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Political correctness in USA:
Beatles art censored
One of the most famous album cover art ever is the photo on The Beatles’ Abbey Road album. It has now become the victim of American political correctness and censorship. U.S. poster companies have airbrushed the cigarette out of Paul McCartney's hand.
The famous Abbey Road album, digitally altered.
On Friday, August 8, 1969, John, Ringo, Paul and George walked across the street for a photo that was to become the cover of their Abbey Road album. As many of you know, this was the Beatles' last recorded album, though it was released before their swan song, Let it Be.
Photographer Iain Macmillan was given just ten minutes to take the picture outside the studios. He balanced on a stepladder and took six photographs of the four walking across a zebra crossing.
The original art for the album was shipped to the printer on 9th November 1969 – about three weeks before the album's release. John Kosh did the sleeve layout for the album.
It is this image that attracts countless Beatles fans to get off the London Underground at the St. John’s Wood Station and take the five-minute walk up to Abbey Road Studios, in the middle of an otherwise quiet, middle class residential neighbourhood.
The decision to remove the cigarette was made without the permission of both McCartney and the rights owner of the image, Apple Records. “We have never agreed to anything like this,” said an Apple spokesman. “It seems these poster companies got a little carried away.”
The American distributor, www.allposters.com, offers three versions of the Abbey Road poster on its Web site. The “giant,” 140-by-102-centimetre reproduction is the designated smokeless model.
The altered poster is printed by Import Images of New York City. Owner Patrick Smith said this week he was “happy to do it” because he is against smoking. But Smith also said he was “told to do it” by Signatures Network, a San Francisco-based licensing company which clears Beatles merchandise for sale in North America.
It’s an interesting subject. If this Patrick Smith is a Christian, he could digitally alter the picture to add a Bible in Paul McCartney’s hand. If he is a Nazi, he could place a swastika on McCartney’s arm. And if he enjoys carpet bombing children, he could replace McCartney with Donald Rumsfeld. The possibilities are endless. Anything can be changed.
The Abbey Road cover from 1969 is one of the most controversial in the history of rock. The creative idea behind the artwork came from Paul McCartney. Shortly after the record was released, a rumour and a conspiracy theory spread that McCartney had lost his life in a car accident and was replaced by a look-a-like. The touchstone of “Paul is dead” clues was the Abbey Road cover. The website www.rareexception.com discusses how Abbey Road’s cover art fit into the puzzle. Consider the roles represented by the Beatles members on the cover: Paul McCartney dressed as a corpse, accompanied by angel John Lennon, minister Ringo Starr and gravedigger George Harrison. Among the evidence was the fact that McCartney held the cigarette in his right hand, while he in reality was left-handed. This particular “proof” is now removed.
The airbrushing came 14 months after George Harrison died from brain cancer. Harrison blamed his smoking for getting cancer. All the Beatles members were heavy smokers in the 60s and 70s. History still remains the same: what happen happened and should not be changed.
Abbey Road closes the ‘canon’ of Beatledom. It was truly an elegant album to bring their career to a close. In it, the Beatles returned to their earlier strengths of creating a great overall sound first and worrying about the lyric later. It remains hugely popular simply through its sparkling musicianship. Abbey Road was the best album of their career — the “ultimate Beatles album,” and one of the best albums of all time. It contains classics such as “Come Together” and “Oh, Darling,” and Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun” parallels Lennon and McCartney’s craftsmanship. The entire group was at the top of their collective creative genius.
Abbey Road closes the ‘canon’ of Beatledom. Abbey Road was truly an elegant way to bring their career to a close. Abbey Road returned the Beatles to their earlier strengths of creating a great overall sound first and worrying about the lyric later. The album retains a huge popularity simply through its sparkling musicianship. It was the best album of their career, the ultimate Beatles “Beatles” album and one of the best albums of all time. A pure classic with songs like “Come together”, “Here comes the sun” and “Oh Darling”, Lennon/McCartney at the top of their career.
The importance of the Abbey Road album is also seen in the countless homages and parodies:
* The Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Abbey Road EP
* George Benson, Abbey Road (a jazz version, but only George Benson is in the crosswalk)
* Booker T. & the MGs, McLemore Avenue
* New York City, Soulful Road (a 70's disco group)
* The Rutles, Meet the Rutles (one of several parodies on the cover; one of the “Stig Is Dead” clues is that Stig is wearing no pants!)
* Baby Road (this was an album of lullaby versions of Abbey Road, the Beatles were replaced with crawling babies)
* The movie Trainspotting also paid homage to the Abbey Road cover when the four main characters were walking to the hotel where they were going to complete a drug deal.
This post has been edited by kiwibank: 26 November 2004 - 10:50 PM
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