Tuesday, June 12, 2007

The Long and Winding Road


In the summer of 1969, as the Beatles were finishing their new album, someone suggested they call the record Everest, in part after a brand of cigarettes popular in the U.K. Paul McCartney, in particular, got very excited about the idea, and began a planning a trip to Tibet for a cover shoot to take place at the eponymous mountain. The other Beatles were into it at first, but then lost interest. First Ringo, then John and George began wondering if it was worth flying halfway around the world and scaling at least part of a mountain just to take a picture.

"Well," said McCartney one afternoon at the studio, "if we're not going to name it Everest and pose for the cover in Tibet, where are we going to go?"

Ringo answered: "Let's just step outside and name it Abbey Road."

And they did.

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