In the mid-’60s, 3 Abbey Road was home to everything from the R&B/jazz-inflected rock ‘n’ roll of Manfred Mann to the airy, harmony-heavy folk-pop of The Seekers.
groups coming into EMI Studios to capture the same magic. But one of the many knock-on effects of The Beatles’ success was an influx of other U.K.
With George Martin producing, they cut much of their first album, Please Please Me, at Abbey Road in just under 12 hours, with only two-track technology. One reason The Beatles got signed after many rounds of refusals from other labels because EMI was eager to nab the next Cliff Richard & The Shadows.
And he started playing that off, and I just came in, and we made it up right on the spot.” The Liverpudlians adopted “Apache” for their repertoire during their early days in Hamburg clubs and even recorded their own Shadows homage, “Cry for a Shadow.” In 1987, George Harrison told Guitar Player, “John and I were just bull*****ing one day, and he had this new little Rickenbacker with a funny kind of wobble bar on it. Hank Marvin was a guitar hero for every British rocker of the 60s, but The Shadows’ sound was a very direct wallop for The Beatles. In June of 1960, they did some innovating of their own at Abbey Road by recording “Apache.” Lead guitarist Hank Marvin achieved a transfixing new sound with a combination of a tape echo device and masterful manipulation of his tremolo bar – a haunting tone halfway between The Ventures (whose first hit had only just debuted), and Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti Western soundtracks, which were still years away. Richard would later claim that Lennon once said, “Before Cliff Richard and ‘Move It,’ there was nothing worth listening to in England.’”Ĭliff’s Drifters soon evolved into The Shadows, who had a separate career as an instrumental band, in addition to backing Richard. In the 2022 documentary about the studio, If These Walls Could Sing, Richard reckons, “Abbey Road gave rock ‘n’ roll its life…it was in the forefront of one of the biggest musical changes.”Ī teenage Paul McCartney was wowed by “Move It,” allegedly running over to show John Lennon when he mastered the track’s opening guitar riff. On July 24, 1958, Cliff Richard & The Drifters came to the studio to record “Move It,” a fire-breathing tune proving Brits could lay their claim to the raucous sound altering pop music’s DNA. The English rock ‘n’ roll scene was a couple of steps behind that of the U.S., but Abbey Road was where British rock’s Big Bang occurred. Witness the mournful string quartet that colors “Yesterday,” the rising tide of chaos bringing “A Day in the Life” to its climax with an entire orchestra going from their lowest notes to their highest, or the grand gang of brass and strings enhancing the epic drama of the medley on the career-closing album appropriately titled Abbey Road.Ĭlick to load video Cliff Richard and The Shadows When The Beatles began expanding beyond guitars-and-drums basics (often with the encouragement and assistance of producer/arranger George Martin), the studios’ classical pedigree came in handy. The studios were ideal for capturing orchestral grandeur, big enough to accommodate an orchestra but not so capacious as to drown symphonic recordings in natural reverb. Over the years, a parade of classical giants worked there, from storied pianist Artur Schnabel to legendary baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. In 1934 Igor Stravinsky himself conducted an assemblage there, including the BBC Chorus on his ballet Les Noces. Up through the 1950s, classical recordings were the studios’ bread and butter.
0 kommentar(er)
