Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T19:33:49.775Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Behind the magical mystery door: history, mythology and the aura of Abbey Road Studios

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2016

Samantha Bennett
Samantha Bennett*
Affiliation:
School of Music, Research School of the Humanities and the Arts, Building 100, Childers Street, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In rock historiography, Abbey Road Studios is depicted as the rock canon's ultimate recording house; home to the Beatles, Pink Floyd and a generation of classic rock album production. In recent years, the studio has struggled to maintain itself as an operational recording house, yet effectively exploits its past to secure its future. This article considers issues of heritage, pilgrimage and tourism before elucidating brand ‘Abbey Road’ as a conflation of geographical location, zebra crossing, graffiti wall, recording house and aura. In separating the tangible aspects of Abbey Road's heritage – the zebra crossing, graffiti wall and the Beatles Abbey Road album – out from its intangibles – its ‘magic’, legacy and studio ‘vibe’ – Abbey Road's studio aura is exposed as a commodity in its own right.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , October 2016 , pp. 396 - 417
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Anon. 2009a. Interview with former Abbey Road Engineer. MP3 recording in possession of the authorGoogle Scholar
Anon. 2009b. Interview with former Abbey Road Engineer. MP3 recording in possession of the authorGoogle Scholar
Anon. 2010. ‘In praise of … The Abbey Road Crossing’, The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/dec/28/abbey-road-crossing-in-praise-of (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Anon. 2013. Interview with former Abbey Road Recording Engineer. MP3 recording in possession of the authorGoogle Scholar
Bates, E. 2012. ‘What studios do’, Journal on the Art of Record Production, 7. www.arpjournal.com (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Benjamin, W. 2008. (1936) The Work of Art in the Mechanical Age of Reproduction (London, Penguin)Google Scholar
Bennett, S. 2010 ‘Revolution sacrilege! Examining the technological divide among record producers in the late 1980s’, Journal on the Art of Record Production, 4. www.arpjournal.com (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Bennett, S. 2012a. ‘Endless analogue: situating vintage technologies in the contemporary recording workplace’, Journal on the Art of Record Production, 7. www.arpjournal.com (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Bennett, S. 2012b. ‘Revisiting the “double production” industry: advertising, consumption and “technoporn” surrounding the music technology press’, in Music, Law and Business Anthology, Vol. 5, ed. Kärjä, A.V. (Helsinki: International Institute for Popular Culture), pp. 117–45Google Scholar
Bennett, S. 2016. Modern Records, Maverick Methods: Technology and Process in Contemporary Record Production (Ann Arbor, MI, University of Michigan Press), in pressGoogle Scholar
Brabazon, T. 2002. ‘We're one short for the crossing: Abbey Road and popular memory’, Transformations, 3, pp. 1–16 Google Scholar
Bruns, A. 2008. Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond: From Production to Produsage (New York, Peter Lang)Google Scholar
Burgess, R.J. 2005. The Art of Music Production (Oxford, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Buskin, R. 2008. ‘Norman Smith: the Beatles’ first engineer’, Sound on Sound. http://www.soundonsound.com/people/norman-smith-beatles-first-engineer (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Cavicchi, D. 1998. Tramps Like Us: Music and Meaning Among Springsteen Fans (Oxford, Oxford University Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chester, T. 2012. ‘The Beatles – rank the albums’, New Musical Express. http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the-beatles-rank-the-albums (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Cooke, M. 2010. ‘Beatles’ Abbey road zebra crossing given listed status’, BBC News http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-12059385 (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Cunningham, M. 1998. Good Vibrations (London, Sanctuary Music)Google Scholar
Davoudi, S. 2011. ‘EMI sale set to stir emotions’ The Financial Times, 25 JuneGoogle Scholar
DeVille, C. 2013. ‘Beatles albums from worst to best’, Stereogum. http://www.stereogum.com/1577711/beatles-albums-from-worst-to-best/list/ (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Durant, A. 1990. ‘A new day for music? Digital technologies in contemporary music making’, Culture, Technology & Creativity in the Late Twentieth Century, ed. Hayward, P. (London, John Libbey), pp. 175–96Google Scholar
Emerick, G. 2007. Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Beatles (New York, Gotham Books)Google Scholar
Everett, W. 1999. The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through The Anthology (Oxford, Oxford University Press)Google Scholar
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. 2012. ‘Abbey Road Studios partners with Fairmont Hotels and Resorts’. http://www.fairmont.com/press-room/articles/abbeyroadstudios/ (accessed June 2014)Google Scholar
Fenton, B. 2010. ‘EMI shelves Abbey Road sale’, The Financial Times, 22 February. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3b8b7382-1f52-11df-9584-00144feab49a.html (accessed July 2014)Google Scholar
Frith, S. 1986. ‘Art versus technology: the strange case of popular music’, Media, Culture & Society, 8/3, pp. 263–79CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaar, G.G. 2013. 100 Things Beatles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die (Chicago, IL Triumph Books)Google Scholar
Gerard, C. 2014. ‘50 years of the Beatles: ranking their albums from 13 to 1’, Metro Weekly. http://www.metroweekly.com/soundwaves/2014/02/50-years-of-the-beatles-ranking-their-albums-from-13-to-1.html (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Gibson, C. 2005. ‘Recording studios: relational spaces of creativity in the city’, Built Environment, 31/3, pp. 192–207 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grohl, D., Rota, J., and Ramsay, J. 2013. Sound City (Roswell Films Ltd)Google Scholar
Gumble, D. 2011. ‘Abbey Road trivia game released to celebrate 80th Anniversary’. http://www.audioprointernational.com/news/read/abbey-road-trivia-game-released-to-celebrate-80th-anniversary/03558 (accessed March 2012)Google Scholar
Gunkel, D.J. 2008. ‘Rethinking the digital remix: mash-ups and the metaphysics of sound recording’, Popular Music and Society, 31/4, pp. 489–510 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, A. 2003. ‘The art of recording and the aesthetics of perfection’, British Journal of Aesthetics, 43/4, pp. 345–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hennion, A. 1989. ‘An intermediary between production and consumption: the producer of popular music’, Science, Technology & Human Values, 14/4, pp. 400–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inglis, I. 2001. ‘Nothing you can see that isn't shown: the album covers of the Beatles’. Popular Music, 20/1, pp. 83–97 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kealy, E. 1982. ‘Conventions and the production of the popular music aesthetic’, Journal of Popular Culture, 16/2, pp. 100–15CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kehew, B., and Ryan, K. 2006. Recording The Beatles (USA, Curvebender)Google Scholar
Kennedy, M. 2013. ‘Beatle droppings not for sale’, The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/may/22/beatles-scraps-gift-nation (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
LaBour, F. 1969. ‘McCartney dead; new evidence brought to light’, The Michigan Daily, 14 October, p. 2Google Scholar
Lawrence, A. 2012. Abbey Road: The Best Studio in the World (London, Bloomsbury)Google Scholar
Leeds, J. 2007. ‘EMI accepts $4.7 billion buyout offer’, The New York Times, 22 May. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/business/22music-web.html (accessed July 2014)Google Scholar
Lewisohn, M., and McCartney, P. 2012. The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (New York, Sterlin)Google Scholar
Leyshon, A. 2009. ‘The software slump? Digital music, the democratisation of technology, and the decline of the recording studio sector within the musical economy’, Environment and Planning A, 41, pp. 1309–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leyshon, A. 2014. Reformatted: Code, Networks and the Transformation of the Music Industry (New York, Oxford University Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacCannell, D. 1976. The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class (New York, Schocken Books)Google Scholar
Margry, P.J. 2008. ‘Secular pilgrimage: a contradiction in terms?’, Shrines and Pilgrimage in the Modern World, ed. Margry, P.J. (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press)Google Scholar
Martin, G. with Hornsby, J. 1979. All You Need is Ears (London, St Martin's Press)Google Scholar
McCarron, K. 1995. ‘Pilgrims or tourists? Rock music and “shrines” in England’, Critical Survey, 7/2, pp. 165–71Google Scholar
McCarron, K. 2006. ‘A universal childhood: tourism, pilgrimage and the Beatles’, in Reading The Beatles: Cultural Studies, Literary Criticism and The Fab Four, ed. Womack, K., and Davis, T. (Albany, NY: SUNY Press), pp. 169–82Google Scholar
McKinney, D. 2003. Magic Circles: The Beatles in Dream and History (London: Harvard University Press)Google Scholar
Milner, G. 2009. Perfecting Sound Forever: The Story of Recorded Music (London, Granta)Google Scholar
Moorefield, V. 2005. The Producer as Composer (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parsons, A., and Colbeck, J. 2014. Alan Parsons’ Art and Science of Sound Recording (Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard)Google Scholar
Potton, E. 2013. ‘More, please: stars follow Beatles’ tracks with album made in a day’, The Times, 12 FebruaryGoogle Scholar
Pras, A., Guastavino, C., and Lavoie, M. 2013. ‘The Impact of technological Advances on Recording Studio Practices’, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. 64, 3, pp. 612–626 Google Scholar
Roberts, L., and Cohen, S. 2013. ‘Unauthorising popular music heritage: outline of a critical framework’, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 20/3, pp. 1–12 Google Scholar
Schaenfield, B. 2014. ‘Ticket To Ride’, Fairmont Magazine. http://www.fairmontmoments.com/fairmont-magazine/past-issues/springsummer-2014/abbey-road (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Schmidt Horning, S. 2013. Chasing Sound: Technology, Culture and the Art of Studio Recording from Edison to the LP (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scott, K., and Owsinski, B. 2012. Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust: Off the Record with the Beatles, Bowie, Elton & So Much More (Los Angeles, CA, Alfred Music)Google Scholar
Smith, N. 2007. John Lennon Called Me Normal: The Man That Got the Sound That Changed the World (Norman Smith, Selbstverlag)Google Scholar
Southall, B., Vince, P., and Rouse, A. 1982. Abbey Road: The Story of the World's Most Famous Recording Studios (London, Omnibus Press)Google Scholar
Soyini Madison, D. 2012. Critical Ethnography: Method, Ethics, and Performance (London, SAGE)Google Scholar
Struthers, S. 1986. ‘Technology in the art of recording’, The Sociological Review, S1, pp. 241–58CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Théberge, P. 1997. Any Sound You Can Imagine: Making Music, Consuming Technology (Hanover, NH, Wesleyan University Press)Google Scholar
Théberge, P. 2004. ‘The network studio: historical and technological paths to a new ideal in music making’, Social Studies of Science, 34/5, pp. 759–81CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toffler, A. 1980. The Third Wave: The Classic Study of Tomorrow (New York, Bantam)Google Scholar
Transport for London. 2013. Day Tripper Looking for the Beatles Pedestrian Crossing? London: Docklands Light Railway Google Scholar
UNESCO. 2003. Convention of the Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (Paris, UNESCO)Google Scholar
Watson, A. 2015. Cultural Production in and Beyond the Recording Studio (New York, Routledge)Google Scholar
Waves Audio Ltd. 2013. REDD. http://www.waves.com/plugins/redd#redd-consoles-plugin-tutorial (accessed May 2014)Google Scholar
Williams, A. 2010. ‘Pay some attention to the man behind the curtain: unsung heroes and the canonization of process in the classic albums documentary series’, Journal of Popular Music Studies, 22/2, pp. 166–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Womack, K. 2009. The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zak, A.J. III 2001. The Poetics of Rock: Cutting Tracks, Making Records (Berkeley, CA, University of California Press)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zolten, J. 2009. ‘The Beatles as recording artists’, The Cambridge Companion to The Beatles, ed. Womack, K. (Cambridge, The Cambridge University Press), pp. 33–62 CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Discography

The Beatles, Abbey Road. Apple. PCS 7088. 1969 Google Scholar