Abbey Road Studios, created in November of 1931 by EMI in
London, England is best known as the
recording studio used by musicians such as The
Beatles, Cliff Richard, Al Stewart,
Pink Floyd, Oasis, The
Shadows and Elliott Smith. The studios are located on Abbey Road, in St John's Wood in the City of Westminster.
History
Built as a Georgian townhouse in
1831, the premises were acquired by The Gramophone
Company in 1931 and converted into studios. Pathe filmed the
opening of the studios, when Sir Edward Elgar conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in recording sessions of his music. The neighbouring house is also
owned by the studio and used to house musicians. During the mid-1900s the studio was extensively used by leading British
conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent, whose house was just
around the corner from the studio building.
The Gramophone Company later amalgamated with Columbia Graphophone
Company to form EMI which took over the studios. The studios were then known as EMI
Studios until they changed their name to Abbey Road Studios formally in 1970.
Studio Two at Abbey Road became a centre of rock music in 1958 when Cliff Richard and the Drifters (later Cliff Richard and The Shadows),
recorded "Move It", arguably the first European rock and roll single. It also witnessed
the beginnings of a change from "rock 'n' roll" to "rock". The Beatles also found great success in Studio Two, and during the
early-to-mid-'60s, The Beatles and Cliff and The Shadows became almost like joint owners of the
studio, with friendly battles for recording time.
It was The Beatles who broke with tradition, changing recording techniques, and forever changing the boundaries of what was
considered popular music. Innovating with flanging,
backwards recording, automatic double tracking, and controlled
feedback, The Beatles utilised Abbey Road studios to full effect.
The iconic
album cover. The studios are just off the picture to the left.
Abbey Road Studios is most closely associated with The Beatles, who recorded almost all of their albums and singles there between 1962 and 1970. The Beatles named their final 1969
album, Abbey Road, after the street where the studio is located (the
recording studio would only be named Abbey Road after The Beatles record in 1970). The cover photo
for that album was taken by Iain MacMillan outside Abbey Road studios, with the result
that the pedestrian zebra crossing outside the studio, where the Fab Four were
photographed, soon became a place of pilgrimage for Beatles fans from all over the
world. It has been a long-standing tradition for visitors to pay hommage to
the band by writing on the studio fence in front, although it is painted over monthly.
Pink Floyd recorded most of their late '60s to mid-1970s albums (such as
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967), A Saucerful of Secrets (1968), Music from the
Film More (1969), Ummagumma (1969), Atom Heart Mother (1970), Meddle (1971),The Dark Side of the Moon (1972 - 1973) and Wish You Were Here (1975), at the studio as well. The band would not use Abbey Road again
until the mixing sessions of the double live album Delicate Sound of
Thunder (1988) and some overdubs for The Division Bell (1994).
Recently, Floyd guitarist David Gilmour recorded some of the tracks for his recent solo
album On an Island there. Syd Barrett also
recorded The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (1970) there.
The Shadows named their Live At Abbey Road album after the studio, with the cover spoofing The Beatles' album. Studio
Two was also used by The Hollies, Manfred Mann,
The Seekers, Gerry & the Pacemakers,
Martin Briley, Mrs Mills and others.
Notable producers and sound engineers who
have worked at Abbey Road include Sir George Martin, Geoff
Emerick, Norman "Hurricane" Smith, Ken Scott,
Mike Stone, Alan Parsons, Phil McDonald, Richard Lush and Ken Townshend, who invented the
groundbreaking studio effect known as automatic double tracking (ADT). The
chief mastering engineer at Abbey Road was Chris "Vinyl" Blair, who started his career early on as a tape deck operator. He worked his way up the ranks to get to the top. A highlight of Blair's career was
receiving an award for Radiohead's Kid A. Blair died on
November 7 2005.
In 1979, EMI used the Abbey Road Studios for their first non-classical digital
recording. The track chosen was a cover of Rose
Royce's 1978 hit "Love Don't Live
Here Anymore" performed by the British jazz fusion band Morrissey-Mullen.
Elliott Smith recorded 3 tracks, including "In the Lost and Found (Honky Bach) /The
Roost", from his Figure 8 album (2000) at the studio.
From July 18 to September 11 1983 the public had a rare opportunity to see inside the legendary Studio 2 where The
Beatles made most of their records. While a new mixing console was being installed in the control room, the studio was
used to host a video presentation called "The Beatles At Abbey Road". The soundtrack to the video contained a number of
recordings that were not made commercially available until the Beatles Anthology
project over a decade later.[1]
Kanye West had a live concert in the Abbey Road Studios in late 2005, following the
release of Late Orchestration - the live album
version of Late Registration. Featured on the cover is his mascot, Drop Out
Bear, on Abbey Road street (another imitation of The Beatles cover).
The graffiti covered walls outside Abbey Road
In March/April 2005 Abbey Road Studios held a film festival. It
included a tour of Studio One and Studio Two (excluding control rooms). They displayed several films in Studio One associated
with the studio and a photographic exhibition in Studio Two. Also on display were several microphones, two upright pianos and a Hammond
Organ.
U2 began recording their new album with Greg Fidelman and Rick Rubin at
Abbey Road Studios in September 2006. [1], during which time they recorded a cover of The
Skids' "The Saints Are Coming" with Green
Day to commemorate the reopening of the Louisiana Superdome which was damaged
following Hurricane Katrina.
In late 2006 and early 2007 Channel
4 broadcast a program called Live From Abbey Road on More4 on Fridays 12 Jan to 30
March 2007 (with repeats the Mondays after on Channel 4). Artists to appear on the show ranged from singer Corinne Bailey Rae to heavy metal band Iron Maiden.
The Italian Soprano, Giorgia Fumanti, recorded several tracks from her pop-classical
crossoverrelease "From My Heart", in the studios as well, evidently part a large trend for classical and symphony artists to make use of the famed studios
for albums and film soundtracks.
Recording and mixing consoles
- Studio One: 72 Fader Neve 88RS
- Studio Two: 60 Fader Neve VR Legend
- Studio Three: 96 Fader Solid State Logic 9000 J
- Penthouse: 48 Fader Neve DFC Gemini
Film scores
Abbey Road Studios got its start in the film scoring business in 1980, when Anvil Post Production formed a partnership with the studio, called Anvil-Abbey Road Screen
Sound. The partnership started when Anvil was left without a scoring stage when Korda Studios were demolished. It ended in
1984, when EMI merged with THORN Electrical
Industries to become Thorn EMI.
Abbey Road's success in the scoring business continued after the partnership ended. Films whose scores were recorded at the
studios include:
- 1980 Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes
Back
- 1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark
- 1982 Greystoke - The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the
Apes
- 1983 Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi
- 1984 Ladyhawke
- 1985 Brazil, A Room with a
View
- 1986 The Jewel of the Nile, Shanghai Surprise, Aliens
- 1987 Madame Sousatzka, The Last
Emperor
- 1988 A Man for All Seasons, Shirley Valentine, Willow
- 1990 Memphis Belle, Shining
Through
- 1991 City of Joy, The Fisher
King
- 1992 The Endangered
- 1993 The Man Without a Face, M.
Butterfly, The Innocent
- 1994 Immortal Beloved, Interview with the Vampire, Little Women,
The Madness of King George
- 1995 Apollo 13, Brassed Off,
Braveheart, Talk of Angels
- 1996 Carla’s Song, The Crucible,
G.I. Jane
- 1997 Deep Impact, Desperate
Measures, Event Horizon, Lost
in Space, Titanic Town, Virus,
Wilde
- 1998 Hilary and Jackie, Jakob the
Liar, Practical Magic, The
Prince of Egypt, What Dreams May Come
- 1999 Bicentennial Man, Chocolat, Dogma, Eyes Wide Shut, I Dreamed of Africa,
Message in a Bottle, Notting
Hill, Rules of Engagement, Sleepy Hollow, Star Wars: Episode
I The Phantom Menace, The Talented Mr. Ripley
- 2000 Thirteen Days, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Chicken Run,
Hollow Man, Rugrats in Paris: The
Movie, Shrek
- 2001 From Hell, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,
We Were Soldiers
- 2002 The Four Feathers, Gangs of New
York, Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets, The Lord of the Rings: The Two
Towers, Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the
Clones, The Hours, The
Life of David Gale, Thunderpants, Punch-Drunk Love
- 2003 Bon Voyage, Johnny
English, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of
Life, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the
King, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas,
Veronica Guerin
- 2004 Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London,
Around the World in 80 Days, Cold Mountain, Beyond the Sea,
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,
Mona Lisa Smile, Sylvia,
The Phantom of the Opera, Birth, King Arthur, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Alfie, The Edge of
Reason, The Little Prince - A Magical Opera
- 2005 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
Proof, Kingdom of
Heaven, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the
Sith, The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- 2006 United 93, Apocalypto;see
Apocalypto (soundtrack)
- 2007 300, , Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix, Spider-Man 3, Evangelion
1.0 You are (Not) Alone
References
Coordinates:
51°31′54.93″N, 0°10′42.07″W
External links
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