The Beatles, Abbey Road
Capitol, 1969: Paul McCartney (vocals and bass), John Lennon (vocals and guitar, died 1980), George Harrison (vocals and guitar, died 2001), Ringo Starr (vocals and drums)

Songs

• Come Together (John Lennon)
• Something (George Harrison)
• Maxwell's Silver Hammer (Paul McCartney)
• Oh! Darling (Paul McCartney)
• Octopus's Garden (Ringo Starr)
• I Want You (She's So Heavy) (John Lennon; recording this song was the last time all four Beatles were in the studio together.)
• Side 2 (best to listen to the entire side as one suite):
  • Here Comes the Sun (George Harrison)
  • Because (John Lennon)
  • You Never Give Me Your Money (Paul McCartney)
  • Sun King (John Lennon)
  • Mean Mr. Mustard (John Lennon)
  • Polythene Pam (John Lennon)
  • She Came in Through the Bathroom Window (Paul McCartney)
  • Golden Slumbers (Paul McCartney)
  • Carry That Weight (Paul McCartney)
  • The End (Paul McCartney)
  • Her Majesty (Paul McCartney, 23 seconds)

This album was the real end for the Beatles, and what an end it was! Simply a brilliant album, art at its best! Side two is bits of songs stitched together. They took rather meaningless little pieces of songs and made art, almost like a Jackson Pollock painting.

There is all kinds of trivia surrounding each of these songs. Check some information out at www.songfacts.com.

Released on 26 September 1969; I was ten years old at the time.

See where Rolling Stone magazine ranked the record on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Not in any way a concept album, just contributions from all the Beatles, working together at the height of their creative powers.

In "Because" John, Paul and George sing a 3-part harmony, which was then overdubbed to make it into a 9-part harmony. Brilliant sound!

"The End" was the group's last song. The line "In the end the love you take is equal to the love you make" is essentially the Beatles closing statement. It is the last lyric on the last album they recorded. On the song, Paul, George and John traded guitar solos--only time that happened on an album--and Ringo recorded his only drum solo. A tour de force to bring an end to the Beatles era.