‘If These Walls Could Sing’ Charts History Of The World’s Most Famous Recording Studio

Opened in 1931, the facility at 3 Abbey Road in London is the oldest recording studio still in use today. Thanks to their association with the Beatles, who recorded nearly all their albums there, it is also the most famous recording studio in the world. The new documentary If These Walls Could Sing chronicles Abbey Road Studios 90-year history and is currently streaming on Disney+. It’s the first feature documentary by British photographer Mary McCartney, yes, of the Liverpool McCartneys (and the Scarsdale Eastmans), who remembers riding to the studio on her pony as a child while her parents’ were in the midst of recording 1973’s Band of the Run.

Broken into vignettes about significant moments in the studios history, If These Walls Could Sing covers everything from classical to psychedelia, from Afrobeat to Britpop. Its significance is such that its referred to in holy and mystical terms by the diverse artists who walked through its doors through the decades. Award-winning soundtrack composer John Williams calls it, “a gift to us.” On the other end of the spectrum, often-impudent former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher is awed and respectful, equating recording there to “going to church.” The director’s father, Sir Paul McCartney, says with characteristic humility, “All the microphones work.”

Known until 1976 as EMI Recording Studios, the facility was purchased in 1929 with studios being retrofitted into a nine-bedroom townhouse in inner city London. Archival footage goes back to its opening and initial recording sessions with the London Symphony Orchestra. Recording was a new art at the time and through its early years it was not just a recording studio but also an audio mastering house for then cutting edge vinyl manufacturing.

Through at least the 1960s, the British recording engineers at EMI Studios wore white lab coats as if they were scientists. In a certain sense they were. There’s a science to recording sound which requires a knowledge of acoustics, electronics, math, and physics. Sir Paul recalls recording live during the Beatles first sessions in the building and says the greatest challenge was finding the right balance between instruments and microphone placement, noting that recording engineers were once known as balance engineers.

As one might expect, the Beatles and their various efforts make up the bulk of the 89-minute documentary. They weren’t the first rockers to record there, though; that honor befalls Cliff Richard, one of those classic British musical figures whose legend looms large in his native land and virtually nowhere else. According to his son Giles Martin, producer George Martin was “looking for the next Cliff Richard” when he brought in the “Fab Four” at the behest of their manager, Brian Epstein. Giles says his father didn’t think much of them but enjoyed their company.

The elder McCartney says the Beatles were afforded unlimited recording time as part of their contract with EMI Records. Tired of touring and the pressures of fame, they retreated to the studio in 1967 to record Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It would provide refuge again in 1968, after the death of Brian Epstein, the results being 1968’s epic White Album. The studio would also see the recording of the final Beatles album, 1969’s Abbey Road, whose album artwork would turn it into a tourist destination. (See also: The Beatles Get Back, also on Disney+.)

At the same time the Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper’s, Pink Floyd were recording their psychedelic EMI debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in another room at the studio. It would also be where the band recorded their 1973 landmark, The Dark Side of the Moon, one of the best selling albums of all time. Guitarist David Gilmour, who replaced band found Syd Barrett after he “lost his marbles,” as he impolitely puts it, says the sessions were fueled by creative arguments in pursuit of excellence, with Abbey Road providing the perfect environment.

Other highlights include Led Zeppelin guitarist and ‘60s session man Jimmy Page recalling playing on Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger,” and the appearance of trailblazing Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti on the early ‘70s London scene. As the decade moved on, the studio fell out of favor with rock bands but found a second-life as a soundstage for soundtrack recording, including for the movies Raiders of The Lost Ark and parts of the original Star Wars trilogy.

Noel Gallagher claims Oasis were kicked out of Abbey Road Studios during the recording of 1997’s Be Here Now, an allegation his brother Liam naturally contradicts. They would return for 2008’s Dig Out Your Soul. As Noel confesses, “A huge massive part of my record collection was made in this room. My musical language was born in this room. My hairstyle was born in this room.”

For a documentary that covers an incredible amount of ground – 90 years and some of the most famous recordings of all time – If These Walls Could Sing is refreshingly light on its feet and speeds by. Personally, I think it relies too much on the Beatles at the expense of other artists, including Kate Bush and famed anti-semite Kanye West, but given their history in the building, it’s completely understandable. In the era of laptop recording and the dwindling importance of popular music, the days of large recording studios may be on the wane, but If These Walls Could Sing shows what dreams can be made flesh within their hallowed halls.

Benjamin H. Smith is a New York based writer, producer and musician. Follow him on Twitter: @BHSmithNYC.