All four Beatles have a solo in “The End”, including a Ringo drum solo. Ringo disliked solos; he preferred to cater drumwork to whoever sang in a particular performance. The take in which he performed the solo originally had guitar and tambourine accompaniment, but other instruments were muted during mixing giving the effect of a drum solo. The additional instruments were restored for a remix on the Anthology 3 compilation album. The drum solo was also later used at the beginning of “Get Back” on the 2006 album Love.Paul, George, and John perform a rotating sequence of three, two-bar guitar solos.The solos begin approximately 53 seconds into the song and end just before the final piano part. Lennon described it in his 1970 interview with Rolling Stone: “There’s a nice little bit I played on Abbey Road. Paul gave us each a piece, a little break where Paul plays, George plays and I play.” The first two bars are played by Paul, the second two by George, and the third two by John, then the sequence repeats. Each has a distinctive style which McCartney felt reflected their personalities: McCartney’s playing included string bends similar to his lead guitar work on “Another Girl” from the Help! album and the stinging style he had first perfected on “Taxman” from Revolver; Harrison’s solo incorporated the melodic yet technically advanced slides that were becoming his trademark; lastly Lennon’s contribution was rhythmic, snarling, and had the heaviest distortion, echoing his lead work in “Revolution”. Immediately after Lennon’s third solo, the piano chords of the final line “And in the end…” begin. Then the orchestration arrangement takes over with a humming chorus and Harrison playing a final guitar solo that ends the song.Now, enjoy that grand finale and a parade of solos with: Paul and his 1962 Epiphone ES-230TD Casino.John and his 1965 Epiphone ES-230TD CasinoGeorge and his 1968 Fender Rosewood Telecaster.Ringo and his 1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple drums.
