Paul McCartney
The sleeve was designed by Apple Records creative director Kosh and is the only original UK Beatles album sleeve to show neither the artist name nor the album title on its front cover.
The front cover design, a photograph of the group traversing a zebra crossing, was based on sketched ideas by McCartney and taken on 8 August 1969 outside EMI Studios on Abbey Road. At around 11:30 that morning, photographer Iain Macmillan was given only ten minutes to take the photo whilst he stood on a step-ladder and a policeman held up the traffic.
In the scene, the group walk across the street in single file from left to right, with Lennon leading, followed by Starr, McCartney, and Harrison. McCartney is barefoot. With the exception of Harrison, the group are wearing suits designed by Tommy Nutter. To the left of the picture, parked next to the zebra crossing, is a white Volkswagen Beetle which belonged to one of the people living in the block of flats across from the recording studio. After the album was released, the number plate (LMW 281F) was stolen repeatedly from the car. In 1986, the car was sold at auction for £2,530 and in 2001 was on display in a museum in Germany. The man standing on the pavement to the right of the picture is Paul Cole (c. 1911 – 13 February 2008), an American tourist unaware he had been photographed until he saw the album cover months later.
The image of the Beatles on the crossing has become one of the most famous and imitated in recording history. The crossing is a popular destination for Beatles fans and there is a webcam featuring it. In December 2010, the crossing was given grade II listed status for its "cultural and historical importance"; the Abbey Road studios themselves had been given similar status earlier in the year.
A rumour that Paul McCartney had been killed in a car crash circulated London after a January 1967 traffic accident involving his car. Hundreds of supposed clues to McCartney's death were reported by fans and followers of the legend; these included messages perceived when listening to a song being played backwards, and symbolic interpretations of both lyrics and album cover imagery. Another was the interpretation of the Abbey Road album cover as symbolising a funeral procession, with "John, dressed in pure white, symbolises the preacher or heavenly body. Ringo, dressed in full black, symbolises the mourner. George, in scruffy denim jeans and shirt, symbolises the gravedigger and Paul, barefoot and out of step with other members of the band, symbolises the corpse."
McCartney subsequently referred to the legend with the title and cover of his 1993 live album Paul Is Live (parodying the Abbey Road cover and its "hidden clues").
Graphic designer Roger Huggett asked us if we could re-create the original Abbey Road album cover as the original had gone missing.
You can see the results below. Paul and Linda were delighted with the work, and sent me a "Dali" watch engraved with "Paul is Live" and a hand written card thanking me. Something I will allways treasure.
