Abbey Road
November 5, 2009
Last weekend I got to check another item in my “Legendary British places to see” To-Do list. I sang at Abbey Road!! It was every bit as inspiring as I suspected it would be.
On Sunday, I joined a host of celebrities (including Paul Rogers from Bad Company, Barry Gibb of the Bee-Gees, and Michael Bolton) to record a charity song for the war veteran’s foundation Help for Heroes.
The event was sponsored by Audi, so a sexy black limo showed up to take me to Abbey Road. What did I listen to on my iPod during the ride there? The Beatles, of course!
TV cameras waited to film my emergence from the car. (Don’t worry, I learned from the mistakes of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears: always exit from the car door on the far side of the cameras. And — ladies, please — ALWAYS wear panties!).
Hearing the London Philharmonic Orchestra tune up in that hallowed Studio A, with it’s impossibly tall ceilings and generously wide expanse, sent chills down my spine. What acoustics!
It was no small production they had going, either. After the orchestra, they recorded both a gospel choir and a children’s choir, as well as a military brass band. The Sun newspaper was footing the bill. Clearly no expense was spared.
When it was time to herd all the celebrity vocalists into the live room to record the choruses, I will admit I wondered whether it served any musical purpose other than posing for the TV cameras. It was like what I imagine singing on Live Aid or We Are the World was like — no one can hear anything, and everyone’s jockeying to be heard. But that’s not really the point: it was good fun, it was for a good cause, and again: check off Abbey Road on the ole’ bucket list for Nell.
Hmm… What next? Singing for the Queen? Well, we can only dream.
