Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Abbey Road photo - a first-person account

The replica of John Lennon's psychedelic limousine arrives for Saturday's Abbey Road anniversary ceremony.
(Photo by Donna Jackson.)

Donna Jackson of the British Beatles Fan Club sent her account direct from the festivities Saturday at Abbey Road. Included are a few pictures she sent that we've put in a slide show at the bottom of the page:

I was at Abbey Road yesterday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Beatles' Abbey Road photoshoot -- and it was an absolute amazing experience!! 

Richard Porter, who owns the Beatles Coffee Shop in St John's Wood and runs the London Beatles Walks, had re-timed his walking tour so that we would arrive at Abbey Road in time to cross the road at 11.35am (the time that the iconic photo was taken).  Even though London Transport didn't make it easy for us (the Jubilee line was closed for maintenance!!), we got there in time -- but none of us expected the site that greeted us.

I expected that the crossing would be busy that day, but as we drove up Abbey Road on the number 139 bus, we were greeted with the sight of literally hundreds of people!  When we finally got off the bus, the atmosphere was amazing!  Everyone was clearly so happy to be there at that special time, and despite the crowds and chaos, no-one was getting angry or impatient (well, with the exception of one overseas journalist who shoved me out of his way at one point but wilted under the collective glares of disapproval!!).

Richard, in combination with the British Beatles Fan Club, had arranged for a Beatles Tribute Band, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Dart Board Band, to lead the crowd over the crossing at the appropriate time.  The band arrived in a replica of John's psychedelic Rolls Royce, loaned from Ripley's Believe It Or Not, and were greeted with great excitement!

The crossing didn't go quite according to plan though.  By this point, a double-decker bus had overheated (due to being stuck in the crowd for so long) and had broken down ON the crossing (it really wasn't London Transport's day!), but Richard and the band managed to lead some of the crowd across at 11.35am.  For most of us, though, it was too crowded and we made our celebratory crossings afterwards.

Three of my (female) friends and I decided that we would pay our own personal tribute to the Beatles by dressing up in the appropriate clothes.  We attracted quite a lot of attention and probably got a little too much in character!  'George' insisted he was the good-looking one; 'John' agreed, but pointed out that he was the talented one!  'Ringo' stayed out of it; and 'Paul' took charge -- counting us in so that we could cross the road in step.  It was hilarious!! And wonderful!!

Afterwards, we went to the Beatles Coffee Shop to meet Tony Bramwell.  He signed my copy of his book, and then proved that he could do near-perfect copies of the Beatles' signatures.  Hey!  I've got a full set of Beatle autographs if anyone's interested!! ;-)  In the evening, Richard and the British Beatles Fan Club arranged for the band to play at Peter Parker's Rock and Roll Club.  Admittedly, the strain of the day seemed to be telling on the band's voices, but that didn't matter -- it was the perfect end to an absolutely perfect day!!

Yes, it was chaotic; yes, it didn't go quite according to plan -- but none of that matters.  If you were one of the hundreds of people who were at Abbey Road yesterday, you'll understand that being there, in that group, celebrating THAT photo, was the only thing that mattered.  It was an incredible, amazing day -- and I feel privileged to have been part of it!!

Donna Jackson
British Beatles Fan Club

 

For more info:

• The British Beatles Fan Club