Beatles "Abbey Road" anniversary. Greatest heavy metal guitarist. Peter Gabriel's "So".  Freelancers happier than full-time workers? Bacon shortage? Rehab for cell phone addiction. 10 office technologies on their way out. Answering the phone during sex. Top 5 hipster cities in the U.S.

THE BEATLES

It was 43 years ago today (September 26th, 1969) that the Beatles' final album, Abbey Road, was released. Although the Let It Be album was released the next year featuring earlier unreleased tracks, Abbey Road was the last album the group recorded together. The album's working title had been Everest -- after a brand of cigarettes their engineer Geoff Emerick smoked -- before the group simply chose the name of the street where their recording studio was located.

Abbey Road spent 11 weeks at Number One and featured the double A-sided single "Come Together" and "Something," the highest-charting Beatles song written by George Harrison. Paul McCartney commented on the song in The Beatles Anthology saying, "'Something' was out of left field. . . It appealed to me because it has a very beautiful melody. I thought it was George's greatest track."

The recent remaster of Abbey Road debuted in 2009 at Number One on Billboard's Pop Catalog chart. In January it was announced that for the third year in a row, Abbey Road remained the best selling vinyl album. According to the Nielsen/SoundScan list, Abbey Road sold an impressive 41,000 copies in 2011 beating out new vinyl releases from Wilco, Black Keys, Adele, and Fleet Foxes. Earlier this year, Ringo Starr told Rock Cellar magazine that Abbey Road was his favorite of the band's albums, explaining, "For me, that would be the second side of Abbey Road. That one is my favorite because I just love all those bits and pieces that weren't full songs that John (Lennon) and Paul (McCartney) had been working on and pulled all together -- 'Mean Mr. Mustard,' 'Polythene Pam,' and 'She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.'"

By the time of the Abbey Road sessions, which began in earnest in mid-1969, the group had been in the slow process of breaking up since their return from India the previous year, and struggled through 1968's "The White Album" as well as the month-long movie shoot that resulted in 1970's Let It Be album and film.

By the spring of 1969 John Lennon was drifting further away, after marrying Yoko Ono and embarking on the first of several anti-war "bed in" events.

Paul McCartney was eager that the group not end on the sour note that had become the Let It Be project, and rallied the group to produce an album on par with classics like Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The seeds for the Abbey Road album lay in the January 1969 Let It Be album and film project -- which was still unreleased when the Abbey Road sessions commenced. George Harrison recalled during The Beatles Anthology that it was actually the group's decision to better their work on Let It Be for their official followup to 1968's "The White Album": "Well, I think the deal was through Let It Be, it was like, I left, and we got back on the basis of we've gotta just finish it up and make it tidy, so I got back on that basis. Then everybody decided we ought to do one better album."

GIBSON'S GREATEST HEAVY METAL GUITARIST

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has been named the greatest heavy metal guitarist of all time in a new survey posted by Gibson Guitars. According to Classic Rock, the list of the top 10 metal axemen also includes Metallica's James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, late Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads and others. Gibson said about Iommi, "Tony's dark, distinct guitar textures in Black Sabbath helped spearhead the heavy metal movement. 'Iron Man' and 'Paranoid' boast some of the most memorable riffs of all time, with crushingly heavy choruses. His playing is immortalized through the generations of bands that have followed."

Incredibly, Iommi had to re-learn how to play guitar as a teenager after severing two fingertips. He told us that he's always been determined to fight his way through anything: "I've always been the same. I always have to try to get over that barrier, whatever it may be, and do it, you know. And that's continued in what I do with the music. People have said over the years, 'Well, why do you still keep playing and why do you still hold Black Sabbath together through the different lineups?' Because I'm determined to do it, I'm determined to carry on. And it's been with everything like that."

Iommi was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, and his treatments forced Black Sabbath to cancel all but two tour dates after announcing their reunion last November.

The original band, minus drummer Bill Ward, has also been working on its first studio album since 1978.

Singer Ozzy Osbourne has collaborated with three of the guitarists on the list -- Iommi, Rhoads and Zakk Wylde.

THE LIST:

1. Tony Iommi - Black Sabbath
2. Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield - Metallica
3. Randy Rhoads - Ozzy Osbourne band
4. John Petrucci - Dream Theater
5. Dimebag Darrell - Pantera
6. Eddie Van Halen - Van Halen
7. Zakk Wylde - Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society
8. Adam Jones - Tool
9. Dave Murray & Adrian Smith - Iron Maiden
10. George Lynch - Dokken, Lynch Mob

PETER GABRIEL

Peter Gabriel credits Brian Wilson performing the Beach Boys' 1966 Pet Sounds album in its entirety back in 2000 for his own recent live revival of his 1986 blockbuster, So. Gabriel has been wowing fans with a show which opens with a brief acoustic set, followed by a full-band set, which leads to So being played top to tail, before a two-song encore. Gabriel is probably most surprised that he's returning to a past work as the center of a new road trek: "I've never really considered a retro tour like this before (until) seeing Pet Sounds with Brian Wilson. And that had been one of my favorite records and it was actually great to hear it performed as a single entity -- which we never did with the So album. There were always a couple songs, for one reason or another, I decided not to be playing. I thought, it could be quite fun to do this and try to get the band together that did that original tour."

FREELANCERS HAPPIER THAN FULL-TIME WORKERS?

Freelancers are apparently happier and healthier than permanent employees. About 28 percent say they chose to be a contract worker because the pay is better. Other top reasons to go solo: flexibility to make your own schedule and being in charge of your own career. A study found that 78 percent of temporary and contract workers agree their experience as a freelancer has been a positive one. Also -- 60 percent of contract workers strongly agree with the statement "I am paid what I'm worth," compared to only 42 percent of permanent workers. (Daily Mail)

BACON SHORTAGE ON THE WAY?!

In a recent press release, the U.K.'s National Pig Association is warning that a "world shortage of pork and bacon next year is now unavoidable": "New data shows the European Union pig herd is declining at a significant rate, and this is a trend that is being mirrored around the world. Pig farmers have been plunged into loss by high pig-feed costs, caused by the global failure of maize and soya harvests. All main European pig-producing countries report shrinking sow herds." And the Financial Times reported that this past season's droughts in North America and Russia are to blame for the spike in prices for grain crops, which are used to feed animals. (Huffington Post)

REHAB FOR CELL PHONE ADDICTION

 Nomophobia is a term first coined by British researchers during 2008 to classify people who are anxious when they don't have access to mobile technology, like their phones. Not only has the term gained acceptance since 2008, a more recent study of 1,000 individuals showed that the percentage of people who feared losing their phone had increased from 53 percent to 66 percent. And now -- a leading drug and alcohol recovery center has founded the first recovery group for people suffering with nomophobia. The group, the brainchild of Dr. Elizabeth Waterman of Morningside Recovery Center in California, helps people "recognize the signs and symptoms of their over-reliance on mobile technology, explore the psychological roots of their vulnerability to becoming addicted to it and master emotional, cognitive and behavioral techniques to regain their autonomy." (Fox News)

10 OFFICE TECHNOLOGIES ON THEIR WAY OUT:

Here are the top 10 office tools and trends that professionals think will vanish in the next five years according to a LinkedIn survey:

1. Tape recorders (79 percent)
2. Fax machines (71 percent)
3. The Rolodex (58 percent)
4. Standard working hours (57 percent)
5. Desk phones (35 percent)
6. Desktop computers (34 percent)
7. Formal business attire like suits, ties, pantyhose, etc. (27 percent)
8. The corner office for managers/executives (21 percent)
9. Cubicles (19 percent)
10. USB thumb drives (17 percent)

1 IN 3 THINK IT'S OKAY TO ANSWER PHONE DURING SEX

 One in three mobile phone owners believe it is acceptable to answer the phone while having sex. New research from Vodafone revealed that 33% respondents would pick up the phone to either answer a call during sex. In addition, 51% said it's OK to do so at a wedding and 54% said it is acceptable to pick up while out to dinner. About 57% said they would pick up a call while going to the bathroom. The report also found that most mobile phone owners have between one and 50 numbers in their contacts but only speak to about five to 10 of those on a regular basis. Some 80% of respondents said they have numbers in their phone that they have never called and probably never will. (Mashable)

TOP 5 HIPSTER CITIES IN THE U.S. (Forbes)

1. Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA

The eclectic enclave boasts some of the nation's most lauded food trucks and farmer's markets, a booming arts scene and one of the largest creative class communities in the country. Silver Lake is also home to some of the most avant garde Modernist architecture in North America.

2. Mission district, San Francisco, CA

"What we love about The Mission is the amazing diversity and lack of pretense in this historically hip neighborhood," says Dabney Lawless of Nextdoor.com. Restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and food trucks abound in San Francisco's oldest hood. It also has the largest concentration of street art and building murals in the city.

3. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York

The East Coast birthplace of hipsters has shopping, restaurants, nightlife, a thriving music scene, food trucks and great transit options, from the water taxi to streets easily traveled by foot. It also has rising prices: rents in the Brooklyn hood are higher than some downtown hoods in Manhattan.

4. Wicker Park, Chicago, IL

The Midwest Mecca of hipsterdom started attracting artists and young adults in the late 1980s. Nestled around a park, this artists' community is known for its galleries, music venues, boutiques and food options. It's also home to a smattering of Victorian mansions built by wealthy 19th century merchants and beer brewers.

5. Pearl District, Portland, OR

The Pearl District is known for its art galleries and studios. It also has quite the java culture, with the second highest concentration of coffee shops per capita on our list. Farmer's markets include the massive Downtown Portland market. Like Williamsburg, gentrification has led to higher costs-of-living in the area, with luxury high rise condos emerging on the streetscape and warehouses converting to massive loft residences.

Thanks for listening to The Eagle while you work. Keep it fabulous, Houston!

xoxo,

Jennifer Tyler

Fabulous Mid-Day Diva