Paul McCartney Celebrates Abbey Road Studios’ 85th Birthday
Paul McCartney is celebrating Abbey Road Studios’ 85th anniversary this weekend in a jovial video message posted to the famous recording destination’s Facebook page. In the prerecorded musical greeting, Sir McCartney wishes Abbey Road Studios a happy 85th birthday and briefly discusses his long history with the revered studio in London, England, that was established in November of 1931 by the Gramophone Company, the predecessor to EMI Music. Read a transcript of Paul’s Facebook birthday message to Abbey Road below.
For music fans, the Beatles and Abbey Road Studios are often mentioned in the same breath, as the Fab Four recorded the bulk of their singles and albums there during their roller-coaster music career from 1962 until 1970, when the compound was still called EMI Studios. The Beatles’ 1969 Abbey Road album, named after the street where the studio resides, gave the studio complex its current name and forever cemented its historical status.
In Paul McCartney’s celebratory Facebook video, posted by Abbey Road Studios on Saturday morning, the famed musician fondly recalls his first time visiting the studio with the Beatles. Admitting that he was nervous during their initial Abbey Road recording session, McCartney acknowledges the guiding influence of legendary Beatles producer George Martin, who died earlier this year. Paul also mentions the impact of his two deceased Beatles brothers, John Lennon and George Harrison, calling them “heroes.”
“Hi folks! How ya doing? Abbey Road is 85 years old.”
“Boy, do I remember the first time I went there? Yeah. It was like yesterday, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t 85 years ago, but something approximating that. Anyway, it was beautiful. It was such a scary session with George Martin as the presiding grown-up. Bless him, bless Abbey Road, bless John and George and all our departed heroes. … We love them all. We love Abbey Road.”
McCartney has continued using Abbey Road Studios during his prestigious post-Beatles musical career, including for a special live concert appearance with 2005’s Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road, wherein Paul performed selections from that year’s Chaos in Creation in the Backyard, his acclaimed solo album produced by Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich. Chaos and Creation at Abbey Road was chiefly performed at Abbey Road’s Studio 2, where the Beatles made most of their landmark recordings within the Abbey Road Studios building.
In other online Paul McCartney news, the witty ex-Beatle recently participated in the popular “Mannequin Challenge” meme, the viral Internet video trend that is currently spreading like wildfire across the World Wide Web. “Mannequin Challenge” videos usually exhibit participants who pretend to be “paused” or frozen in action, in a comical manner, often while music plays in the background.
As reported by The Wrap, Paul McCartney’s “Mannequin Challenge” clip took the viral trend to a “meta level,” with Macca posing to the sounds of Rae Sremmurd and Gucci Mane’s hit, “Black Beatles,” a tune “often used to accompany the challenge,” per The Wrap‘s report. McCartney posted the comical video to his official Twitter account, captioning the clip, “Love those Black Beatles.”
“The musician even singled out the line of the song pertaining specifically to him — ‘Black Beatle, bitch, me and Paul McCartney related’ — as the soundtrack to his feat of still-standing.”
If you haven’t already, check out Rae Sremmurd’s “Black Beatles” music video below.
Are you familiar with the musical history associated with Abbey Road Studios? Have you ever visited the famous Abbey Road building in London, England? Do you have a favorite Beatles or Paul McCartney song that was recorded there? Have you yet made your own “Mannequin Challange” video and posted it online? Let us know in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
