Random Behind Scene Stories From Recording Of Beatles' 'Abbey Road' (15 items)

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  (#13) 'Her Majesty' Was A Throwaway That Became A Hidden Track

  "Her Majesty" was originally intended to be part of the medley on side B of the album, but Paul McCartney wasn't happy with it and demanded it be removed. Engineer John Kurlander later explained his decision to put it at the end of the album was entirely due to instructions about discarding material.

  "I'd been told never to throw anything away, so after he left I picked it up off the floor, put about 20 seconds of red leader tape before it and stuck it onto the end of the edit tape," he explained. 

  Before anything could be done, the album was finalized and the 23-second song became part of the tracklist. It was ultimately considered one of the first examples of a hidden track.

  "That was very much how things happened. Really, you know, the whole of our career was like that so it's a fitting end," McCartney later said. 
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  (#1) The Album Was Originally Titled 'Everest,' And The Band Planned To Shoot The Cover On The Mountain

  The Beatles initially planned to title the album Everest, an inside joke intended to mock engineer Geoff Emerick - whose favorite cigarettes were a brand of the same name. After the group decided on the title, they wanted to travel to Mount Everest and take the cover photo there - until someone put a stop to the complicated plan.

  Engineer John Kurlander recalled: 

  As they became more enthusiastic to finish the LP someone - I don't remember whom - suggested, 'Look, I can't be bothered to schlep all the way over to the Himalayas for a cover, why don't we just go outside, take the photo there, call the LP Abbey Road and have done with it?'

  That's my memory of why it became Abbey Road: because they couldn't be bothered to go to Tibet and get cold!
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  (#3) Nobody Liked 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer'

  The legend is true - nobody in the band liked Paul McCartney's "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," and particularly loathed his tendency to write somewhat corny songs. George Harrison said in 1977:

  Sometimes Paul would make us do these really fruity songs. I mean, my god, Maxwell's Silver Hammer was so fruity. After a while we did a good job on it, but when Paul got an idea or an arrangement in his head...

  John Lennon later said he hated it and that McCartney forced the band to record the song "a hundred million times."
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  (#12) Ringo Didn't Want To Play The Drum Solo On 'The End'

  While most drummers would jump at the chance to play a solo, Starr was completely resistant to the concept throughout his career - which his bandmates appreciated. That is, until it came time to record "The End."

  During production, the song's solo was suggested and Ringo initially refused. Engineer Geoff Emerick later spoke of the drummer's resistance towards the solo, and the resulting performance that helped make the song:

  The thing that always amused me was how much persuasion it took to get Ringo to play that solo. Usually, you have to try to talk drummers out of doing solos! [laughs] He didn't want to do it, but everybody said, 'No, no, it'll be fantastic!' So he gave in - and turned in a bloody marvelous performance.

  It took a while to get right, and I think Paul helped with some ideas, but it's fantastic. I always want to hear more - that's how good it is. It's so musical, it's not just a drummer going off.
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  (#4) The Vocals For 'Oh! Darling' Took A Week To Record

  The lead vocal on "Oh! Darling" took an entire week to get right, but it wasn't because McCartney couldn't sing it properly. What he envisioned for the track was the vocal sounding strained, as if he'd been singing the song all week. To achieve the effect, McCartney literally tracked vocals for the song every single day for an entire week. 

  Interestingly enough, Lennon requested that he be the one to sing the song, seeing as he was known for taking on the more hard-edged vocals. McCartney, being the writer of the song, ultimately decided he wanted to sing it himself. Lennon later admitted he felt McCartney should have let him sing "Oh! Darling." 
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  (#6) Ringo Was Inspired To Write 'Octopus's Garden' While On Peter Sellers's Boat

  The inspiration behind "Octopus's Garden" was quite literal - Starr wrote the song on Peter Sellers's boat after having a conversation about octopuses.

  Starr explained:

  Peter Sellers had lent us his yacht and we went out for the day... I stayed out on deck with [the captain] and we talked about octopuses. He told me that they hang out in their caves and they go around the seabed finding shiny stones and tin cans and bottles to put in front of their cave like a garden.

  I thought this was fabulous, because at the time I just wanted to be under the sea too. A couple of tokes later with the guitar - and we had 'Octopus's Garden!'

  The rhythm of the song was reportedly tracked 32 times before the foundation of the recording was completed. 

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