Re: HDCD, I emailed Chuck Ainlay many years ago and asked him if HDCD (and Super Bit Mapping) actually sounded any better when played on an ordinary, non-HDCD player. His response was full of sound engineering technical jargon that went completely over my head, but I understood to mean "Maybe a little".
Re: Going Home ending, isn't that the producer's job, to tell the artist (even Ringo) that something sounds like crap? Seems to me like it would be.
People certainly underestimate the role of a producer. I think it's huge—an overarching role, a decision-making role. Ringo is the chillest dude on the planet and I already described why it's important to love him, but in the case of this recording, I think this "random" ending was a bit over the top and classic late Ringo, almost like trying to sabotage the recording or something. A little strange, to say the least. Look at his masterclass on masterclass.com, it's the most bizarre drumming masterclass you can watch and you learn absolutely nothing about drumming, though it has a lot of this "flamboyant persona" vibe. I'm not a fan.
And yes, it's a mystery why somebody like Guy would listen to THIS ending, then probably Mark would listen to this, and a dozen other important and skilled people hear this and all of them give their thumbs-up like this is okay. Put it out. It's ready. It's not going to confuse people at all, it doesn't sound strange.