The End

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The End is a song off The Beatles' 1969 album, Abbey Road. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Contents

[edit] AKA and Working Titles

[edit] Writing

The last song on Abbey Road, save for Her Majesty, The End, unusually for The Beatles, had a drum solo. This, however, took some persuasion to get Ringo to play. Paul recalled, "Ringo would never do drum solos. He hated drummers who did lengthy drum solos. We all did. And when he joined The Beatles we said, "Ah, what about drum solos then?", thinking he might say, "Yeah, I'll have a five-hour one in the middle of your set," and he said, "I hate 'em!" We said, "Great! We love you!" And so he would never do them. But because of this medley I said, "Well, a token solo?" and he really dug his heels in and didn't want to do it. But after a little bit of gentle persuasion I said, "Yeah, just do that, it wouldn't be Buddy Rich gone mad," because I think that's what he didn't want to do." This drum solo originally featured guitar and tambourine parts in the background. This idea, however, was eventually abandoned and the album version features only drums at that particular section. A version with the original guitar and tambourine backing the drum solo is featured on Anthology 3. The final line of this song is "And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make," which John Lennon later described as a "very cosmic, philosophical line," Paul McCartney had written those lines influenced by William Shakespeare. He said in his authorized biography, Many Years From Now, "I wanted it to end with a little meaningful couplet, so I followed the Bard and wrote a couplet."

[edit] Recording

The Beatles recorded seven takes of The End, under the working title Ending, on July 23, 1969. Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, who has heard every known Beatles recording, said that the basic structure of the song was in place by Take 1, meaning that it is very likely that the song was rehearsed before it was recorded. The drum solo developed on each take, and Take 7 ended up being considered best. At this point, the song lasted 1:20. It would later be increased by a minute in length after extra overdubs were added, such as orchestra, the guitar solos played by McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison, piano, and drums. On August 5, the vocals for the song were recorded. On August 7, more vocals, as well as the guitar solo, were recorded. On August 8, more drums and bass were recorded. The orchestra was recorded on August 15, when the orchestra also overdubbed onto Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight, Something, and Here Comes The Sun. Engineer Alan Brown recalled, "The orchestral overdub for The End was the most elaborate I have ever heard: a 30-piece playing for not too many seconds - and mixed about 40 dBs down. It cost a lot of money: all the musicians have to be paid, fed and watered; I screw every pound note out of it whenever I play the record!" The song was completed on August 18, when the piano in the final section was recorded.

[edit] Recording Sessions

[edit] LOVE Mix

This song was partially featured on the 2006 Beatles remix album LOVE. Though not designated it's own mix, the drum solo, was well as some parts of the guitar solo, were included in the intro of a mix of Get Back.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] The Beatles

[edit] Guest Musicians

  • Unknown: 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, double bass, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, trombone, bass trombone.

[edit] Production

[edit] Available Versions

[edit] The Beatles

[edit] Paul McCartney

To Be Completed...

[edit] Available On

[edit] Cover Versions

[edit] Source

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