On This Day in 1969: The Beatles Took Their Last Steps in the Abbey Road Photo Shoot

All walking in the same direction to then head their separate ways. The 1969 photo shoot for The Beatles’ Abbey Road album marks their final collaboration. Also, potentially, the last publicly released image of the four still as members of The Beatles.

Taken by photographer, Iain McMillan, a police officer held up traffic while the band walked across Abbey Road. McMillan, standing on a step ladder in the middle of the road was given 10 minutes and managed to snap six shots. Every year on August 8, it reminds Beatles fans of the end of an era. With that in mind, here is how it all happened.

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McCartney’s Idea

The Beatles met at EMI Studios to record parts of the Abbey Road record and to take the photograph. The idea stemmed from a spur-of-the-moment inspiration by Paul McCartney. It was reportedly days before the event when Paul noticed sound engineer, Geoff Emerick, smoking Everest Cigarettes. McCartney took a liking to the thought of The Beatles being behind a plush white background and wanted the backdrop of the shoot to be a snowy mountain. So much in fact that the original title of the album was Everest.

However, according to Abbey Road Studios, “the group decided that Nepal was out of the question,” so McCartney thought to take the picture outside the studio. He drew a diagram of the photo, and they decided to take a break from recording to go out and take the shot. McCartney selected the fifth picture because the band was all waking in unison and their legs made a perfect “V.”

“The End” of The Beatles

Ironically, or purposeful, no one is to say. A fascinating piece of context to this photo is that on the day it was taken The Beatles recorded the overdubs for their last track—”The End.” Deliberate? It could probably be surmised as such. Between the direction they were walking and the recording of the song, The Beatles were giving a message to their fans.

Per Abbey Road Studios, the photograph “satisfied The Beatles’ desire for the world to see them walking away from the studios they had spent so much of the last seven years inside.” That being so, the message was seemingly a farewell and a thank you of sorts. A thank you to the fans and everyone else involved. An epic photo to end a truly epic career.

Photo: Cover of ‘Abbey Road’ (1969)