# Beatles question: why was "Abbey Road" recorded at Abbey Road? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 2, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-question-why-was-abbey-road-recorded-at-abbey-road/955375 "2021-12-02T15:50:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-question-why-was-abbey-road-recorded-at-abbey-road/955375/1 "2021-12-02T15:50:12Z")
Prompted by watching the new “Get Back” Beatles documentary last weekend. For the Get Back/Let It Be sessions they had just moved into a brand spanking new studio at their Apple HQ. So why didn’t they record their next album there instead of going back to EMI/Abbey Road? My only guess would be that EMI had superior equipment, but if that’s the case then why even bother building the Apple studio if it is not up to the Beatles’ or George Martin’s standards? ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-question-why-was-abbey-road-recorded-at-abbey-road/955375/2 "2021-12-02T16:24:48Z")
From _The Beatles Anthology,_ it sounds like they had high hopes for the Apple HQ studio. However, when finished, it turned out to be not as cozy as they thought it would be (George compared it to a Tesco); the heating made noise; and (for unclear reasons) they had to rig up the equipment in a substandard way. Ringo says in _The Beatles Anthology_ that they returned to Abbey Road because it “felt comfortable” and the Beatles “felt at home” there. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-question-why-was-abbey-road-recorded-at-abbey-road/955375/3 "2021-12-02T17:56:42Z")
I think mostly they just wanted to get George Martin back on board after stepping back during the Get Back sessions. Abbey Road was Martin’s little kingdom before he even met the Beatles. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-question-why-was-abbey-road-recorded-at-abbey-road/955375/4 "2021-12-02T18:11:00Z")
> [@Chad\_Sudan](#): > > From _The Beatles Anthology,_ it sounds like they had high hopes for the Apple HQ studio. However, when finished, it turned out to be not as cozy as they thought it would be (George compared it to a Tesco); the heating made noise; and (for unclear reasons) **they had to rig up the equipment in a substandard way.** > > Ringo says in _The Beatles Anthology_ that they returned to Abbey Road because it “felt comfortable” and the Beatles “felt at home” there. Now that you mention it I do remember the part about having to wire two four-track machines together to make an eight-track deck. But I just assumed that was temporary since it didn’t sound like the Apple studio was completely ready yet when they decided to move out of Twickenham. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-question-why-was-abbey-road-recorded-at-abbey-road/955375/5 "2021-12-02T18:32:27Z")
I don’t understand why they couldn’t fix the technical problems… But here’s what Derek Taylor says: “There was a studio of a sort [at the Apple offices in Savile Row] – but in the end, when they made _Let It Be_ there, a portable recording system had to be brought in, so really it was like cooking with a primus stove on top of a big expensive gas cooker because the gas wasn’t connected.” George Martin commented that self-proclaimed engineer “Magic Alex” Mardas, who set up the Apple studio, “had forgotten to put any holes in the wall between the studio and the control room.” Thus they had to run the cables through a door. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-question-why-was-abbey-road-recorded-at-abbey-road/955375/6 "2021-12-02T21:23:40Z")
I’m not really qualified to say but I was under the impression that Mardas was a bullshitter who didn’t know what he was doing. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-question-why-was-abbey-road-recorded-at-abbey-road/955375/7 "2021-12-02T21:34:10Z")
When Alan Klein took over Apple, his first order of business was to get rid of useless staff. Magic Alex was the first one fired. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-question-why-was-abbey-road-recorded-at-abbey-road/955375/8 "2021-12-02T23:13:49Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > I’m not really qualified to say but I was under the impression that Mardas was a bullshitter who didn’t know what he was doing. At the very least he was a con artist, but I wonder if he was delusional and believed his own bullshit. I read somewhere that the round holes in the panels (where the knobs would go) had been clumsily carved with a chisel. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-question-why-was-abbey-road-recorded-at-abbey-road/955375/9 "2026-08-12T17:29:12Z")
Bumped. A clever homage. > **[Retired Columbus photographer recreates 'Abbey Road' album cover](https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/weird-news/2026/08/11/abbey-road-album-cover-recreated-columbus/91240512007/)** > > Mike Munden got the idea when he drove past the Columbus intersection and noticed its resemblance to the famous setting.