Beatles "The End" is a great end to a great band

Could not have been scripted better

In the end, the 3 guitar players come together for one last hurrah, each taking turns leading, a far cry from the tinny sound of cheap amps and guitars back in the beginning,
the last song on the last album.
What a great way to go out. and of course Ringo gets his own solo too.

I know Her Majesty is the last song (of course this is necessary to show that Paul was in charge and things to come in his long and glorious solo career)
I also know Let it Be was the last released but not the last made.

 

Starr's only Beatles drum solo... then on guitar McCartney, Harrison, and Lennon.

and what follows their End? but Silence, so fitting indeed.

In fact it was scripted, by Mac

 

No doubt

 

It was very satisfying.

Then Let It Be got released.

 

I always loved that three guitar solo and wished it had lasted twice, three times as long. Paul's coda with "Her Majesty" was the perfect last touch.

 

The fact "Her Majesty" ends the album has nothing to do with Paul being "in charge" or his desire to point toward his solo career - it was an "accident" that they kept on the album...

 

Yes the tape is even cut to go between Mean Mr. Mustard and Polythene Pam. That's why it starts so abruptly with a cymbal crash. Reportedly Paul told the engineer to throw it away. The engineer, at this point in The Beatle's career, was told to never throw away anything and he stuck it at the end of the tape.

 

The fact that The End almost ends the album might though

 

I recall a Geoff Emerick interview where he talks about that session. He said that Paul, George, and John were going down the stairs to record their guitar parts. Of course Yoko began to follow them (at this point John&Yoko were going to the bathroom together ) and John told her NO. Only the guys allowed!

Striking anecdote

 

I know, I was being a bit facetious

 

perfectly fitting.

Where did that explanation come from? if you please

I always thought it was cleverly there to reward people who were lazy, or in no big hurry about getting up and changing the record... Where as those dumb-asses that are in such a big hurry to but something else on, would miss the "hidden track". A little unexpected "gift".

 

It's from a number of sources. I think Lewisohn's "Beatles Recording Sessions" might've been the first to tell the tale:

"We did all the remixes and crossfades to overlap the songs, Paul was there, and we heard it together for the first time. He said, 'I don't like Her Majesty, throw it away,' so I cut it out - but I accidentally left in the last note. He said, 'It's only a rough mix, it doesn't matter...' I said to Paul, 'What shall I do with it?' 'Throw it away,' he replied.

I'd been told never to throw anything away, so after he left I picked it up off the floor, put about 20 seconds of red leader tape before it and stuck it onto the end of the edit tape.

John Kurlander, engineer"

McCartney then heard a test version with "Her Majesty" at the end, liked it, and kept it on the final release...

"

 

You don't have to be an over-the-top Beatles fan to say that this is the greatest ending for any pop album, especially a group's final album (based on the recording date as opposed to the release date, of course). Ringo's just-right solo intro; the three just-right, rocking solo guitar parts, symbolizing both the individuality of and, in the call-and-response nature of the solo parts, the intimate relationship between the three primary vocalists/songwriters; and finally the gorgeous, perfectly-conceived melodic coda, with its three-part harmony vocals---a bittersweet evocation of the magic of the group's togetherness at a time of dissolution--and succinct, poetic lyrics. Could there be a more perfect ending to the musical life of the greatest pop group? No.



PS In the '70s, I recognized McCartney's and Lennon's playing, but thought that Harrison's parts were courtesy of another guest appearance by Clapton. Still sounds more like Eric than George to me . . . which is to say, "Well done, George!"

 

Too bad he didn't feel that way the rest of 1968 and 1969...

 

I agree but this is a great line to end the Beatles on: "I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and ourselves and I hope we've passed the audition"

 

I've always thought the missing note at the end of 'her majesty' is a fantastic, meta-end to the beatles. it just abruptly cuts off, leaving their legacy hanging without a note of resolution.

and as a coda, it mucks up Paul's carefully-scripted farewell letter in a way that I think was much more appropriate--I gather 'unresolved' is how things felt for a lot of beatles fans for some time thereafter.

 

A great line, though as I'm sure you know, the end only in the context of live performance.

 

From Emerick's book. Yeah, striking anecdote, I doubt it happened though. That book is filled with "stories".

 

Yeah, though given the brief, throwaway quality of Her Majesty, it's also possible to not hear it, psychologically, leaving The End as the final song, depending on one's mood or taste. Sometimes I "hear" Her Majesty, but most of the time I don't.

 

It's been awhile since I either listened to (or read the liner notes for) Anthology 3, but didn't Lewisohn point out that it wasn't REALLY a Ringo drum solo? That it just had the other instrumentation mixed out to make it SEEM like a solo?

I certainly won't disagree with the greatness of the piece, but iirc, that "solo" can't really be seen as Ringo choosing to do his one and only drum solo...

 

I also recall reading something like that, though I can't quite remember the exact details. Still, the end effect is, as you suggest, great.

 

No it's a solo. I recall reading the others had to goad Ringo into doing it. There were also details in Lewisohn and Emerick that talk about how innovative the miking of the drums was, that each drum is in the stereo field exactly the way it would be if you were standing in front of the drums. IIRC.

 

I would not claim to be an authority on the subject, but it is the only such performance I recall. I'd be open to correction, if need be.

I guess for listening purposes I don't get it... if you mix out (whatever) and all that is left in the released performance is drums, especially the way this performance was laid down by Starr, wouldn't one refer to it as a drum solo? (I don't know)

No intent to split hairs here or anything, I leave my remarks as an inquiry.

In W.J. Dowlding's Beatlesongs pg.292 it is McCartney's quote from Musician Feb. 1988 as follows in reference to The End: "We never could persuade Ringo to do a solo. The only thing we ever persuaded him to do was that rumble in The End on Abbey Road he said, 'I hate solos'."

I have no idea if this is an authoritative reference or not, but it has a lot of great bits in it.

 

Further reference in the same book goes on to say:

The song includes the only recorded drum solo from Starr as a Beatle. forever and guitar (November 1987)

...and I can't say know who authored that statement.

It just so happens I was reading this bit just the other day and so I recall it for this thread.

Happy Listening!