The 1960s witnessed significant changes, with The Beatles exerting immense influence. Emerging in the early 1960s, the Liverpool quartet rapidly captivated the world, giving rise to Beatlemania, a phenomenon resembling religious devotion. They revolutionized contemporary popular music through their innovative methods, introducing various recording techniques and popularizing non-Western instruments.
Before breaking up in 1970, the band released twelve albums, with the last one, “Let It Be”. But when Let It Be had been in the works since 1968, the quartet really recorded Abbey Road in 1969. The band recorded several of the songs that would go on to become their most well-known hits on Abbey Road. The songs includes “Here Comes The Sun,” “Something,” “Come Together,” and “I Want You (She’s So Heavy).”
The medley in the album’s second half, commonly referred to as “The Long One,” is a well-known feature. It consists of a number of brief songs that the band found difficult to develop into fully realised tracks. The medley contains the song titled “The End”. All four band members recorded it together before they broke up, and it was the final song.
The song, which fits in between “Carry That Weight” and “Her Majesty,” is quite unique for a number of reasons. You can hear George Harrison, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon all playing rapid-fire guitar solos. John, Paul, and George looked like they went back in time, like they were kids again, playing together for the sheer enjoyment of it,” said recording engineer Geoff Emerick.
“More than anything, they reminded me of gunslingers. They had their guitars strapped on, and their steely-eyed determination to outdo each other was evident. However, there was clearly just fun between them because there was no hostility or tension at all.”
But solos weren’t limited to the guitar players. Ringo Starr’s drum solo on “The End” is the only one of the Beatles’ songs. The band felt that drum solos were excessively showy and did not enjoy them. Ringo detested drummers who played extended drum solos, McCartney once disclosed. Everyone did. However, Starr gave in when a drum solo seemed to fit rather well during the writing of “The End.”
Thus, “The End” indicated a somewhat unusual end for the group, but it was only a reflection of their never-ending desire for originality and inventiveness, even when their career was coming to an end. They revealed one of the band’s most memorable lines in this song. McCartney wrote, “And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make.”
You can listen to “The End” of The Beatles below:
