What were The Beatles originally going to call "Abbey Road"?

Four Beatles, one zebra crossing, and history in the making. But when the album we know as Abbey Road headed to record stores in 1969, it was nearly under a completely different name. What was the original title planned for the Beatles' final recorded masterpiece?

Reveal answer and learn more:

▼

The answer is: Everest

The album that would become Abbey Road was originally planned to be called "Everest" – but not because of any grand artistic vision about musical peaks or soaring ambitions. The inspiration was far more mundane: it was the brand of cigarettes favored by Abbey Road Studios' chief engineer Geoff Emerick.

The band had even kicked around ideas for the album cover. They considered flying to Nepal to shoot photos at the actual Mount Everest, but by 1969, the Beatles were barely tolerating each other. The thought of trekking to Nepal for a photo shoot went over about as well as Yoko Ono in the recording studio.

It was Paul McCartney who came up with a simple solution, and it was literally right outside their window. Fifteen minutes and only six pictures later, photographer Iain Macmillan had captured what would become the most parodied album cover in history. No planes, no sherpas, no frostbite - just four Beatles, one crosswalk, and a way better name than one inspired by their engineer's cigarette habit.