Come Together

It was forty years ago today that the cover photograph for the Beatles' album Abbey Road was shot by Iain Macmillan. It was also almost seventy years since the beginning of the London "Blitz". Oh No! "Don't mention the war!" as Basil Fawlty would say. But here, the bombings of WWII in 1939 and the innocuous crossing of Abbey Road by four talented musicians in 1969 have given way to the celebration of both the musicians themselves, and the era of peace and love to which they gave voice. The intersection of Abbey Road and Grove End Road has become a focal point for hundreds of tourist photographs every week, as Beatles fans re-enact the crossing, with one member of their party shoeless and another holding a cigarette. It has also become a nexus for the very Universal Peace and Love referred to in many Beatles songs. If a geographic place could be said to have energy or emotion, this place would be Love, Love, Love.

Today on Abbey Road, NW8, London, thousands of people of all ages and from all over the globe gathered to commemorate what may just be the most famous pedestrian crossing of all time.
The zebra crossing at the corner of Abbey and Grove End Roads became the scene of a street party. Musicians with guitars, music fans, gawking tourists, and locals all gathered. The sheer numbers of people clogged the roads, stopping traffic for approximately an hour. The riders of two particular buses, the 139 from Waterloo and the 189 from West Hampstead were treated to an upper-deck view of all the shenanigans.

At exactly 11:35 am, the time the original photo was shot, several re-enactors dressed as John and Paul (have we seen these guys on youtube.com pretending they ARE John and Paul?) actually crossed the road. The throngs were so close that only a few got to actually SEE this auspicious moment. Everyone else just enjoyed the party atmosphere, singing along with a rotating list of guitar players who were set up near the benches outside of Neville Court.
In an attempt to chronicle the moment, intrepid BlogMama took time out from moving house to be on the scene. Hubster and I had already run several loads of clothing and personal belongings over to the new flat on the other side of Abbey Road. We passed through the famous pedestrian crossing several times with our rolling luggage, full on the way over, and empty on the way back. By half past ten in the morning, the crowd, which has started out at 9 am in the dozens, had swelled to hundreds if not several thousands. It would no longer be possible to get rolling luggage through the throngs.

I went out with the idea of getting everyone there to sign my “guest list”, attempting to chronicle for posterity who attended the morning’s festivities. The first family I approached was American. Americans are known to be friendly, right? This particular middle-aged lady looked like she was a deer in the headlights. WHY was I doing this? WHAT purpose did it serve? WHY was I asking such personal questions? WHY did I require her age? I guess she didn’t realize that she would be part of a moment in history, or perhaps she did! She was a bit rude in her refusal to answer my questions. Not to be denied, I pressed on. I made a point to ask people of all ages and nationalities to sign. There was no particular pattern to my asking, but also no perceivable pattern to who turned down my request to be listed on this blog. People of all ages and nationalities were happy to be a part of aflatonabbeyroad.blogspot.com’s chronicle of the event.

It took about an hour for me to collect 37 signatures. Some of these folks were happy to provide their email addresses, others chose not to do so. Here they are, in the order in which they were collected. Please note: anyone under the age of 18 had express permission from a parent to have their name included on this list:

Name age Hometown
Richell Perry 22 Kingscliff, Australia
Melissa Heffernan 21 Australia, now London
Dave Neustrom 28 America
Sue Neustrom 58 Chicago, USA
Stela Sty… (illegible) 40+ London
Cathy Heikurinen 51 Oakville, Toronto, Canada
David Stark 56 London
Maxim Pokrovsky 40 Moscow
Dorothy McCuller “mature” Gallup, New Mexico, USA
Nichola Stephenson 35 Leicester, UK
Paul Williams 57 London
Daniele Merlani 27 Milan, Italy
Samantha Acquaviva 21 Milano, Italy
Jupiter John 109 (?) London
Richard Rigby 57 London
George Carter 15 London
Margaret Baker 71 London
Gloria & Mark Frankel 76, 66 London
Anthony Cooper 44.4 London
Eddie Rack 48 Germany
Rolf Seemann 48 Germany
Daniel Godoy 23 Zaragoza, Spain
Lidia Palanos 27 Madrid, Spain
Allen Miller 57 Vancouver, BC, Canada
Carlo Ritchi 43 Milan, Italy
Al___ Moguar? 27 Milan, Italy
Karen Purvis 47 London
Lou/Lore? Go…? 14 Belgium
Abby Dees 43 Los Angeles, CA, USA
Lori Catellier 44 Chicago, USA
Taylor Blumenberg 24 Charleston, SC
Bert Tolhamp 47 Amersterdam
Tom Cleaver 23 London
The Leon Family Guadalajara, Mexico
The White Family Denmark
Adrian Main 49 London
Juan 11 Xativa, Spain
Paco Codina 55 Xativa, Spain

At this point, the policeman (a regular “Bobby”, not the gentleman in the “Incident Response” vest) cleared us all out of the road. I wound up on the corner where the musicians were playing to the sing-along crowd. After a rousing round of Hey Jude and I Wanna Hold Your Hand, I was approached by a reporter and cameraman from Sky News.
After a series of questions, I summarized my woman-on-the-street point of view by saying that I thought the Abbey Road zebra crossing had become a sort of shrine, where people came to celebrate the music of the Beatles and the impact it has had on their lives.

I guess I’ll have to watch the news tonight to see if they include me in their report! Of course I put a plug in for the blog….

Thanks to everyone who participated in today's Love-Fest on Abbey Road!