Abbey Road: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Famous Recording Studio
Brought to you by Penguin Books and author David Hepworth with a foreword by Paul McCartney, the book is filled with amazing moments from our 90 years of history as a creative hub.
The definitive story of Abbey Road Studios is out now.
“Many people will recognise the famous zebra crossing. Some visitors may have graffitied their name on its hallowed outer walls. Others might even have managed to penetrate the iron gates. But what here draws in these thousands of fans, year after year? What is it that really happens behind the doors of the most celebrated recording studio in the world?
It may have begun life as an affluent suburban house, but it soon became a creative hub renowned around the world as a place where great music, ground-breaking sounds and unforgettable tunes were forged - nothing less than a witness to, and a key participant in, the history of popular music itself.
What has been going on there for over ninety years has called for skills that are musical, creative, technical, mechanical, interpersonal, logistical, managerial, chemical and, romantics might be tempted to add, close to magic.
This is for the people who believe in the magic.” - Penguin Random House, 2022
"There are so many great memories at Abbey Road. It was so exciting. I wouldn’t swap that for anything." - Paul McCartney
"We wanted to live the mystique of this legendary studio." - Kanye West
"Recording there in Studio Two was, and still is, a trip." - Noel Gallagher
"There are certain things that are mythical. Abbey Road is mythical." - Nile Rodgers
"It was a very magical experience. The place has tremendous presence." - Kate Bush
"You come here and you know you are chasing musical ghosts in a way." - Mark Ronson
"I felt like I was just in the mother church of rock 'n' roll." - Dave Grohl
"It still has the same mysteries inside it, lurking under the surface." - Massive Attack
"It’s semi-devotional - a really special place." - Florence Welch
"The most inspiring, professional exciting place to work that I could ever imagine." - James Newton Howard
About the author
David Hepworth has been writing, broadcasting and speaking about music and media since the seventies. He was involved in the launch and editing of magazines such as Smash Hits, Q, Mojo and The Word, among many others.
He was one of the presenters of the BBC rock music programme The Old Grey Whistle Test and one of the anchors of the corporation's coverage of Live Aid in 1985. He has won the Editor of the Year and Writer of the Year awards from the Professional Publishers Association and the Mark Boxer award from the British Society of Magazine Editors.
Though the studio is, of course, synonymous with the legendary work of The Beatles and Pink Floyd, our history contains many lesser-known but equally special recordings from Paul Robeson, Fats Waller, The Hollies, Deep Purple, Cilla Black, Shirley Bassey, John Williams, Amy Winehouse, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Massive Attack, Muse, Travis, Oasis, Nile Rodgers, Brockhampton, Adele, Little Simz, Sam Smith and many more.
