Forty years ago, at 11:35 a.m., the Beatles crossed a quiet street in north London on a zebra.
The photo session for their new album "Abbey Road" took place a few meters from the recording studio of the same name and took about ten minutes - photographer Ian MacMillan took only six shots, for this he had to climb a stepladder.
Since then, the cover of the new album has become a legend for two reasons - no cover like this has become the object of so many imitations, and no cover like this has spawned so many conspiracy legends.
For crazed fans with inflamed imaginations, this was the ultimate proof of the delusional legend of the time - that Paul McCartney is really dead.
According to this legend, Paul died in a car accident and was replaced by a doppelgänger. The band, legend has it, felt guilty about this deception and placed hidden signs on the album cover for their fans.
Thus, even today, despite Sir Paul's pronounced health, they continue to insist that if you look closely at the images on the front and back cover, you will find symbols of death hidden there.
There is no doubt that this album meant only one death. It was not yet known to the public at that time that the Beatles were in the last stages of disintegration, and this was their last album.
Relations between the band members deteriorated so much that they abandoned the original title of the Everest album and the Himalayan photography, and instead filmed near the studio - and this was the only thing they did by mutual agreement.
Die-hard fans, however, could read much more from the photographs.
1.FUNERAL
The procession of the Beatles, walking along the "zebra", means a funeral for Paul. John Lennon walks in front in a white suit and symbolizes a priest. Ringo Star is a mourner dressed in black. George Harrison, in a scruffy shirt and jeans, represents the gravedigger. Paul is wearing an old suit and is the only one walking barefoot. He later explained that he started filming in sandals, but later took them off as it was a very hot day. Adherents of the legend say that if this is true, then walking on hot asphalt is uncomfortable, and this once again confirms that Pol is a corpse.
2. CIGARETTE
Paul is left-handed, but here he is holding a cigarette in his right hand. Cigarettes are commonly referred to as "nails in the coffin." Thus, this is a sign that Paul's "coffin lid" is boarded up, and the man in the photo is his doppelgänger.
Paul is also out of step with the rest of the group. Everyone has a left foot in front, and Paul has a right foot, which again confirms that he is different from the others.
3. REGISTRATION NUMBER
The white Volkswagen Beetle in the background has registration number LMW 28IF. Conspiracy theorists say this means Paul would have been 28 IF he hadn't died.
Paul was actually 27 years old when "Abbey Road" was released, but fortunately for conspiracy theorists, Indian mystics calculate a person's age from conception, not birth, so in this case, Paul would indeed be 28 years old.
This is supported by the fact that the musicians were famous adherents of the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. LMW is also believed to stand for "Linda McCartney Weeps" - referring to Paul's wife, whom he married earlier this year.
4. spectators
In the background, a small group of white-clad people stand on one side of the street, and a lone person stands on the other side.
Does this mean that Paul is alone and separate from the others?
5. POLICE MINIBUS
There is a black police van parked on the right side of the street, a reference to the police remaining silent on "Paul's death".
According to legend, the band's manager Brian Epstein bought this silence, and the presence of a police "bean" in the photo is another "thank you".
6.LINE OF MACHINES
You can draw a line from the Volkswagen Beetle to the three cars in front of it. If it is passed through their right wheels, it will just touch Paul's head, and according to theorists, this means that Paul received a head injury in a car accident.
7. BLOOD SPOT
A stain can be seen on the Australian version of the album. It can be seen as a bloodstain on the road, it is located between Ringo and John, indirectly confirming the version of a car accident.
8. SHUTTERED LETTER S
On the reverse side The cover has a photo of an Abbey Road sign, and above is the inscription BEATLES. The crack passing through the letter S is clearly visible - it is believed that this indicates problems within the group.
To the left of the Beatles inscription is a group of eight dots. If you connect them together, you get the number 3.
Does this mean there are three Beatles left?
10. IMAGE OF DEATH
If the cover is held with the back facing you and rotated 45 degrees counterclockwise, the image of the Demon of Death can be clearly seen. Some people believe that this means that someone in the group has died.
11. GIRL
No one knows who the blue-clad girl on the back cover is. On the night that "the car crash happened", according to the followers of the legend, it was raining heavily, and Paul gave a lift to one fan named Rita. It must be the same girl, and she is either running away from the scene of the accident or running to call for help.
12. Paul's resting place
If the inscription on the wall is broken into separate sections, then you can get an encrypted message - “Be At Les Abbey”. In numerology, the next two letters - R and O are the 18th and 15th letters of the alphabet. Putting them together (33) and multiplying by the number of letters (2), we get the number 66 - the year in which Paul supposedly died.
The number 3 also corresponds to the letter C, so 33 corresponds to SS. CC means the short name of Cecilia, and adherents of the legend believe that Paul was buried at St Cecilia's Abbey in Ryde on the Isle of Wight.
Image copyright Reuters
The iconic Abbey Road photo of the Beatles is 50 years old. The author of one of the most recognizable photographs in the world, Ian Macmillan, took it on August 8, 1969.
The picture shows John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and George Harrison crossing Abbey Road in St. John's Wood. They go to house number 3, where the recording studio is located (in fact, from several shots, the photographer chose the one where the musicians are walking in the direction from studios).
Subsequently, the photo became the cover of the album of the same name, which was released in September 1969. The Abbey Road album cover photo was chosen by Paul McCartney. He also came up with the idea for the cover.
Photographer Ian McMillan was allowed only 10 minutes to shoot. He did six takes, balancing on a stepladder while the Beatles crossed the street back and forth on a zebra.
Abbey Road Studios' Instagram features a selection of celebrity photographs taken at the famous crossing.
Many legends are associated with photography, and the pedestrian crossing itself has become a place of pilgrimage for tourists copying the gait of the legendary Liverpool Four.
Image copyright Getty Images- The Beatles on the Rooftop: 50 Years of the Great Band's Last Live Concert
- Paul McCartney writes the first musical. Based on movie classics
According to one of the legends, the album had the working title "Everest", in honor of the cigarettes of the same name, which the studio engineer Jeff Emerick smoked, but during the discussion of the cover of the future record, Paul McCartney said that he would have to go to the mountains for photography and stated that it was easier and safer name the album after the street outside the window. The rest of the Beatles agreed.
Image copyright Natalie CulmoneMcCartney not only came up with the idea for the cover, but also did a pencil sketch. On the appointed day, the band members showed up for the shoot in Tommy Nutter costumes - all except for George Harrison, who opted for a more "hippie" look. At first, Paul McCartney posed in sandals, but then took them off and remained barefoot.
Image copyright Jenna Mary PoppThe fact that McCartney has no shoes on, his eyes are closed, and he is out of step with the others, gave impetus to the birth of another urban legend: the message about the recent death of the musician is encrypted on the cover. He is allegedly part of the funeral procession, led by John Lennon - a priest in white robes, and closes George Harrison - an undertaker in work clothes.
Image copyright Julio AndradeConspiracy theorists even "read" the registration number of the Volkswagen Beetle that slowed down at the crossing - LMW 281F, seeing in it the abbreviation meaning "Linda is crying", referring to Linda McCartney, and reading the second part of the number as 28 IF (28 if) Paul would be 28 years old if he were alive. The fact that Paul McCartney was actually 27 years old at the time of recording did not bother conspiracy theorists.
The crossing itself remains to date the only "zebra" that can be observed on the Internet in real time.
The Beatles are a symbol of modern pop culture and the music industry, perhaps even more significant than such musical "monsters" as Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Madonna and Michael Jackson. And The Beatles - the best-selling music brand in history (more than 1 billion records sold worldwide) - forever changed the music world.
1. John Lennon originally named the group differently
John Lennon founded the group in 1957 and named it the Quarry Men. Later, he invited Paul McCartney to the group, who brought in George Harrison. Ringo Starr became the last of the "big four" after he replaced Peter Best as drummer.
2. Quarry Men, Johnny and the Moondogs...
The band changed its name many times before settling on the name
The Beatles. In addition to the Quarry Men, the group also went by the names Johnny and the Moondogs, Rainbows and British Everly Brothers.
3. "Beetles" (beetlles) and "Rhythm" (beat)
Although no one can say exactly where the group's final name came from, most fans believe that John Lennon suggested the name after Buddy Holly's American Crickets. Other sources emphasize that the name deliberately combined 2 words - "bugs" (beetlles) and "rhythm" (beat).
4. "From Me To You"
The Beatles called their first UK single "From Me To You", taking the idea from the letters section of the British magazine NME, then called "From You to Us". They wrote this song on a bus while on tour supporting Helen Shapiro.
5. There was nothing before Elvis
John Lennon was very fond of cats. He had ten pets when he lived in Weybridge with his first wife, Cynthia. His mother had a cat named Elvis as the woman was a big fan of Elvis Presley. Not surprisingly, Lennon later claimed that "there was nothing before Elvis."
6 Abbey Road
The band originally wanted to name the song "Abbey Road" "Everest". But when their record company invited the band to visit the Himalayas to shoot a video there, the Beatles decided to rename the song after the street where the recording studio was located.
7. Hit for the main competitors
Very few people know the fact that John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the first hit for their main rivals, the Rolling Stones. "I Wanna Be Your Man" was released in 1963 and peaked at number twelfth on the UK Singles Chart.
8. Good Morning Good Morning
John Lennon wrote "Good Morning Good Morning" after being infuriated by a Kellogg cereal commercial.
9 Billboard Hot Record Breakers
During the week of April 4, 1964, as many as twelve Beatles songs were included in the top 100 Billboard Hot singles, including the compositions of this group occupied the first five lines. This record has not been broken so far, for fifty-two years.
10. The Beatles sold 178 million records.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Beatles have sold 178 million records in the United States. That's more than any other artist in US music history.
11. "Got to Get You into My Life"
1966 the song "Got to Get You into My Life" appeared. It was originally thought to be about a girl, but McCartney later claimed in an interview that the song was actually about marijuana.
12. Hey Jude
If you listen carefully to the words of the legendary song "Hey Jude", you can hear how Paul swore dirty, making a mistake during the recording of the song.
13. "New Disease"
Many people mistakenly believe that the term "Beatlemania" first appeared in 1963 after a review in the Daily Mirror. However, the term was actually invented by Canadian Sandy Gardiner and first appeared in the Ottawa Journal in November 1963, where the word was used to describe a "new disease" that was sweeping the globe.
14. ... well, if they themselves ask
Mae West initially turned down an offer to have her picture on the album cover of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", but she changed her mind after receiving a private letter from the band. Other famous women on the cover are Marilyn Monroe and Shirley Temple.
15. "Something" is the greatest love song
Frank Sinatra has often publicly expressed his admiration for the band, and once said that "Something" is the greatest love song ever written.
16. Help! and "Strawberry Fields Forever"
John Lennon said that the only real songs he ever wrote were "Help!" and "Strawberry Fields Forever". He claimed that these were the only songs he wrote based on his own experiences and not just imagining himself in certain situations.
17. Beatles Records Publicly Burned in the South
In March 1966, John Lennon noticed that Christianity was in decline and that the Beatles had become more popular than Jesus. His remarks led to protests in the American South, where the band's records were publicly burned. The protests have even spread to other countries such as Mexico, South Africa and Spain.
18. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. All four of its members were also inducted into the hall of fame individually from 1994 to 2015.
19. The Beatles hold the record for hits...
As of 2016, the Beatles still hold the record for most hits (20) to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Elvis Presley and Mariah Carey are tied for second with 18 songs each. The Beatles also hold the record for the most number one albums in the US and UK.
20. Unfulfilled dream
The members of The Beatles were so passionate about Tolkien's work that they wanted to star in the film "The Lord of the Rings", where the director was supposed to be Stanley Kubrick. Fortunately, Kubrick and his record company did not find this idea attractive, and a few decades later, Peter Jackson created his famous cinematic masterpieces.
21. The Beatles broke up because of...
No one knows 100 percent why the Beatles broke up. When Paul McCartney was asked why the band broke up, he claimed it was due to "personal differences, business differences, musical differences, but most of all, he enjoys spending time with his family much more".
22. Missed Opportunity
The closest the band came to a reunion after their split in 1970 was at Eric Clapton's wedding when he married Patti Boyd in 1979. George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr played together at the wedding, but John Lennon did not come.
23. Bands with guitars are out of fashion.
The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records on January 1, 1962, but were turned down because "groups with guitars are out of style" and also because "the band members lack talent". The Decca label instead chose a band called the Tremeloes, who no one remembers today. This is widely considered to be the biggest mistake in twentieth century music history.
24. The Beatles bought an island...
In 1967, when the Beatles were at the height of their drug addiction, they decided to buy their own island. Throwing in cash, the band members bought a beautiful private island in Greece where they wanted to live together, away from screaming fans. Unfortunately, when the group broke up, the island was also sold.
25. Beatles songs heal
Some scientists have suggested that several Beatles songs could help children with autism and other disabilities. In particular, they refer to the songs "Here Comes The Sun", "Octopus's Garden", "Yellow Submarine", "Hello Goodbye", "Blackbird" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".
Not so long ago, it appeared on the Web, which, of course, will be of interest to all fans of this group.
February 13, 2016, 18:44 
American tourist from Florida Paul Cole came to London with his wife. On August 8, 1969, he left the hotel for some air. He was sick as hell of going to museums and just wanted to stand and see what was going on. Paul got into a conversation with a policeman who was sitting in a parked police van. While they were talking, Paul noticed that several people had gathered at the crosswalk and four of them began to walk back and forth on the zebra, and another took pictures of them.
- Some eccentrics, - laughed Paul, - who walks barefoot in London.
The Beatles' twelfth album was originally going to be called Everest, named after the cigarettes smoked by EMI engineer Jeff Emerick:
There was a picture of a mountain on the pack, which the group liked very much. But they decided to abandon the name, because no one wanted to go to Nepal for a photo shoot. We decided to get out of the situation in the simplest way - to be photographed right next to the studio.
Before that, Paul drew and showed the photographer how he imagines the frame for the cover of the new album:
On the appointed day, around half past eleven, photographer Ian Macmillan arrived at the EMI recording studio at 3 Abbey Road. He was friends with Yoko Ono and she invited him to shoot. The Beatles were waiting for him on the steps at the entrance to the studio.
At first, Paul was in beach slippers, then he took off his shoes and remained barefoot.
Macmillan took six shots within ten minutes:
The fifth image was selected for the case. It turned out to be Alan Flanagan, Steve Millwood and Derek Seagrove - they were decorating the EMI studio and returning from lunch. They are on the far left of the frame.
The picture, taken at a pedestrian crossing next to the studio on Abbey Road, was another reason for fans of the conspiracy theory about Paul's death in a car accident to find new "evidence" to confirm this theory. The number on the Volkswagen LMW281F, which was in the picture, was read as "Paul would be 28 years old if he were alive." And the crossing itself was considered a funeral procession - in front of John in white as a priest, at the end George in jeans as an undertaker, and Paul himself with eyes closed, barefoot, cigarette in hand, and even out of step with the rest. Real dead man, yes.
The Beetle that sold at auction in 2001 for £2,530 is now in the Volkswagen Museum in Wolfsburg.
This girl in blue on the back of the record sleeve also fit into the conspiracy theory about the death of Paul and his replacement with a double. It was considered that this was the same Rita who was driving the car. In fact, after finishing filming at the crossing, Macmillan began to look for appropriate place for a photo with the name of the street. And found it at the intersection with Alexandra Road. The picture with a woman accidentally caught in the frame seemed to him the best.
After extremely unsuccessful recording sessions for the planned album get back(later renamed to Let It Be- 1970) Paul McCartney suggested that producer George Martin get together and record an album "like in the old days", without those quarrels and omissions that began with the work on the record The Beatles(aka White Album). Martin agreed on the condition that everything would be "as it was before", and the end result was Abbey Road. Work on it took place from February to August 1969.
The Beatles' twelfth album was originally named Everest: such cigarettes were smoked by one of the engineers of the studio, Jeff Emerick. The mountains depicted on the pack really liked the group.
But the name had to be changed: none of the team members wanted to go to Nepal for a photo shoot. We got out of this situation very simply and, as it turned out later, very successfully.
The cover art was designed by Apple Records creative director John Kosh. Abbey Road- the only British album of the Beatles, on the cover of which neither the artist nor the name is indicated. The record company EMI warned that the record would not be sold without this information. Kosh clarified that they "didn't have to put the band's name on the cover... They were the most famous band in the world."
A couple of days before the shoot, Ian was given a sketch by Paul McCartney showing what it should look like.
On an unusually hot August 8, around half past eleven, Ian Macmillan, a freelance photographer and friend of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, arrived at the studio building on Abbey Road. The Beatles were waiting for him on the porch.
In stock, Macmillan had only 10 minutes to take the desired photograph. Especially for this, the police blocked the site of the already busy Abbey Road in those days. Using a Hasselblad camera with a 50mm f22 wide angle lens at 1/500th of a second, Ian took the first 3 photos while standing on a stepladder.
After that, I had to stop and let some of the cars pass and only then shoot the remaining 3.
Paul keeps the flip flops when they return, but leaves them on the sidewalk for the rest of the photo shoot.
McCartney examined all the photographs with a magnifying glass before deciding which one would make the cover. The selection settled on the fifth shot, in which the group is crossing the street from left to right, Lennon leading the procession, followed by Starr, McCartney and Harrison. McCartney walks barefoot and out of step with the others. It also featured Alan Flanagan, Steve Millwood and Derek Seagrove, decorating the studio and returning from lunch. They can be found in the frame on the far left.
Parked to the left, a white Volkswagen Beetle belonged to one of the residents of the apartment building across from the studio. After the release of the album, the license plate (LMW 281F) was stolen several times. In 1986, the car was sold at Sotheby's to an American billionaire for £2,530, and in 2001 it was exhibited in a German museum.
It is believed that the person standing on the sidewalk to the right of the crossing is Paul Cole, an American tourist. He was tired of going to museums: he just decided to stand and see what was happening around while his wife was examining museum exhibits. Paul got into a conversation with the policeman who was in the car. While they were talking, the tourist noticed that several people had gathered at the pedestrian crossing and four of them began to walk back and forth along the zebra: “Some weirdos! Who walks around London barefoot? Paul Cole noticed himself on the cover of the album only a few years later.
Shortly before the release of the album Abbey Road The American newspaper Rat Subterranean News published an article that claimed that Paul McCartney died in a car accident in 1966 and that the current "Paul" was actually William Campbell. And the picture became a new "proof" of the conspiracy theory. The number on the Volkswagen LMW 281F that was in the picture was read as "Paul would be 28 years old if he was alive" (and it does not matter that Paul turned 27 in 1969). And the whole composition personifies the funeral procession - ahead John in white as a priest, at the end George in all jeans as an undertaker, and Paul himself with his eyes closed, barefoot, a cigarette in his hand (the expression "a cigarette is a nail from a coffin"), and even walking out of step with the others.
McCartney always denied these allusions, saying that it was nonsense: “We wore ordinary clothes. I was barefoot because it was hot. And the Volkswagen just happened to be there.” In 1993, Paul released a live album Paul Is Live, the cover of which parodied and Abbey Road, and the "evidence" of his own death "found" on it.
The image of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road has become one of the most famous and copied in history. For example, Red Hot Chili Peppers took it as a prototype for the cover. Abbey Road EP.
In 2010, the crossing was given Category II status for its "cultural and historical significance"; Abbey Road Studios had received similar status a few months earlier. There is a special site on which the famous transition has been broadcast in real time since 2011.