Uncut UK – October 2019

8 • UNCUT • OCTOBER 2019

E

ACHafternoonforweeksashis

bandneareditsdesolateend,

PaulMcCartneyenteredAbbey

Roadstudioswitha commuter’s

punctualityandcommenceda daily

ritual.“Paulslavedovergetting

‘Oh!Darling’’svocalright,”reveals

assistantengineerAlanParsons.“He

wasreallyscreamingit,sohecouldn’t

doit morethana coupleoftimesa day.

Heusedtocomeineveryafternoonat

2. Thenhe’dsay,‘No,I haven’tgotit
   yet.I’lltryagaintomorrow.’”
   AbbeyRoad’s greatparadoxis the
   perfectionismTheBeatleslavished
   onit,thoughapparentlyatthepoint
   ofdisintegration.A newbookby
   authorKenWomackcontendsthat
   thealbumwastheband’swriting,
   performingandtechnologicalzenith.
   Parsons,thenjust 19 butalreadya
   “GetBack”sessionveteran,found
   themshovingevenAbbeyRoad’s
   lavishequipmenttoitslimits.“The
   Beatleswerea challengebecause
   theyalwayswantedtoaddmore,”
   herecalls.“Weactuallyfilledupthe
   8-track;therewasnoroomwhenwe
   wantedtoaddthebigsweeping
   stringsonthelastfewbarsof‘The
   End’.Sowerecordedit ‘wild’ona
   separate4-trackwiththe8-track
   playing.ThenI hadtopressthe
   buttonatexactlytherighttimetoplay
   that‘wild’recordingontothemix.”
   Parsonswasemployedforthe
   recording’sclimacticweeksinAugust
   1969.Womacklogsearliersessions
   occurringindiffuseandimprovised
   fashion, with the Fabs locked out of

theirAbbeyRoadfiefdom

byCliffandTheHollies

andmakingdowith

Olympic.EvenGeorge

Martinwasdistractedby

buildinghisAIRstudio

empire.“Georgewas

alwaysthere,”Parsons

says,“whenhedidn’t

havea CillaorMatt

Monroesessiontodo.”

WereTheBeatles

consciousofmarkingthe

endofanera?Parsonsisn’tsure.

“IwascertainwhenI wasonthe

Applerooftopthatwasthelastlive

performance,butI wasn’tcertain

thatAbbeyRoadwouldbetheirfinal

statement.Nobodyhadactuallybeen

sayingthat.Theydidn’tseemtobe

gettingonthatwell,butI’dseenmore

ofa problematAppleforLetIt Be.”

“Ithinkit wastouchandgoforallof

them’til1970,”Womacksays.“I

spent a lot of time trying to validate

thetapedrecordingwhentheyfinally

threwinthetowel.Workingonthe

book’slastfewchapterswasreally

emotional. I felt like I was almost

xperiencingit in

ealtime,’tilthe

ointofnoreturn.

heywalkoutonto

hecrossing,into

istory.”Parsons

watchedit all

appen:“Theonly

meI canactually

rememberallfourofthembeingthere

wasonthelastday.I choppedthetape

tocutoff“She’sSoHeavy”onJohn’s

orders,thentheywentouttodothe

photographonthecrossing.They

seemedcheerfulenough.It wasOK.”

AnyfanlisteningtoAbbeyRoad

sincehasdiscerneda moving

resolutionforthebandasitsmedley

fadesaway.Wassuchemotion

detectablefromthegroupasthey

madeit?“NotasfarasI cantell,”

Parsonssays.“Iwouldn’thave

madethatobservationatall.I think

theyjustlikedconceptualstuff,

andtherewascreativeenthusiasm

forit.Andofcoursetheyallhadto

mixinandworkonit.It wasa

medleyofallofthem, after all.”

NICKHASTED

TheBeatles

in 1969.Inset

below:Alan

Parsonsat

themixing

desk, 1979

AbbeyRoadengineerAlanParsonsand

author Ken Womack on the Fabs’ last stand

AQUICKONE

Areyouexperienced?

Youcertainlywillbe

afteryou’vereadUncut’s

DeluxeUltimateMusic

GuidetoJimiHendrix,

resplendentwitha foxy

newfeatureonJimiat

Woodstock.Forvoodoo

childreneverywhere,

it’s in shops now...

FollowingonAugust

23 isEltonJohn:A

LifeIn Pictures.Over

100 pages,webring

youElton’sstoryin a

selectionofstartling

historicphotographs,

andhisown– verylively–

wordsfromthearchives

ofNMEandMelody

Maker, plusa suitably

glamcoverprintedon

goldmirrorboard...

RichardThompson’s

70thbirthdayblowout

attheAlbertHallon

September 30 lookslike

themust-seeshowof

theyear.Thestaggering

lineupincludesalmost

everysurviving

memberoftheUK

folk-rockscene,along

withDavidGilmour,

BobMould,Loudon

WainwrightIII,Derek

SmallsofSpinalTap(!)

andRichard’sformer

lifeandmusicalpartner

LindaThompson...

The40thanniversary

ofFactoryRecordswill

bemarkedthisautumn

witha boxsetcontaining

reproductionsofthe

label’sfirst 10 releases

• includingtheinfamous
  menstrualegg-
  timer.There’salsoan
  exhibitionatLondon’s
  ChelseaSpacefrom
  September 13...

“TheBeatleswerea
challengebecause
theyalwayswanted
toaddmore”
ALAN PARSONS KenWomack’sSolidState:The
StoryOfAbbeyRoadAndTheEnd
OfTheBeatlesis publishedby
CornellUniversityPresson
October15;AlanParsons’album
PICTURELUX/THE HOLLYWOOD ARCHIVE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; RICHARD E. AARON/REDFERNS The Secret is out now on Frontiers

“They walk out

onto the crossing,

into history”