On the morning of 8th August 1969, as a policeman held back traffic, all four members of the Beatles made their way across a zebra crossing outside EMI Studios in London. As they walked in line, one after the other, with a ten minute window in which to get the job done, photographer Iain Macmillan stood atop a stepladder and snapped the Fab Four, capturing a moment that would become etched in musical history: the resulting image, chosen from just six shots, would later grace the cover of Abbey Road, the band’s eleventh album. That evening, Mal Evans, the Beatles’ road manager and personal assistant, briefly recalled and drew the iconic shoot in his diary.
The Diary Entry
AUGUST 1969
8 FRIDAY
Up at 8:30am, arriving at 9:45am. Ringo first at 10:15 with the others arriving just after eleven.
Policeman gets quite excited at a few people, and Ian missed the picture.
George Ferrari and I go to Regents Park Zoo and meditate in the sun. To Krishna temple for lunch and studio for 3pm. Yoko, John and Ringo went to Paul + Linda’s for lunch. It was very nice.
ABBEY ROAD
[Illustration]
Further Reading
In November of 2023, Kenneth Womack’s Living the Beatles Legend: The Untold Story of Mal Evans will finally be published, “lavishly illustrated with unseen photos and ephemera from Mal’s archive.” It will be followed, a year later, by a collection of his diaries and manuscripts.
In 2005, the Times reprinted some excerpts from Mal Evans’ diaries.
Leave a Reply