Songs › The Beatles › The End

The Beatles

The End

Abbey Road · 1969 · Lennon–McCartney

GLI67

Lennon Leaning

Confidence 80% · evidence quality, not position

The four Beatles in New York City, 7 February 1964. — United Press International (UPI Telephoto) · Public domain

Three Beatles trading guitar solos live, inside a medley planned to the bar.

GARCIAPerformance creates the music

DEAD CENTERNeither wins

LENNONComposition creates the music

100

The End · 67

Hollow marks: the other 49 scored songs · Hatched band: the Crossover Zone

The case

The strongest honest argument for each side, then the ruling.

The Garcia argument

Most of this short track is soloing. Starr plays the only drum solo he recorded with the band. Then McCartney, Harrison and Lennon trade two-bar guitar phrases three times round, recorded together on one track in a single take with their amps lined up side by side. Each phrase answers the one before it.

The Lennon argument

The solos fill a container counted to the bar: two bars each, three rounds, then out. The track sits in a planned medley, with a drum solo recorded on twelve microphones and an orchestra overdubbed weeks later. Nothing about its length or position was open.

The verdict: GLI 67

Improvised content in a strict frame, which is A Day in the Life's arrangement with a larger share given to the players. That share moves it twenty points left of the orchestral piece. The frame keeps it Lennon leaning.

What is fixed

The bar counts
Order of soloists
The closing couplet and orchestra

What is open

What each player plays in his two bars
The drum solo

Evidence dimensions

Each runs from 0, Garcia, to 100, Lennon. Their weighted composite is 67. The published GLI is 67, the same.

Structural FixityHow much of sequence, form and duration is settled beforehand?

Elastic

Fixed

Every section is counted, including the solos.

Performance ConsistencyHow far can two performances differ and still be the same work?

Transformative

Reproducible

Inferred. The Beatles never played it live.

PredeterminationHow much of what matters exists before the performance begins?

Emergent

Predetermined

The frame is written. The drum solo and guitar solos are not.

Development MethodHow does the music move forward?

Exploratory

Composed

Three guitarists trading two-bar phrases in one take.

Recording SpecificityDoes the recording document an occurrence, or define the object?

Documents event

Defines work

An orchestra and a closing piano were added later, and the track is part of an edited medley.

Transformational tolerance

The frame could be replayed. Those particular solos could not.

Confidence: 80%

Session accounts are detailed. Which take became the master was not confirmed.

Keep arguing

Every placement is relative. These are the songs this one was measured against.

The record

It contains the only drum solo Starr recorded with the Beatles.Source ↗
The guitar solos rotate McCartney, Harrison, Lennon in two-bar turns, three times round.Source ↗
Engineer Geoff Emerick recalled the three guitar amps lined up together and the solos recorded onto one track in a single take.Source ↗
Overdubs followed in August: vocals, bass, drums, an orchestra of about 30 and the closing piano.Source ↗

Where the sources disagree

The orchestra is given as about 30 players; one instrument list adds up to 26.
The guitar solos were overdubbed onto the backing track. "Live" describes the three guitarists, not the whole band.

Catalog facts

Catalog no.: GLI·TB·025
Artist: The Beatles
Writers: Lennon–McCartney
Release: Abbey Road (1969)
Released: 26 September 1969
Duration: 2:05

Sources

Classified 5 October 2026