On this day in music history: August 8, 1969 - The Beatles take the cover photo for their 11th studio album “Abbey Road”. While the band are recording the album, they had been trying to decide what to title their latest work in progress as well as what to put on the cover. Finally the decision is made to pose for the album cover photo in the zebra crossing right in front of the EMI recording studio on Abbey Road. A photo shoot is quickly organized and photographer Iain McMillan is hired for the job. On the morning of the 8th, prior to beginning a recording session scheduled for 2:30 that afternnoon (the band are recording overdubs for “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”, “The End” and “Oh! Darling” that day), McMillian will stand on a step stool in the middle of the street, while a policeman holds up traffic as the photos are taken. The Beatles will cross the road twice while McMillan takes six pictures, with the photo shoot lasting only ten minutes. Paul McCartney will look over transparancies of the pictures taken and select the shot used for the cover. The album cover will become iconic and one of the most imitated and parodied images of all time.
Reblogged from behindthegrooves