Abbey Road (above) has produced albums by the likes of Oasis and Radiohead. Photo © Sander Lamme
The National Trust is spearheading an international campaign to save Abbey Road recording studios after celebrities and aghast fans urged officials to save the musical mecca from being sold to private buyers.
A report in the Financial Times on Tuesday (February 16) suggested music group EMI has put the London creative home of the Beatles, whose epochal 1969 album is named after it, on the market in a bid to raise as much as £30 million to pay debts.
Chris Evans' breakfast show on Radio 2 was flooded with calls from listeners urging the Trust to buy the St John's Wood property, causing the outspoken broadcaster to interrogate Director General Dame Fiona Reynolds live on air.
"We were absolutely bowled over by people saying that the studios need to be saved and asking if we could help," she confessed. "We said 'we can, but only if you want us to and help us.'
"The trouble is we don't really know what's involved – we don't know what the market price might be and the costs of looking after it.
"These processes are not easy and we'd have to look into it, but the thing that's been quite fascinating and flattering is that people have thought of the Trust as an organisation which can help."
The Studios are thought to be worth as much as £30 million
In an interview with the BBC, Sir Paul McCartney implored potential buyers to save the Georgian townhouse where the Fab Four recorded all their albums and singles between 1962 and 1969.
"There are a few people who have been associated with the studio for a long time who were talking about mounting some bid to save it," he hinted.
"I sympathise with them and I hope they can do something – it would be great. I've got so many memories there."
The Trust already owns McCartney's childhood home at 251 Menlove Avenue in Liverpool – opened to the public in 2003 – and Mendips, the nearby setting of John Lennon's youth.
The Trust owns John Lennon's childhood home of Mendips. Photo © National Trust, nationaltrust.org.uk
EMI bought Abbey Road for £100,000 in 1929. A legal source told the FT the "brand" of the site was more valuable than the building, a sentimental importance acknowledged by Reynolds.
"They have a value that's beyond price because people care about them," she added.
"We cannot buy it without having the money upfront and also being sure we can look after it forever, because we've got to make sure that in 100 years' time we can still look after it.
"There's a lot of thinking ahead. Think of all the fantastic bands that have played there – the Beatles, Cliff Richard, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Oasis…maybe they can help us, because they have huge affection for this place.
"We've already had interest from America and Japan. We stand for beauty and history, which is an international cause."
A nearby zebra crossing famously provided the cover for the Beatles album named after the Studios (pictured in 2007)
Evans has offered to become a lifetime trustee of any managerial team, calling on McCartney, mobile phone giant O2, Richard Branson and Sir Philip Green to grab the "bargain" in exchange for "a lifetime of brownie points."
"If I was a gazillionaire, like I used to be, I wouldn't think twice about snapping it up," he admitted, calling the Studios "the ultimate in Beatles memorabilia."
"Someone has to buy it to save it. It's too important and could also make a fortune if marketed correctly.
"In relative terms it would not take that much of a unified and concerted effort to achieve this."
Evans has promised prominent coverage for the campaign on his show, and the Trust's Twitter and Facebook pages have been jostling with hundreds of emails in a deluge of global support.
Follow the National Trust's Facebook page and Twitter updates for more information, or email them to give your views.
Check out the Chris Evans show homepage to listen in or find out more about how he'll be supporting the campaign.
