Jeff and Tom spent a week in the UK and did the Beatles tourist thing with visits to Abbey Road, a tour of notable Beatles historical sites, and the obligatory trip to the Beatles Store – a treasure trove of Fab Four memorabilia and tourist trash.

No musician’s trip to London would be complete without a photo at the zebra crosswalk in front of the Abbey Road recording studio.  One unexpected feature of the zebra was the aggressive traffic.  London drivers don’t worry a whole lot about pedestrians, and the ones on Abbey Road seemed intent on actually knocking some of us “zebra walkers” off the road.  A few brave souls try to block traffic to take photos from just the right location.  Others, like the young Brazilian who volunteered to shoot us, stand somewhat safely out of the main traffic lane. 

When the Beatles were making the Abbey Road album they originally intended to call it “Everest”, and were going to make a trip to Mount Everest to be photographed climbing the summit of the world’s largest mountain. They decided that would be too expensive and too much work, and settled for a photo crossing the street in front of their studio.  It was hot and McCartney kicked off his sandals.

We were told that Abbey Road Studio is virtually untouched since the Beatles recorded there, on the theory “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  It is still a productive, highly regarded recording venue, with a backlog of projects scheduled from the latest bands to movie scores with full orchestras.  Many of the same instruments, such as pianos and organs, plus a lot of great old analog recording equipment, are still in use.

Security has been tightened considerably in recent years, and we weren’t allowed in the building.  Back in the day, it was not uncommon for curious or star-struck fans to walk in on Beatles recording sessions through unlocked doors.   There were always plenty of fans hanging around.  In fact late one night in 1968 the lads were recording “Across the Universe” and decided some female vocals were in order.  Paul walked out the front door of the studio where a group of girls were gathered and asked, “Can any of you sing?”  Two of them said yes, and he brought them into the studio to fill out the song.

Jeff and I didn’t get to sing.  But we did get to do the zebra crossing walk.