Are You A Music Person?
By: Mason Domico
The Beatles hit album called Abbey Road was released on September 26, 1969, and the album contains many popular songs such as “Come Together”, “Here Comes The Sun”, and “Oh! Darling”. The image of The Beatles on the Abbey Road crossing has become a popular tourist attraction for Beatles fans in London. There is currently a webcam that has been operating there since 2011 which shows the popular road and anybody trying to imitate the walk across the sacred ground. In 1970 it was reported that sales in the US were around 5 million and by 1992 there were about 9 million copies sold. As of 2011, Abbey Road had 31 million copies sold and is one of the band’s best-selling albums.
But besides their legacy and all of the sales they were able to accomplish from this album alone, I was able to take a trip to Abbey Road with my family and experience this attraction with them. This trip was not for myself but more for my parents, who grew up listening to their music, and was a crucial aspect of their childhood/adult life. After having a busy week of traveling throughout London and experiencing all the different attractions that it has to offer, we decided to grab a bite to eat at Camden Market and then see Abbey Road and the famous studio. After taking pictures of the road and the outside of the studio, we headed into the store which is directly next to Abbey Road Studios. The store sold everything from guitar picks, t-shirts, vinyls, and keychains. The atmosphere in the store was like no other. The workers had The Beatles playing on the speakers and had memorabilia out that could be viewed by any customer who entered.
Abbey Road Studios is the oldest, purpose-built recording studio in the world, and artists such as The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Lady Gaga, and Kanye West were able to record in this historical studio. The history of this studio is absolutely breathtaking but what I was more fascinated by, was how taken back both my parents were when we arrived at our destination. They were able to grow up and listen to this famous band and the only images they were able to look at were album covers of Abbey Road. Being able to take them to such a huge tourist attraction in London was very heartwarming and emotional. I remember when I was younger and my dad and I would take trips to our local gym and listen to The Beatles. He introduced this band to my life and I started to fall in love with them. He used to quiz me on what the title of certain songs was and share memories with me about how he would listen certain songs before high school football games.
Music has been a huge part of my family’s life and The Beatles are one of many bands that my family enjoys and listens to often. Overall, sharing this experience with my father, mother, and sister was very fun and unlocked many forgotten memories that this band had in our lives. Abbey Road is certainly a must-see attraction if you find yourself in London and it definitely does not disappoint. I would highly recommend taking a trip over to the Euston Square Station and checking out this historical attraction no matter what age you may be. I hope this may have gotten you more excited to either take a trip to London or even study abroad here.
