“Her Majesty”

A happy accident closed out “Abbey Road.” Paul intended for the 23-second “Her Majesty” to fit between “Mean Mr. Mustard” and “Polythene Pam” in the side 2 medley. But he didn’t like the flow and asked that it be thrown out. However, studio engineer John Kurlander said the staff had strict instructions to never toss anything Beatle-related. So he tacked about 20 seconds worth of blank leader tape and “Her Majesty” onto the end of the album master reel, planning on moving it later. Well, Kurlander forgot. Everyone was startled when this appeared on an early playback, long after “The End.” The boys left it in, creating the first hidden album track. But the still-unreleased “Get Back” album lingered. The drama around that, though...