Lester Smith, Dave Harries, Ken Townsend (seated), Brian Kehew and Kevin Ryan David Stark with Billy J. Kramer The scene inside Studio Two David in the Abbey Road Studios shop David playing drums at the studio session

London, August 2024: SongLink publisher and editor David Stark was a guest at Abbey Road Studios for the "Stories In Sound" masterclasses presented over three days by Brian Kehew and Kevin Ryan, authors of the 2006 book "Recording The Beatles." During their research, the pair dug deep into the EMI archives, uncovering fascinating and often hidden stories of the studios' history which was brought to life through their talks via photos, video and audio-clips.

The lectures took place in the most famous of Abbey Road's studios, Studio Two where the Beatles recorded most of their work. Guests had time before and after the lectures to explore the studio along with a display of instruments and equipment used by the group and other artists such as Cliff Richard & the Shadows, Pink Floyd and many others. Along with audio and video presentation, a string quartet, guitarist & pianist played instrumental versions of songs and film score extracts throughout the talks, including 'Eleanor Rigby', 'Blackbird', 'Yesterday' and 'Pink Floyd's 'Us And Them.'

There were also a few special guests interviewed on stage by Kehew and Ryan, including Billy J. Kramer, former studio manager Ken Townsend and engineer Dave Harries, who all spoke about their days at the studios in the '60s and beyond. Kramer has just released his new album 'Are You With Me' which was recorded at Abbey Road last year, while another guest was the studios' legendary microphone maintenance man Lester Smith who has just retired after nearly 60 years working at the St. John's Wood complex.

David Stark first visited the exterior of the studios in 1966 when he was just 13 years old, being scolded by John Lennon for parking his bicycle up against the studio gates thereby preventing the Beatle's huge Rolls Royce Phantom V from entering the car park. This is just one of the many stories in David's acclaimed book "It's All Too Much" which is on sale at the Abbey Road Studios Shop next door to the main building. David also achieved a personal ambition in early July by being asked to play drums at Abbey Road for the first time ever on a couple of Beatles tracks ('Something' and "Don't Let Me Down'), which were performed by New York-based SongLink subscriber Peter Sackmann as well as some of his own songs.

Abbey Road Studios is also presenting a "Stories in Sound" Global Livestream on August 10th-11th, tickets £20.00 available here: https://driift.live/shows/abbey-road

https://www.abbeyroad.com/

https://ItsAllTooMuch.net/