Rubber Soul

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Template:Album infobox Rubber Soul is an album by British rock band The Beatles, first released in December 1965. It was recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market, and was a major achievement, with reviewers taking note of the Beatles' developing musical vision. Like most Beatles albums, the record was produced by George Martin and achieved widespread commercial success.

The album was a major artistic leap for the group, and often cited by critics as the point where the Beatles earlier Merseybeat sound began to morph into the eclectic, sophisticated pop/rock of their latter career. Musically, the Beatles broadened their sound, most notably with influences drawn from the contemporary folk-rock of the Byrds and Bob Dylan. The album also saw the Beatles broadening rock n' roll's instrumental resources, most notably on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)," the first rock record to feature a sitar. Lyrically, the album was a major progression. Though a smattering of earlier Beatles songs had expressed romantic doubt and negativity, the songs on Rubber Soul represented a pronounced development in sophistication, thoughtfulness, and ambiguity. In particular, the relationships between the sexes moved from simpler boy-girl love songs to more nuanced, even negative portrayals. "Norwegian Wood," one of the most famous examples and often cited as the Beatles first conscious assimilation of the lyrical innovations of Bob Dylan, sketches a poetically ambiguous, extra-marital affair between the singer and a mysterious girl. "Drive My Car" serves as a satirical piece of reverse sexism. Songs like "I'm Looking Through You," "You Won't See Me," and "Girl" expressed more emotionally complex, even bitter and downbeat portrayals of romance, and "Nowhere Man," was the first Beatles song to move beyond a romantic subject.

The album had a 42-week run in the British charts starting on December 11 1965, and on Christmas Day took over from Help!, The Beatles' previous album, at the top position in the charts, a position the album would hold for eight weeks. The album became a classic — on May 9 1987, it returned to the album charts for three weeks, and ten years later made another comeback to the charts.

In 1998 Q magazine readers voted Rubber Soul the 40th greatest album of all time; in 2001 the TV network VH1 placed it at number 6. Rolling Stone magazine placed it at number 5.

The album was released on CD in 1987, using the 14-song UK track lineup. As with the CD release of the 1965 Help! album, the Rubber Soul CD featured a contemporary stereo digital remix of the album prepared by George Martin. This remix is a bit controversial among Beatle fans--many purists prefer the 1965 mix.

Contents

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American release

Rubber Soul came out in the United States three days after the British release, and began its 59-week long chart run on Christmas Day. It topped the charts for six weeks from January 8 1966, before dropping back. The album sold 1.2 million copies within nine days of its release, and to date has sold over four million in America.

Like other pre-Sgt. Pepper Beatles albums, Rubber Soul differed markedly in its US and UK configurations; indeed, through peculiarities of sequencing, the US Rubber Soul became something of a "folk-rock" album, thanks to the addition of "I've Just Seen a Face" and "It's Only Love" (leftovers from the UK Help!) and the deletion of some of the more upbeat tracks ("Drive My Car", "Nowhere Man", "If I Needed Someone", and "What Goes On"). The tracks missing on the US version would later surface on the Yesterday . . . and Today collection. The track variation resulted in a shorter album length, clocking in at 29 min 59 s. In addition, the US version has a "false start" at the beginning of "I'm Looking Through You."

The American version of the album also greatly influenced the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, who "answered" the album by releasing Pet Sounds in 1966.

There were two different stereo versions released on vinyl in the US: the standard US stereo mix, and the "Dexter Stereo" version (a.k.a. the "East Coast" version), which has a layer of reverb added to the entire album.

This version of the album, with the standard US stereo mix, is available on CD as part of The Capitol Albums, Volume 2 box set.

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Track listing (UK release)

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Side one

  1. "Drive My Car" SAMPLE (123k)
  2. "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" SAMPLE (136k)
  3. "You Won't See Me", featuring Mal Evans on Hammond
  4. "Nowhere Man" SAMPLE (144k)
  5. "Think For Yourself" (Harrison)
  6. "The Word", featuring George Martin on harmonium
  7. "Michelle"
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Side two

  1. "What Goes On" (Lennon-McCartney-Starkey)
  2. "Girl"
  3. "I'm Looking Through You"
  4. "In My Life" SAMPLE (217k), featuring George Martin on piano
  5. "Wait"
  6. "If I Needed Someone" (Harrison)
  7. "Run For Your Life"
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Track listing (US release)

  • All tracks written by Lennon-McCartney, except where noted.
[edit]

Side one

  1. "I've Just Seen a Face"
  2. "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"
  3. "You Won't See Me"
  4. "Think For Yourself" (Harrison)
  5. "The Word"
  6. "Michelle"
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Side two

  1. "It's Only Love"
  2. "Girl"
  3. "I'm Looking Through You"
  4. "In My Life"
  5. "Wait"
  6. "Run For Your Life"
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Release history

Country Date Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom December 3 1965 Parlophone mono LP PMC 1267
stereo LP PCS 3075
United States December 6 1965 Capitol Records mono LP T 2442
stereo LP ST 2442
Australia Unknown EMI Stereo 8-track cartridge 8X-PCSO-3075
Worldwide reissue April 15 1987 Apple, Parlophone, EMI CD CDP 7 46440 2
Japan March 11 1998 Toshiba-EMI CD TOCP 51116
Japan January 21 2004 Toshiba-EMI Remastered LP TOJP 60136
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External links

The Beatles
John Lennon | Paul McCartney | George Harrison | Ringo Starr
Pete Best | Stuart Sutcliffe
Management
Brian Epstein | Allen Klein | Apple Records
Production
George Martin | Geoff Emerick | Norman Smith | Abbey Road Studios
Official Studio Albums
Please Please Me (1963) | With the Beatles (1963) | A Hard Day's Night (1964) | Beatles for Sale (1964) | Help! (1965) | Rubber Soul (1965)
Revolver (1966) | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) | Magical Mystery Tour (1967) | The Beatles (1968) | Yellow Submarine (1969) | Abbey Road (1969) | Let It Be (1970)
Films
A Hard Day's Night (1964) | Help! (1965) | Magical Mystery Tour (1967) | Yellow Submarine (1968) | Let it Be (1970)
Related Articles
History | Discography | Bootlegs | Long-term influence | Beatlemania | Beatlesque | Fifth Beatle | Paul Is Dead | British Invasion | Yoko Ono | 1960s | Apple Corps
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