Good Night

Ringo along performs the last song on disc two of the album, The Beatles (aka The White Album). This song, written by John Lennon as a lullaby for his son, Julian (then age 5), is produced with Ringo singing solo, backed up by an orchestra, conducted by George Martin. Martin had arranged the song to be extremely lush. Famously, Ringo ends the track by whispering: "Good night... Good night, everybody... Everybody, everywhere... Good night." The song was recorded in June and July of 1968. The definitive session took 12 takes with the orchestra, followed by choral and vocal dubs. The album was released the following November 22nd. A rehearsal of the song with Lennon on piano appears on the Anthology 3 album. The previous two albums had ended with very large numbers (Tomorrow Never Knows and A Day in the Life -- also John Lennon songs). Producer George Martin chose to end The White Album with something soft and lyrical, described as an "antidote to Revolution 9" (which some critics refuse even to classify as a song).