Hello Friends,
This year marks the 80th anniversary of music most famous recording house in the World - Abbey Road Studios.
Now I've had the pleasure of being in some of the greatest music halls as well and experienced some monumental things in my career. I even worked at Toronto's Masonic Temple for a few years. Nothing quite compares to the feeling of walking past the zebra crossing and through the doors of this place.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending an EMI showcase for new artists at Abbey Road Studios in London, England. Home to The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Rush, orchestral tracking for the likes of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The King's Speech, James Bond soundtracks and of course Oasis.
It was a religious experience to say the least. The street alone gave me goosebumps - but to have walked through those doors and into Studio 2 - well that was the real deal.
As you can imagine the past week has been all about re-living The Beatles music. I know that we all know their music well - but here's a few stand-outs that I recommend you give another fresh listen to. They're never going to sound dated and have yet to be challenged in terms of production even as we approach the year 2012.
Here's some other artists that have recorded at Abbey Road over the years...
- Pink Floyd - 'Wish You Were Here'
- Pink Floyd - 'Us And Them'
- Travis - 'Closer'
- Radiohead - 'Planet Telex'
- Oasis - 'All Around The World'
- U2 featuring Green Day - 'The Saints Are Coming'
- Duran Duran - 'Notorious'
- Gerry and the Pacemakers - 'Ferry Across The Mercy'
- Florence and the Machine - 'What the Water Gave Me'
- Lady Gaga - 'Born This Way'
- Kanye West - 'Diamonds of Sierra Leone' *Late Orchestration: Live at Abbey Road Studios
In recent years the studio also gave the World a closer look inside through the series 'Live From Abbey Road'. It's wonderful and worth hunting down if you're a music lover.
After the studio sessions I joined EMI staff, along with a few of the artists, at a local pub. The pub itself was on Abbey Road and boasts being the local to Sir Paul McCartney, Kate Moss and Simon Cowell. It was the perfect way to end an evening in London.
If you ever get the opportunity to visit Abbey Road then do it - don't hesitate for a second. This truly is a place where dreams and creativity are created. Those walls have seen some of the finest writers, producers and musicians that the World has ever seen and ever will see.
In Metric's 'Gimme Sympathy' they asked the question "Who would you rather be? The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?" For me it's without question The Beatles:)
Thanks for reading/listening.
Gregg
