Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music companyEMI, its present owner. Abbey Road Studios is most notable as being the venue in the 1960s for innovative recording techniques adopted by the Beatles, Pink Floyd, the Hollies, Badfinger and others.Towards the end of 2009, the studio came under threat of sale to property developers. However, the British Government protected the site, granting itEnglish Heritage Grade II listed status in 2010, thereby preventing the building from any major alterations. Originally a nine-bedroom Georgian townhouse built in the 1830s on the footpath leading to Kilburn Abbey, the building was later converted to apartments where the most flamboyant resident was Maundy Gregory. The premises were acquired by theGramophone Company in 1931 and converted into studios. Pathé filmed the opening of the studios, when Sir Edward Elgar conducted the London Symphony Orchestra in recording sessions of his music. The neighbouring house is also owned by the studio and used to house musicians. During the mid-20th century the studio was extensively used by leading British conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent, whose house was just around the corner from the studio building.
It was not until 1970 that the name Abbey Road Studios became official. The Gramophone Company amalgamated with Columbia Graphophone Company to formEMI, which took over the studios and dubbed them EMI Studios. It was under this name that in 1936 cellist Pablo Casals became the first to record Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites No. 1 & 2 at the behest of EMI head Fred Gaisberg. The recordings went on to spur a revolution amongst Bach aficionados and cellists alike.
Studio Two at Abbey Road became a centre of rock music in 1958 when Cliff Richard and the Drifters (later Cliff Richard and The Shadows) recorded "Move It" there.
No comments:
Post a Comment