Tesla to release Abbey Road live album on 30th anniversary of 'Five Man Acoustical Jam'

Tesla have told Planet Rock they will release an Abbey Road live album next year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their seminal acoustic live album ‘Five Man Acoustical Jam.’

Author: Scott ColothanPublished 18th Jun 2019

The Sacramento rockers hit the world-famous London studios last week ahead of their appearance at Download Festival and shared a series of photos online.

Bassist Brian Wheat wrote on Instagram at the time: "I got into this business because the first record I ever heard was ‘Revolver’ by the Beatles and upon hearing Paul McCartney sing ‘Eleanor Rigby

“I knew what I wanted to do with my life.... so long story short today a poor kid from south Sacramento goes into abbey road studios to record an album where the Beatles recorded all their records..... it’s ok to dream ...... sometimes they come true!!!!"

> > > View this post on Instagram > > Sign Say's... 🎶 🇬🇧 . "Today is a monumental day for me .....I got into this business because the first record I ever heard was “Revolver” by the Beatles and upon hearing Paul McCartney sing “Elenor Rigby” I knew what I wanted to do with my life.... so long story short today a poor kid from south Sacramento goes into abbey road studios to record an album where the Beatles recorded all their records.....it’s ok to dream ...... sometimes they come true!!!!" - Brian Wheat . . . . . . . #unitedkingdom #uk #abbeyroad #makingmagic #teslaband #tesla > > A post shared by TESLA (@teslaband) on Jun 12, 2019 at 8:26am PDT

> > > View this post on Instagram > > Makin’ Magic at Abbey Road studios ⚡️🎶⚡️ . . . . . . #Tesla #TeslaBand #AbbeyRoad #London #Beatles #Studio #StudioLife #UK #LondonUK > > A post shared by TESLA (@teslaband) on Jun 12, 2019 at 4:27pm PDT

> > > View this post on Instagram > > What a great day at Abbey Road studios yesterday and we can’t wait to share the magic which was recorded….🎶 Next stop Download Festival 🤘🇬🇧 . . . . . . . #AbbeyRoad #DownloadFest #DownloadFestival #UK #London #Donington #Tesla #TeslaBand #LondonUK #LondonMusic #Beatles #Recording #NewMusic > > A post shared by TESLA (@teslaband) on Jun 13, 2019 at 7:55am PDT

Speaking to Planet Rock backstage at Download Festival on Friday (14th June), guitarist Frank Hannon said of their stripped back 1990 live album ‘Five Man Acoustical Jam’: “It’s hard to believe it’s 30 years ago. Actually, next year is 30 years, which is when we plan to release this Abbey Road session we did celebrating that.”

Commenting on working at Abbey Road, fellow axeman Dave Rude told us: “It was awesome, we’ve been in some really cool famous studios and it’s always exciting but Abbey Road is another level. It’s one of those places where you look at the walls and you’re like ‘this is where Paul McCartney looked when he was tracking his bass on whatever song.’ It’s just ridiculous.”

Frank continued: “It was surreal, man. We were doing an acoustic vibe in there and you’re already kind of naked when you’re doing that. So to be feeling naked and then to be in Abbey Road, you try not to think about it too much - it’ll freak you out.

“I would really love to come back and do a proper record there – not just a live jam – but actually spend a month there. That would be freaking awesome.”

Watch our full interview with Tesla at Download Festival below where they chat about Monsters of Rock posters, their love of festivals and exactly how they joined forces with Def Leppard’s Phil Collen on their latest album ‘Shock’.  


You can also see more day-by-day photos and videos from Download Festival by clicking the links below:

Friday at Download Festival 2019

Saturday at Download Festival 2019

Sunday at Download Festival 2019