Two of the most famous albums recorded at the studio were Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road, both by The Beatles.
Mary McCartney, daughter of Linda and Paul McCartney, is directing a new documentary about the studio. She is a well-known British photographer and filmmaker.
Her feature-length film, “If These Walls Could Sing,” is described in Mercury Studios’ January 12th 2021 Announcement as “The Untold Story of the World Famous” London Studios.
Mary McCartney brings a uniquely personal perspective on the history of Abbey Road. She says, “Some of my earliest memories as a young child come from time spent at Abbey Road. I’ve long wanted to tell the story of this historic place and I couldn’t be collaborating with a better team than John Battsek and Mercury Studios to make this creative ambition a reality.”
According to RollingStone.com, “If These Walls Could Sing” will be released in time for the studio’s 90th-anniversary celebration in November.
Abbey Road has a long and illustrious history. According to Reuters, British classical music composer Sir Edward Elgar, opened the studios in a ceremony on November 12, 1931. He made the studio’s inaugural recording there.
In 1932, Yehudi Menuhin, then a 16-year-old teen prodigy, was invited by Elgar to record a violin concerto at the studios, thus beginning Menuhin’s lifelong association with Abbey Road.
During the period leading up to World War II, regular visitors there included Gertrude Lawrence, Fats Waller and Fred Astaire.
Glenn Miller recorded there with Dinah Shore in the 1940s.
During the 60s, the Beatles were, of course, Abbey Road’s most famous clients. The Seekers (I’ll Never Find Another You, Georgie Girl) also recorded at Abbey Road.
During the 1970s and ‘80s Abbey Road recorded Spandau Ballet, Simple Minds, Kiki Dee, XTC, Mike Oldfield, Jeff Beck, Tom Robinson and Kirsty MacColl.
Since 1980, Abbey Road has been used by orchestras to score some of the big screen’s most successful films, including Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, several Star Wars films, two of the Harry Potter films and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
More recently, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Adele, Radiohead, Oasis, U2, Amy Winehouse, Kate Bush, Florence + The Machine, Ed Sheeran and Frank Ocean have made Abbey Road their creative home.
Mary McCartney’s documentary is set to air in November 2021.
Bob Marcus is a Cincinnati Ohio native and author of the mystery-thriller, I Buried Paul(McCartney).
