Abbey Road

Lucid and lavishly illustrated-a fine gift for pop and music history buffs. Appropriately ambitious biography of the recording studio that gave the world the Beatles' eponymous swan song-but also, lest it be forgotten, the works of Helen Shapiro and Vanessa-Mae. Helen and Vanessa who? It helps to be a music geek, if not of a certain age, to appreciate the depths of BBC music critic Lawrence's history of Abbey Road studios, which has been online for nearly nine decades now. For those who are not such geeks, then the basic bits of essential knowledge, all to be found in his pages, are these: The studio was built in the heart of St. John's Wood, London's first garden suburb, in a refitted Georgian mansion, and in those august surroundings was inaugurated under the baton of none other than Edward Elgar, he of Pomp and Circumstance fame. It was also a sonic laboratory, a place to test not only gear to help King George VI work through his stutter (the stuff of the hit movie The King's Speech) but also the stereophonic, aurally deceptive goodies that would be put to use in the psychedelic era under the tutelage of good Sir George Martin. Before all that, though, Abbey Road had to make the transition from stuffy classical facility to pop wonderland. If you knew that the first pop hit to emerge from Abbey Road was Cowpuncher's Cantata in 1952, then you will not need or profit from Lawrence's considerable labors, but if you did not-or did not know that Pink Floyd, Radiohead and even Mel Gibson recorded here-then this book is certainly worthy of time and exploration. One might quibble with some of his assessments (Was Jeff Beck's Truth really a forerunner of metal? Were the Hollies really just another cover band?), but Lawrence makes up for it with plenty of fine factual writing, especially on the technological side. Lucid and lavishly illustrated-a fine gift for pop and music history buffs. * Kirkus * The book is as captivating as the story it tells [...] The book is pure quality from start to finish - from the production, to the design, to the layout and content [...] For fans of music, for musicians, and for cultural historians, this book is definitely a must-have! -- Donna Jackson * British Beatles Fan Club * Abbey Road: The Best Studio in the World is an incredible documentation of cultural history for anyone who values music and how it's made. -- Anita Awbi * PRS for Music * This is the kind of book you dip into for a few minutes and emerge from two hours later - the text always informative, the photographs fresh as yesterday... -- Steven Carroll * The Sydney Morning Herald * Abbey Road is a big book worth lifting. * Rick Librarian *