Abbey Road Marks 45th Anniversary

The Beatles' album Abbey Road released in 1969

  It was August 8,1969,four men who stood to be the biggest rock band the world has ever known for posed for several photos of what would be one of the greatest and most imitated album cover in the history of rock music.

The photo session took place at 11:30 in the morning,Scottish photographer Iain McMillan was invited by John Lennon to be the band's photographer at the time as the band decided to name their new album after the road where EMI studios is located.Lennon got to know McMillan through Yoko Ono whom he met in 1966.

McMillan took six photographs of the band crossing the road each with different phases,it was the fifth shot that was chosen to be the album cover.With its famous sleeve and awesome content,the album spawned classic rock hits that stood the test of time and would hit the number one spot on  the charts for several weeks.

Fast forward forty five years later,the Beatles,as we all know it became legendary for changing the course of both pop and rock music as they continue to inspire new generations of fans.A celebration to commemorate the event was organized by Richard Porter where a tribute band did the famous road crossing exactly the same time the photo sessions took place.

Let It Be Abbey Road commemorating the album's 45th(photo credit: Keith Moore)

Musician and friend Keith Moore was at the festivities and even took pictures of the said event describing it as the one with great atmosphere as fans from all over the world watched with awesome thrill that includes a sing-along with the West End tribute band Let It Be who managed to throw in a few songs.

That zebra crossing on Abbey Road,London became somewhat a shrine to Beatle followers and disciples alike where fans cross every hour and every day, but what makes August 8th 2014 so special is that four men dressed as the Beatles did a reenactment of the event at the exact same time the photo sessions took place forty five years ago.

The cast of Let It Be August 8,2014(photo credit:Keith Moore)

(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

FAREWELL TO CANDLESTICK:A Personal Glimpse To Sir Paul McCartney's Au Revoir

August 14,2014--the whole crowd was eagerly waiting as we all bid farewell to Candlestick Park after 50 years of providing entertainment.No,this isn't your average every day rock concert,and what makes it a lot different is that we're making history once again.I'm pretty sure Sir Paul is somewhat sentimental too-being able to play with the Beatles at their very last concert at the said venue and now he's back here again to bid farewell,to take a last glimpse,before Candlestick itself will become history.

Been in the venue around early in the evening where security was a bit tight.With the cops warning the spectators not to take anything from the stadium as a souvenir otherwise will be penalized heavily.Being just an average kid,I settled on a $250 plus tax ticket from my hard forked money,I couldn't afford the best seats especially the VIP ones that costs thousands of dollars-what's this poor lad going to do?

Being on the upper part of the venue where you could hardly see Paul onstage,probably as small as ants to describe it but nevertheless could still feel the excitement and the audience screams with thrill as Paul tore the place apart.

I've been a Beatles fan since discovering them as a child back in the late eighties,first getting the original 13 albums plus Past Masters singles on cassette and later replacing them on CD formats.And no I wasn't around when the Beatles first shook the world back in the sixties but lord knows how much I love them and their music.I did managed to listen to other bands when I was growing up in the 90s but it was the Beatles where I kept on returning to over the fact that no other band on this earth has accomplished what they had,how awesome they ruled the charts and how many good songs they have written.

It's a bit of a shame that Candlestick Park had to be demolished to give way to a commercial center/retail development projects.Imagine how much history 'the Stick' has  got over the last fifty years.Looking at the huge screen that night Paul went onstage,I didn't see a 72 year old rock star but rather a young Beatle who is having his last concert  pre-empting the band's retirement from touring.I could hardly imagine how it felt that night of August 29th 1966 but then I was probably having the same excitement my dad and other folks who lived during that time.The concert's main highlights I would agree is the fireworks show during Live And Let Die.

Armed with nothing but my cellphone,I can say I am quite jealous at the people below especially those at the VIP seats.And it would all be embarassing to post a snapshot of the stage far away from where I am seated.

Among Paul's words at the venue were "Its sad to see this place closing down but we're going to close it with style".Perhaps going sentimental about playing the last gig with the Beatles and going back there the second around,this time to bid farewell to the venue that's about to end up in ruins.Considering that he didn't start the show right away with a video screen having a mixed collage of rock stars,some of them who died in the intervening years.

Though the gig is a part of Paul's tour promoting his new album,wittily titled NEW,the SF concert were filled with Beatles and Wings songs.Tunes that became standards and stood the test of time.

The concert came to an end around past midnight after the last encore,"Thank you, San Francisco, for being cool now and for being cool back then," as the closing remarks ending the concert and thus saying goodbye to Candlestick Park.One might not know what'll happen in the next fifty years but we all have our memories,memories that will last a lifetime.


(c) Keith Vernon Adagio

No Retirement For Sir Paulie

Sir Paul McCartney (photo credit:AP)

In the wake of Paul's illness last May made a lot of  people think on how he'll be handling his career considering his age and even advised him to retire from the music biz.Many tabloids published their concerns,though not all of them were good ones such as the one written on the cover page of Globe magazine which was a bit exaggerated saying that the 72 year old rock star was closed to death without anyone knowing it.

Though many people especially celebrities wanted that little 'privacy' to remain,we couldn't blame them or their spokespersons to use some white lies to protect their own privacy without hurting the feelings of their fans.

Ok,all of us will get old one day and you can't avoid the inevitable.Many bands and artists such as the Rolling Stones will be touring as long as they can handle it despite of old age.Though the spirit as the late George Harrison once said remained 'younger',one can't possibly avoid the physical changes the body must endure upon reaching the elderly stage.One example of that is Bob Weir who cancelled his shows with the Grateful Dead just recently.But one couldn't argue that amazing stamina they were enduring with the same touring and management pressures they've been handling way back to their heyday.Cool examples of that would be of Chuck Berry who still tours at great acclaim at 87 years old and James Brown who toured until his very last breath.

An interview with Rolling Stone last July 17 saw a healthy and eager Paul McCartney who obviously made no signs that he is on the brink of retiring.He even talked about his illness that prompted him to cancel his Asian shows,being able to rest a bit before going back to the road after recovering.When asked what he's been up to lately McCartney replied enthusiastically "Yeah, I've got a lot of songs that I've written, and some that I need to finish. There's no fixed date, but at the back of my mind, I'll be wanting to clear a few months for me to write up the most likely of the songs that I've got on the boil and figure out how I want to record them and what I want to do with them. But I haven't booked any studio time. It's all there as fun for the future".As the topic went a little more serious with Simon Levinson mentioning his friend Eric Clapton's plan for retirement Paul replied sounding rather melancholic,"I think that's the deciding factor. It would be a pity if Eric retires, because, shit, he really plays good! But he's that kind of guy, Eric. I can see him saying, 'I'm going to retire.' He's kind of a homebody in essence. We've talked about this before. I remember him joking about how I stand up for the whole show. He said, 'I sit down' That's a blues player thing. But he's just too good a player. I would say to him, 'Yeah, by all means, sit down, Eric. But don't retire'".One would notice Sir Paul's voice cracking up a bit especially when hitting higher notes but the fans still love it and he is in fact a Beatle and a genius,nobody cares just for the fact that he is there for all of us sending out love and us in return.

Many of the geniuses of rock music if not gone,are aging and most people couldn't even bare to see their idols all wrinkled up physically but nevertheless the adrenalin remains intact.Let's face the fact that music today isn't as good as it was twenty to fifty years ago and a lot of us were even hungry for the good songs to feed our soul.Perhaps the love for real music and the drive to stay longer is what our aging idols like Sir Paul McCartney has kept them all going.And most of all,its us the fans who pack their shows is what makes them feel so special and give them the thought that there's something more to live for.


(c) Keith Vernon Adagio


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