Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-12-05)

ALLTIME GREATEST ALBUM COVERS

THE PANEL ON ABBEY ROAD

Jill Furmanovsky

I was just 16 when

Abbey Road came

out and the music

and cover still mean

a lot to me. As an

image, the cover

photo is near on

perfect. Just a few

frames shot by Iain

Macmillan on a

summer’s day, it

radiates warmth. The

graphics were

uncluttered by much

text, so you could

dive into the image

and be there. This

is a spiritual home

for music.

Peter Neill

This cover always

stood out, as if it

belonged in a book

about great

technique. The

lead-in lines

provided by the

crossing, the trees

and the road draw

you into the

photograph. These,

combined with the

symmetry of the

walk, are a brilliant

example of

opportunistic

photography making

something loved

by millions.

Mat Snow

Conceptual

mastermind John

Kosh started his

album design career

on a peak, brilliantly

illustrating the Fab

Four’s intriguing

paradoxes: united

but individual,

famous but

enigmatic, ordinary

but exotic. Iain

Macmillan had just

10 minutes up a

stepladder to get

the famous shot.

The Beatles on

Abbey Road: no

words needed.

director for the band’s label Apple

Records. In 1969, Kosh was working

up the design for the next Beatles

album Get Back – later renamed Let

It Be – when he suddenly found out

it was being replaced on the release

schedule by Abbey Road.

Kosh recalls, ‘It was literally a

Monday gig and artwork had to be

sent to the printer by Wednesday. It

was that fast. Iain [Macmillan] had

produced this series of photographs

and we were poring over them

with a loupe, finding which was

the best one. Taking things into

consideration like, “does it matter

that Paul’s out of step?” Then we

decided that this [picture] must be

the one and both of us were worried

if this was good enough [for an

album cover]. I was thinking, “Shit,

we could have done this better”. It

all had to be done in a huge rush.’

Arguably Kosh’s biggest

contribution to the front cover

design of Abbey Road was his bold

decision to omit the name of the

group and the title of the record. He

explains, ‘I got a phone call from Sir

Joseph Lockwood (chairman of

EMI, Apple Records’ parent

company) at some ungodly hour

and his string of invective with his

high-class accent made it even

worse. The next day I met George

[Harrison] and told him what had

happened. George said, “Oh,

screw him. We’re The Beatles.”’

Kosh has one regret about his

work on Abbey Road – cashing the

cheque he got for it. ‘It was for

£700 and was signed by John

[Lennon] and Paul [McCartney].

I cashed it because I had to pay

the rent. It was a treasure because

John and Paul weren’t supposed to

be talking to each other at the

time; it was right in the middle of

the [Beatles] split. The press were

having a field day saying they’d

broken up, but I was sitting in

Abbey Road studios watching

John and Paul cutting The Ballad

of John and Yoko – they were joking

and having a great time, but they

weren’t supposed to be talking...

and, like an idiot, I cashed the

cheque!’

Left:Thebackof theAbbeyRoadLP

featureda roadsignimage

Below:A lotof IainMacmillan’s

equipment,includingtheHasselblad

500Cusedto photographthecoverof

AbbeyRoad, soldat

a Bonhams

auctionin

October 2020

forover

£35,000

OUR PANEL OF JUDGES

Janette Beckman

Jason Bell

Ed Caraeff

Andy Cowles

Kevin Cummins

Andy Earl

Jill Furmanovsky

Christie Goodwin

Peter Hook

Simon Larbalestier

Gered Mankowitz

Dennis Morris

Peter Neill

Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell

Rankin

Jamel Shabazz

Mat Snow

Howard Wakefield

Kirk Weddle

Rachael Wright

Some of the nest names in

music and photography

chose the series’ covers

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