from a political slogan LSD guru Timothy Leary used.

Its musical form had come from the Chuck Berry song, You Can't Catch Me.

Lennon had taken the song and slowed it down. If anyone missed the musical similarities, he even used the same line: "Here comes old flat-top".

Elsewhere, Lennon's contribution was uneven. He described Polythene Pam, Mean Mister Mustard and Sun King as insignificant song scraps.

In many ways, he was right. But the key to Abbey Road is found in the more egalitarian nature of the record.

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For the first time, the band fully acknowledged George Harrison's talents with Here Comes the Sun and Something (it, too, had its first line stolen from a James Taylor song).

The other key, of course, was Paul McCartney. He'd always been a hard worker, theenthusiast, doubly so now as he tried to make a difficult situation work.

Taking the song scraps from Lennon's musical notebook and working tirelessly with George Martin, he created a song suite for side two of the album.

Then, having recorded the basic backing tracks for each of the segments, the band came together "live" to play overdubs giving the segments a unity and continuity.

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McCartney's dedication didn't end there. Each day he would arrive early to re-track and perfect his vocals for key songs, including the voice shredding rocker Oh! Darling.

Despite his heroin haze, Lennon was not going to be upstaged. As the sessions drew to a close, he sensed his own overall contribution lacking.

His response was to focus on the song I Want You. The problem was, he had