheless; a rare photograph taken during the shoot for the Abbey Road cover shows the Beatles walking back across the road, from right to left. Recently it has been sold at auction for over $25,000.


inspiration

animation

The photograph of The Beatles  walking across a zebra on Abbey Road, London is one of music’s most famous and enduring images.

Until today it inspires many artists and maybe you have already taken your shoot!

inspiration
inspiration
inspiration
inspiration
inspiration

artist

Artist

The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential act of the rock era.

Rooted in skiffle, beat, and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several genres, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements in innovative ways. Their finest and most innovatieve material include 'Rubber Soul' (1965), 'Revolver' (1966), 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' (1967) and Abbey Road (1969).

After their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers. Lennon was shot in December 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in November 2001.


also in gallery

Rubber Soul | Revolver | Sgt. Peppers ... | Ballads

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