<P> The cover was designed by Apple Records creative director Kosh . It is the only original UK Beatles album sleeve to show neither the artist name nor the album title on its front cover, which was Kosh's idea, despite EMI claiming the record would not sell without this information . He later explained that "we didn't need to write the band's name on the cover...They were the most famous band in the world". </P> <P> The front cover design, a photograph of the group on a zebra crossing, was based on ideas sketched by McCartney, and taken on 8 August 1969 outside EMI Studios in Abbey Road . At 11: 35 that morning, photographer Iain Macmillan was given only ten minutes to take the photo whilst he stood on a step - ladder and a policeman held up traffic behind the camera . Macmillan took six photographs, which McCartney later examined with a magnifying glass before deciding which of the shots would be used upon the album sleeve . </P> <P> In the image selected by McCartney, the group walk across the street in single file from left to right, with Lennon leading, followed by Starr, McCartney, and Harrison . McCartney is barefoot and out of step with the other members . Apart from Harrison, the group are wearing suits designed by Tommy Nutter . To the left of the picture, parked next to the zebra crossing, is a white Volkswagen Beetle which belonged to one of the people living in the block of flats across from the recording studio . After the album was released, the number plate (LMW 281F) was stolen repeatedly from the car . In 1986, the car was sold at auction for £ 2,530 and in 2001 was on display in a museum in Germany . In 2004, news sources published a claim made by retired American salesman Paul Cole (7 July 1911--13 February 2008), that he was the man standing on the pavement to the right of the picture . On the original cover, McCartney holds a cigarette; in 2003 several US poster companies airbrushed this cigarette out of the image, without permission from either Apple or McCartney . </P> <P> Shortly after the album's release the cover became part of the "Paul is dead" rumour that was spreading across college campuses in the United States . According to followers of the rumour, the cover depicted the Beatles walking out of a cemetery in a funeral procession . The procession was led by Lennon, dressed in white, as a religious figure, Starr, dressed in black, as the undertaker, McCartney, out of step with the others, as a barefoot corpse, and Harrison, dressed in denim, as the gravedigger . The left - handed McCartney is holding a cigarette in his right hand--indicating that he is an imposter--and the number plate on the Volkswagen parked on the street is 28IF, meaning McCartney would have been 28 if he had lived . </P>

Who's who on the abbey road cover