By early 1967, Abbey Road was one of the few remaining places on the planet where the Beatles could be guaranteed a modicum of privacy. As such, the studios had taken on an almost sacred significance, and outsiders were viewed with suspicion.
It was an unspoken rule that wives and girlfriends were not welcome except on very special occasions.
Even manager Brian Epstein entered at his own peril. Once during a studio visit, he dared to suggest that the singing sounded slightly flat. "You look after your percentages, Brian. We'll look after the music," John Lennon shot back. Epstein made himself scarce after that.
"Very politely, [Smith] who had worked as the Beatles' engineer until the previous year. He had since moved on to a production role, asked George Martin if his boys could possibly pop in to see the Beatles at work," Davies wrote in the Beatles' biography. "George smiled, unhelpfully. Norman said perhaps he should ask John personally, as a favor. George Martin said no, that wouldn't work. But if by chance he and his boys popped in about eleven o'clock, he might just be able to see what he could do."
That's exactly what Smith did. Though Pink Floyd had become the official house band of the London Underground scene with appearances at the ultra-hip UFO Club, they were still overawed being in the presence of the Beatles. "They were God-like figures to us," drummer Nick Mason recalled in a 2011 interview with The Wall Street Journal. "They all seemed extremely nice, but they were in a strata so far beyond us that they were out of our league." He elaborated on the meeting in his 2004 memoir, Inside Out:
The drummer said that the two groups first met in 1967, telling Ultimate Classic Rock that the meeting coincided with Pink Floyd's recording of their debut LP The Piper at the Gates of Dawn while the Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
He explained to The Wall Street Journal: "We were recording in Abbey Road, the temple of greatness, and they were recording 'Lovely Rita.'"
A Personal History of Pink Floyd. "We were ushered into Studio 2 where the Fab Four were busy recording 'Lovely Rita.' The music sounded wonderful, and incredibly professional. ... There was little if any banter with the Beatles. We sat humbly and humbled, at the back of the control room while they worked on the mix, and after a suitable (and embarrassing) period of time had elapsed, we were ushered out again."
Roger Waters' memory of the momentary rock summit is somewhat less warm. "I only met John Lennon once, to my huge regret, and that was in the control room at Number 2," he said in an interview with Marc Maron. "He was a bit acerbic. He was quite snotty – so was I!"
