was approached by producer John Battsek to make a film about the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, she didn’t immediately leap at the chance, the way almost any other photographer interested in making the leap into documentary filmmaking might have.
“I feel like Abbey Road Studios helped formulate the Beatles’ sound, not only because of the space they were recording in, but because there were instruments lying around.” That’s illustrated in the film when the senior McCartney notices a particular piano in the room and walks over to play “Lady madonna on it.” “Mrs. Mills [a novelty artist of the ’60s] was this famous pianist who did all these sort of happy party tunes, and she had this upright piano.
How much has it been altered? “You know, they’ve built a lot of smaller spaces to be more practical, for more people to be able to visit that maybe wouldn’t be able to afford a big recording studio,” McCartney says. “But Studio 1 and Studio 2 have been really kept essentially as they were. The acoustics — why mess with something if it’s so great? Studio 3 has always been updated, but 1 and 2 have always been kept. So you get a feeling of modernity and history.
Kate Bush makes a rare modern appearance in the documentary, albeit audio-only. “It’s amazing having Kate in there because she produced her third album there, directed her video in there… I kind of made contact with her. I know she doesn’t do interviews, but I know she feels real affection for Abbey Road, so over time she kindly agreed to do an audio piece that she wrote and sent to me. Just having her voice talking about the space is pretty special as well.