The Beatles went through many phases throughout their career. Each of their distinctive eras had a new flavor. What was commonplace amongst most of them was an ironclad idea of what that era would be like. Blues artists influenced their early careers. Their latter career was an exploration of psychedelia before returning to their rock roots. Despite how different each album is, they’re easy to get a grip on. Well, for most of us anyway. George Harrison once spoke about finding it hard to pin down one of the Beatles’ most iconic albums. Whether it be the lack of hindsight or his internal struggles with the band that clouded his judgment, Harrison thought this particular album was a confused effort from the Beatles.
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The Beatles’ Album George Harrison Couldn’t Understand
The Beatles closed out their time in the studio together with Abbey Road. Despite being their last recorded effort and riddled with infighting, it wasn’t a whimpering goodbye from the group. It was instead filled with some of their strongest material, making their dissolution soon after an even bitterer pill to swallow.
A notable aspect of this record was the extent to which Harrison’s songwriting was represented. The “quiet Beatle” was often snubbed on the track listing, overshadowed by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. That wasn’t the case with Abbey Road, however, wherein he earned many of his biggest hits.
“I’m At A Loss”
Despite the success of Abbey Road, Harrison found it hard to pin down. Harrison once spoke about his overall impression of the record, saying he was “at a loss” about what to think.
“You really have to hear all that,” Harrison once said. “But it’s – so far, I can’t – maybe it’s when I get the album finished and in the sleeve, then I’ll get some sort of impression of it, but so far – y’know, like with Pepper and even that White Album, I got an overall image of my own of the album, whereas with this one, I’m at a loss.”
“Y’know, people have said it’s go – it’s a bit more like Revolver,” he added. “Maybe it is, but I – it still feels very abstract to me, I can’t, like, see it as a whole. Y’know, you get an image of an album.”
We get where Harrison is coming from. Abbey Road has many different flavors, and each band member seemingly wanted to take the album in a different direction. Nevertheless, this album proved to be one of the Beatles’ best efforts, closing out their time together with a bang.
(Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)
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