THE BEATLES – ABBEY ROAD LP – EXC+ UK 1969 ORIG MISALIGNED APPLE FIRST PRESS

The Beatles – Abbey Road
(Apple Records  1969  PCS7088  Stereo)
Matrix No’s: YEX749-2 MRH 5/YEX750-1 ADO 8 – UK Pressing – First Pressing
Misaligned Apple on back cover – No “Her Majesty” on back cover or label

G&L Sleeve in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
– under a bright light you can see some light ringwear – some light wear to edges/corners
Plain White Inner Sleeve

Vinyl in Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light pops/crackles)

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 musical styles, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways. In 1963 their enormous popularity first emerged as “Beatlemania”, and as the group’s music grew in sophistication in subsequent years, led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, they came to be perceived as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the counterculture of the 1960s.

The Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player. The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein moulded them into a professional act, and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their popularity in the United Kingdom after their first hit, “Love Me Do”, in late 1962. They acquired the nickname “the Fab Four” as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year, and by early 1964 became international stars, leading the “British Invasion” of the United States pop market. From 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (commonly known as the White Album, 1968) and Abbey Road (1969). After their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying lengths. McCartney and Starr, the surviving members, remain musically active. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in November 2001.

The Beatles are the best-selling band in history, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act. According to the RIAA, the Beatles are also the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units. In 2008, the group topped Billboard magazine’s list of the all-time most successful “Hot 100” artists; as of 2017, they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Hot 100 chart with twenty. They have received ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and all four were inducted individually from 1994 to 2015. They were also collectively included in Time magazine’s compilation of the twentieth century’s 100 most influential people.

Abbey Road is the 11th studio album released by the English rock band the Beatles. It is their last recorded album, although Let It Be was the last album released before the band’s dissolution in 1970. Work on Abbey Road began in April 1969, and the album was released on 26 September 1969 in the United Kingdom, and 1 October 1969 in the United States.

Abbey Road is widely regarded as one of the Beatles’ most tightly constructed albums, although the band was barely operating as a functioning unit at the time. Despite the tensions within the band, Abbey Road was released to near universal acclaim and is commonly considered to be one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2012, Abbey Road was voted 14th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. In 2009, readers of the magazine also named Abbey Road the greatest Beatles album.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Lennon–McCartney, except where noted.

Notes

• “Her Majesty” appears as a hidden track. Between “The End” and “Her Majesty” is 14 seconds of silence. Later releases of the album included the song on the track listing.
• Some cassette tape versions in the UK and US had “Come Together” and “Here Comes the Sun” swapped so that Harrison’s composition opens the album.
• Tracks 3 through 7 on side two are sometimes noted as one song (medley) called “The Abbey Road Medley”.
• Tracks 8 through 10 on side two are sometimes noted as one song called “The Golden Slumbers Medley”.

Personnel

The Beatles

• John Lennon – vocals; acoustic (six and twelve-string) and electric guitars; acoustic and electric pianos; Hammond organ and Moog synthesizer; white noise generator and sound effects; percussion
• Paul McCartney – vocals; acoustic, electric and bass guitars; acoustic and electric pianos; Hammond organ and Moog synthesizer; sound effects; handclaps and percussion
• George Harrison – vocals; acoustic, electric and bass guitars; Hammond organ, harmonium and Moog synthesizer; handclaps and percussion
• Ringo Starr – drums, handclaps and percussion; lead vocals and piano (on “Octopus’s Garden”)

Additional musicians

• George Martin – piano; electric harpsichord, electronic organ, harmonium and percussion
• Billy Preston – Hammond organ (on “Something” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”)

Production

• “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun” orchestrated and conducted by George Martin (with George Harrison)
• “Golden Slumbers”, “Carry That Weight” and “The End” orchestrated and conducted by George Martin (with Paul McCartney)
• Produced by George Martin (with the Beatles)
• Recorded by Geoff Emerick and Phil McDonald
• Assistant Engineering by Alan Parsons
• Mixed by Geoff Emerick, Phil McDonald and George Martin (with the Beatles)
• Moog programming by Mike Vickers