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Solid State

The Story of Abbey Road and the End of the Beatles

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Solid State

Auteur(s): Kenneth Womack, Alan Parsons - foreword
Narrateur(s): William Hughes
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In Solid State, Kenneth Womack offers the most definitive account of the conception, recording, mixing, and reception of Abbey Road.

In February 1969, the Beatles began working on what became their final album together. Abbey Road introduced a number of new techniques and technologies to the Beatles' sound and included "Come Together", "Something", and "Here Comes the Sun", which all emerged as classics.

Womack's colorful retelling of how this landmark album was written and recorded is a treat for fans of the Beatles. Solid State takes listeners back to 1969 and into EMI's Abbey Road Studios, which boasted an advanced solid state transistor mixing desk. Womack focuses on the dynamics between John, Paul, George, and Ringo and producer George Martin and his team of engineers, who for the most part set aside the tensions and conflicts that had arisen on previous albums to create a work with an innovative (and among some fans and critics, controversial) studio-bound sound that prominently included the new Moog synthesizer, among other novelties.

As Womack shows, Abbey Road was the culmination of the instrumental skills, recording equipment, and artistic vision that the band and George Martin had developed since their early days in the same studio seven years before. A testament to the group's creativity and their producer's ingenuity, Solid State is required listening for all fans of the Beatles and the rock 'n' roll.

©2019 Kenneth Womack (P)2019 Blackstone Publishing Art Divertissement et célébrités Europe Grande-Bretagne Musique Célébrité Angleterre
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A comprehensive analysis of the making of Abbey Road, track by track, note by note, the engineering, production, collaboration, fighting, and culture of the band, wives, critics and assorted players

Detailed

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If you just watched the new Get Back documentary, this book is the perfect follow-up as it covers the period immediately following the Get Back sessions, when The Beatles recorded the songs which will become Abbey Road, while also each working on solo material and finishing off Let It Be as the band fell apart. There is definitely a lot of technical information on the recording equipment used at EMI (Abbey Road) studios and the transition from tube technology and 2-track and 4-track recording to solid state (hence the title of the book) equipment and 8-track recording. Some may find this level of detail a little tedious but as a musician and engineer myself I found it very interesting. I do feel that the author sometimes displays his ignorance about the technical information, sometimes conflating the mixing board with the tape recorder when talking about the studio process, but it wasn't a huge deal.

Contrary to what was mentioned in another review, there is a lot of information about The Beatles relationship during this time, how things like contract disputes came between them, Lennon and Ono's car accident and how that affected the band, Phil Spector's involvement in Let It Be and the issues that created, etc. And I found it really interesting how they were all working on solo albums hedging their bets and competing between themselves both professionally and ego-wise, and how the whole dissolution of the band happened in private and public. I'd say definitely a must-read for musicians who are Beatles fans, and a deep dive with perhaps a little more studio gear information that needed for non-musicians, but still a really interesting story and well-told.

Great overview of The Beatles post-Get Back

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If you are into The Beatles and/or into sound recording engineering, then you will love this, but it wasn’t my bag.

Not really my thing

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This was absolutely fantastic! I did find the first part a bit slow going, and you’ll feel the same if you have read of Beatles history, but when it got to the point where they started recording Abbey Road, it definitely picked up. Loaded with details on all of the tracks, the musicians and technicians who worked on it, and, of course the band members themselves, and all the turmoil. I put on my headphones and listened to the entire album afterwards. Pure gold.

Outstanding

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