Beatles fans flock to Abbey Road for 40th anniversary

Precisely 40 years on from the moment the Abbey Road album cover was photographed, Beatles fans yesterday mobbed the most famous pedestrian crossing in Britain to celebrate the iconic image.

Hundreds of fans flocked to Abbey Road in northwest London, singing Beatles songs as they jammed the two-lane street in the well-heeled St John's Wood neighbourhood around the black-and-white-striped crossing.

It was outside the Abbey Road recording studios at 11.35 a.m. on August 8, 1969, that The Beatles strutted across the street for the picture of what would be the final album they made as a group.

Scottish photographer Iain Macmillan, standing on a stepladder in the middle of the road, had just 10 minutes to knock off six frames of rhythm guitarist John Lennon, drummer Ringo Starr, bassist Paul McCartney and lead guitarist George Harrison traversing the quiet, residential street.

Tony Bramwell, the band's former road manager, was there and returned yesterday for the mass gathering.

"Other than Paul and Ringo, I'm the only person alive who was here on that day. It's great to see that the whole thing carries on," he said.

"Through the musical genres and revolutions of the last 40 years, The Beatles are still number one."

Beatles tribute outfit Sgt. Pepper's Only Dartboard Band, wearing outfits like the Fab Four did on the day, led fans across the road, and a replica of Lennon's colourful "psychedelic" Rolls-Royce was driven over the crossing.

Richard Porter, who owns the nearby Beatles Coffee Shop, said he was "flummoxed" by the number of fans at the crossing - enough to block a double-decker bus for a few minutes.

"I get fans literally from all over the world at the shop," he said. "And today we've got television crews from 15 countries and God knows how many press photographers.

"The picture is just so easy to copy - well, normally it is easy to copy. It is simple and it's like a shrine to the Beatles."

In the original picture, McCartney alone walked in bare feet, out of step with his bandmates, a cigarette in his right hand - unusual for a left-hander, perhaps, but enough to spark the notorious "Paul is dead" theory.