UK, 1969, pop rock
The Beatles – Abbey Road: The Dark Horse emerges at last on this album with “Something”, the first ever non-Lennon/McCartney Beatles’ single. When it went #1 in America, Lennon’s estimation of it being the best song on the album was clearly justified. After all, it was Lennon’s idea to finally give Harrison a single release, to help give his bandmate courage and confidence in songwriting. The greatness of Harrison thus further emerges with this song and with “Here Comes the Sun”.
As everyone knows, this is the Beatles’ final album, as it was released before but recorded after Let It Be, and the imminent breakup of the band is painted all over the music. The Fab Four didn’t enjoy working together anymore, and their ability to make music together suffered. They knew they were breaking up, and they wanted to leave as the greatest band in history. Are they? In America, Abbey Road is their biggest selling album, but is it their best? Twelve of the 17 tracks first surfaced during the “Get Back” sessions, and thus some songs got days of attention, whereas others received very little focus. Some songs are just fragments, highlighting two things: the band’s fatigue and Lennon’s divided attention (Yoko and heroin). What happens in the end, therefore, is the throwing of all these fragments into a medley, one last, great run before the band breaks up, one final “hurrah!”
