McCartney Times

By The Associated Press Updated August 8, 2019 5:56 PM Print Share

It was 50 years ago today, that The Beatles caused a traffic delay. And hundreds of fans of the Fab Four gathered Thursday at a crosswalk in London’s St. John’s Wood neighborhood immortalized on the “Abbey Road” album to recreate the cover photo half a century after it was taken. At 11:35 a.m. on Aug. 8, 1969, Iain Macmillan photographed John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and George Harrison striding single-file across the black-and-white “zebra” crossing outside Abbey Road Studios while a police officer stopped traffic.

Used as the cover of the band’s penultimate studio album, it became one of the most famous images in music history.

On Thursday spectators snapped photos on cellphones and look-alikes from a Beatles cover band crossed the street in tribute to the original image.

The spot remains a place of pilgrimage for Beatles fans from around the world.

“Every hour of every day there are fans on the crossing,” said Beatles tour guide Richard Porter, who organized Thursday’s commemoration. “I’ve seen lots of different sights on the crossing, too, from couples having their wedding photos taken to people going across naked.”

Meanwhile, in honor of the anniversary, an expanded edition of Abbey Road has been announced, featuring 23 studio outtakes and rare demos, most of which have never been released. Due out on Sept. 27 (nearly 50 years to the day after the original first hit shelves in the U.K.) the new collection also features remixes by producer Giles Martin and mix engineer Sam Okell in stereo, high res stereo, 5.1 surround, and Dolby Atmos.

Source: Fans recreate The Beatles’ Abbey Road cover shot 50 years on | Newsday