The beginning of everything? The Story of Rubber Soul by The Beatles | Classic Albums Review
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- Опубликовано: 26 сен 2024
- In 1965 the beatles had achieved everything a pop star could dream of, she loves you became the best selling single in the history of British records, they opened the way in the United States for the British invasion, they were breaking records everywhere, the rating levels in the Ed Sullivan show were unprecedented, every single they released was number one, tours in the most important countries for the industry, two successful movies, members of the British empire, what else could they do? They had broken all the standards, and avoiding a comfort zone the beatles decided to evolve and mature to change the history of music and the whole world. Rubber soul was the beginning of everything.
Rubber Soul - Revolver - Sgt. Pepper are the best trio of albums released by any band, ever. Each one groundbreaking, diverse in musicality, and perfect.
Yes
A well known Liverpool photographer shares his memories of Liverpool today through pictures and video. And current Liverpool! ...ruclips.net/video/5zVN1qpMPlw/видео.html
Correct!:)
And the best because they were the first to do it and everything has already been invented in rock and pop music
Led zeppelin 2 / 3 / 4 / houses of the holy / physical graffiti. Game, set, match.
Growing up in the 60's, I'd wait in great anticipation for each Beatles album to appear and was never ever disappointed. Bearing in mind these were appearing roughly every 6 months, this was remarkable. For anyone listening back now, you can hear the invention of modern pop music and in that context, there's absolutely no one who got close to them.
The cool thing was we got a new album every 3 to 4 months!!
It was like Christmas Day when each album became available
Right on, Taffy! One of my best memories of the Beatles? Six months after their Ed Sullivan first appearance, my Dad took me to see " A Hard Day's Night " on my 14th birthday. He liked it as much as I did! The writing was funny and the music was terrific!
Rubber Soul blew my little brain. I can vividly remember listening intently to the whole thing and going ok…now this is something special. Little did I know what was to come.
That’s insane they were putting out multiple albums a year
57 years later,we still talk about this album. Said enough
When the Beatles made Rubber Soul and Revolver they were at the absolute peak of their creative powers.
Then they outdid themselves and made Abbey Road :-)
@@baselinesweb The medley on side two of Abbey Road was the perfect way for the Beatles to wrap everything up. I mean with all four Beatles.
I don’t think The Beatles EVER peaked.😮
@@TednGilbertAZ I dunno, to me Lennon/McCartney peaked with the let it be sessions. Then George was starting to peak on Abbey Road which carried that album, then he peaked solo with All Things Must Pass. The real question is, what Lennon/McCartney/Harrison would have been like. I don't feel like they ever truly collaborated with George like they did with each other.
Sometimes i think, both were there best albums.
Got this album for Christmas. I had just turned 16. Will never forget. Outstanding album. The greatest group of all time.
Same here!
I am younger. But I love the Beatles. They are by far the most creative band ever. And their influence is like no other band could ever dream
Most of us got it for Christmas as well as Magical Mystery Tour later. I still relate The Beatles to Christmas.
@@namcat53 how'd you know that? You have a short space to say something worthwhile and that's it?
@@asacarrick1440 Hypocrite.
Rubber Soul was the album that convinced me to pick up the guitar. I was a perfomer, engineer, producer, and published songwriter for over 45 years.
And I was by far not the only one.
I love the Russian folk dance feel on some the tracks where the mandolin is used , most noticeably in solo section of GIRL .
Rubber Soul is my all time favorite album. From that beautiful cover to the sharp sounding acoustic tracks like Nowhere Man, Norwegian Wood, Michelle, Girl. Topping all these great compositions is the masterful In My Life. Truly an amazing album.
Well said
It was George's personal favorite Beatles album as well. Good choice!
@@duffbaker9554 it's great lp every song is solid
@@manny4552 Yes, you're exactly right. So true. :-)
Those numbers would be a greatest hits album for most artists.
Saying it yet again: The greatest band ever -- musically, culturally, sociologically. Period, the end.
If you like studio bands.......
@@mikewheeler3994 The greatest studio band of all. And they weren't too shabby live, either.
David...A well known Liverpool photographer shares his memories of Liverpool today through pictures and video. And current Liverpool! ...ruclips.net/video/5zVN1qpMPlw/видео.html
They were super sonic jets. All other bands were the Wright brothers biplane.
@@michaelpace1075 Nice way to put it!
Three albums Rubber Soul, Revolver and Sgt Peppers were really the invention of modern day pop music.
I would rank Abbey Road up there as well.
Yes indeed
@@ytramzi yes indeed
Forget Albert Einstein. The Beatles are geniuses. They invented real pop music.
@Let Your L⚡️GHT Forever Shine ❤️ When I say modern day music I mean from the sixties onwards.
I first heard it at a party in December '65, the day after its release. The album certainly had a deep effect on me. The songs were so innovative, creative, and sophisticated beyond anything the Beatles had produced before. The cumulative effect was too much to take in at one go. You had to listen to the album again and again. And it's still as fresh as ever now, but so poignant after all these years.
This album began the expansion of their more mature and creative outlook on songwriting. As fresh today as it was in 1965, the growth of the group's output couldn't be stopped.
My absolute favorite...I was 10 when it came out...and even to young ears, it was remarkable and unlike anything I’d ever heard...things were indeed , changing!...I watched the Beatles on Ed Sullivan ( third grade..)...it was life changing ...I am now 67...Thank you , Beatles...for being such a powerful influence on this journey called, “ life ! “
‘In my life’ is as close to perfection as any tune can get, it contains within music, lyrics and arrangements all working for each other to produce a masterpiece.
Nothing sounds more 1965 than "Norwegian Wood" and "If I Needed Someone". I wasn't even born yet but those two songs make me feel it's THAT year just outside the window.
You can't put a year on those. They're still fresh sounding.
@@v-town1980 As 1965 was the year of the folk-rock/protest movement (i.e. Dylan and the Byrds), I can relate Nature and Physic's post. But yeah, they still sound fresh.
I got this album for Christmas of ‘66. My sister got a turntable. I put it on the turntable, layed on the floor, and totally blissed out. It was indeed a turning point. I’ll never forget it.
That happened to many of us.
For me it was the double white '68.
The songs, the recording, the photography, the iconic cover: Rubber Soul is a literal work of art that anyone with about $4 (in 1965) could own.
I think I paid $3.98 plus tax, man!
The photographic effect was based on a mistake, btw.
@@arricammarques1955 I’d call it a happy accident.
Lennon looks like a Buddha...
This album was the beginning of my infatuation as a teen. Now, as a teacher of Jazz and Rock for 35 years, I still try to explain the Beatles' power and legacy. The sounds are borrowed from every style, black and white, but only the Beatles pulled off blending all these sources with something new. They created an album so eclectic and so creative, and watched it go straight to the top. Again. Thanks for this video -- it brought back so many memories. I'm going to pull out my original vinyl copy from 1965.
I grew n the Beatles were everywhere the soundtrack of my youth. All over the radio with the Stones Hendrix Mamas n thePapas Airplane it was a good time to be a kid
My parents bought me a drum kit for the Christmas of 1965, and this is the album to which I drummed along to teach myself to play-because every cut has a completely different drum pattern, none of them easy or conventional, but also none of them so technically intricate that I felt overwhelmed. I played these songs over and over for months. Only when I felt that I had mastered Ringo's riffs did I feel confident to move on to other artists' music.
Lately I've been learning to play Michelle on the piano but I've spent more time just listening to this song. The harmonies behind Paul are unearthly...so exquisite.
In My Life and Strawberry Fields were both played at my godfathers funeral in 1989 when in was 11 years old. Strawberry Fields doesn’t but In My Life gets me in my heart and soul every, every time and I do mean every time I hear it. 2AM alone and there’s tears falling. Earlier this year in town, I had tears streaming down my face after hearing it played by a busker. But I will never stop listening to it what so ever. Mike would kill me. RIP to the best godfather ever.
Rubber Soul is a masterpiece; no other pop music in 1965 sounded this good. Can you imagine a modern band with the Beatles' level of clout being able to release an album as fresh and interesting as this? It's just not what capitalism, obsessed with algorithms and metrics that supposedly determine what people want and what sells, wants to produce.
Last time that happened was the 1990s.
A generic album of todays algorithms ( aka crap ) could be titled , Rubbish Soul .
@@wcjohnny1 *Rubbish Sold
What brought the Beatles great music to the world was Capitalism (E.m.i. contracts, Abbey road studios, sound engineers, consumers, and the Almighty dollar/Pound Sterling). You can also thank Bob Dylan and the Byrds for pushing the Beatles to expand their music.
@@mikelira6209 That was an odd spectrum you presented there.
In December 1965 my father came back to Sweden from a visit to London. He brought the Rubber Soul album with him. I got it as a Christmas present in advance. I was 9 years old. I still have the LP.
It is such a great album.
"Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out" should have been included on the LP.
But it would be hard to choose which two songs would be cut in their favor.
Drive My Car
Norwegian Wood
You Won't See Me
Nowhere Man
Think For Yourself
The Word
Michelle
We Can Work It Out
Girl
I'm Looking Through You
In My Life
Wait
If I Needed Someone
Day Tripper
Yep, it's a shame that so much emphasis was placed on singles - would have made an already fantastic album, even better. Same thing with Strawberry Fields/Penny Lane - should have been on Sgt. Pepper.
@@carlweaver3243 i like the sequence, i would put Day Tripper between In My Life and Wait
@@rubbersoul2841
Back in those days, the thinking was that you start off an album with a Rocker and finish it off with a Rocker. That's what I was thinking of with Day Tripper ending the album. And it had a nice fade out, too.
Great breakdown on an incredible album. I can still remember the day it came out and I rushed out to buy it. That first listen absolutely blew my mind. I had never heard anything like it before in my life. It was like I had just seen in color for the first time. It was the beginning of an incredible journey that the Beatles took us on album after album, none sounding like the one before, yet all sounding like The Beatles. Thank you boys for the trip. It was wonderful and enlightening.
IMO the greatest Beatles album. Favorite song is “in My Life”. Help was released 8-6-65, Rubber Soul was released 12-3-65. The leap in the creativeness is mind blowing.
Some of the songs on Rubber Soul were left over from the Help album writing, but weren't completed in time. It wasn't so much a leap as a continual progression in getting fresher, more experimental, and more complex in their musicianship, and writing.
@@imkluu makes sense.
Lennon once said that 'Revolver' was really 'Rubber Soul: Part II'. Just as they launched the British Invasion, by making 'Rubber Soul' they opened a musical door that others could walk through.
That was harrison
Dylan deserves a lot of the credit you are giving 100% of to the Beatles. The quote at the beginning of the viddy even says so. Dylan’s influence on them from Rubber Soul on is obvious, but you can see it even earlier in a couple of the songs from ‘Help!’ (the title track and you’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away most notably). On Rubber Soul, though, you can see Dylan’s writing reaching not only John (Norwegian Wood) but Paul (I’m Looking Through You) and George (If I Needed Someone) as well, although George is the one who actually wound up working with Dylan and had significant success covering him (If Not For You). In hindsight, although it seems that Dylan and the Beatles were far and away the acts that influenced the evolution of the 60s, as well as much of what came after, there was so much going on that to narrow it down to just two is way-oversimplifying, but they were both pretty damned significant.
@@force263 Dylan is a genius, no doubt, but probably his biggest contribution to the Beatles was introducing them to marijuana. Dylan himself was influenced by Woodie Guthrie and the Folk Movement of the 30's, 40's, and 50's. As far as Dylan influencing the Beatles, especially Lennon, that's true but like the geniuses they were, the Beatles took their influences to a higher level.
@@stephenmartinez9355 The word genius is banded around too often. Fact is they were intelligent, creative, focused, hardworking individuals who were lucky enough to be set up so they could develop their stuff without anyone bossing them around.
Yep. It was George
Rubber Soul and Revolver were just too incredible for words, can you imagine "run for life" or "the word" or "Think for yourself" playing on the radio? There was nothing like it on the radio, and don't get me started on "Tomorrow never knows!"
Most people see the Beatles coming of age with Sgt. Peppers, but I always thought it was Rubber Soul. The lyrics and the music just came together so beautifully. They were leaving behind the boy band image and becoming artist. Yes, Hey Jude and Back in the USSR is for the ages, but no other album showcases their writing like Rubber Soul. Or their musicianship. Like the Beatles, I really have no favorite album, they are all my favorites for different reasons, and everything they touched turned to gold.
Rather than see these as stunning individual albums you can see them segue into each album wonderfully. A learning curve that just keeps getting better. For example Help's "I need you" is a taste of what's to come in Rubber Soul, "The Word" or "Think for Yourself a segue into Revolver, and "Good Day Sunshine" into Sgt. Peppers. 😀
A well known Liverpool photographer shares his memories of Liverpool today through pictures and video. And current Liverpool! ...ruclips.net/video/5zVN1qpMPlw/видео.html
Nancy Sinatra covered "Run For Your Life." My wife had the single as a teenager. She didn't know it was a Beatles number until we met in 1978.
Along with this being my favorite Beatle album, it was also my beloved father’s favorite too. I like both the US Capitol version & the British Parlophone version. While the tracks were a little bit different, they both have their merits. That’s why it’s great to have them both.
@@randyjordan5521 isn't that interesting! I have heard Frank Sinatra's version of "Something" by the Beatles, and he did a wonderful job! One of the best cover songs I have heard. I'll have to look up and listen to Nancy's version! 😃
@@markfleming4162 it's one of my favorites to. Like you, my father bought the album when it came out and of course we wore the grooves out of it throughout the 60's 70's 80's 90's and beyond! It was the American version.
Amazing album, 6 of its songs went to be released in their compilation album later. Enough proof how good this album was, is and still to this day. Best band ever.
I think they started to emerge as grown up artists BEFORE Rubber Soul. Certainly it’s evident on Help! with the title track, also Ticket to Ride, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away and Yesterday. Their wanting to push the envelope only came more into focus on Rubber Soul. I would also contend that even in the early days they were pushing the bounds and never wanted to rest on their laurels - with each new single and each new album. I Want to Hold Your Hand for example is every bit as ground breaking as what came later.
My favorite album of all time. Changed my music career forever.A masterpiece.
Rubber Soul is my favorite Beatles LP. It is Lennon's best writing era (as Revolver is Paul's best writing era). Finally, George is rearing his writing chops and all the arrangements are so damned refreshing and exciting. I love this album.
I'd say peppers was Paul's best area .
@@twomindz79 friendly debate here, but Revolver has "Eleanor Rigby", "Here, There, And Everywhere" AND "For No One"?? IMHO the only track on Sgt. Pepper's that belongs in that category is "A Day In The Life", which is an actual collab, but what do I know? To be fair, the first two I mentioned are in my Beatles top ten.
@@twomindz79 how was Peppers Paul best era songwriting wise? Peppers’ best songs were mostly John, Revolver is where Paul shined songwriting wise imo.
Not even close to Revolver for Paul. He wrote a lot of songs for Peppers, none of them are his best.
interestingly, all pre-Yoko. Coincidence?🤔
interestingly, all pre-Yoko. Coincidence?🤔
I love the entire Beatles catalog. But I think their output in 1965-66. Help!, Rubber Soul and Revolver which include non album singles Day Tripper, We Can Work It Out, Paperback Writer, Rain and others....might be their best era...and that's saying a lot.
This was the album that made me aware of how great the Beatles were! I was 8 1/2 years old in December of '65 and my older brother had bought this album. There was nothing like it on the radio. It was such a departure from the Mop Top "She Loves You" days of their music. Through the years, I loved Sgt. Pepper/Magical Mystery Tour. Freaked out to the "White" album. Was amazed at the mastery of Abbey Road. But Rubber Soul always held a special place in my heart. It was a cross over record. A coming of age departure from the silly kid stuff of the past and into a more mature, grown up future...and music and myself would never be the same.
Rick...A well known Liverpool photographer shares his memories of Liverpool today through pictures and video. And current Liverpool! ...ruclips.net/video/5zVN1qpMPlw/видео.html
Rubber Soul was the first Beatles album my mother let me bring into the house. Previously, I had to go to my aunts house to listen to them. Been a huge fan since ‘64, and proud to say my daughters, and grandkids also love the Beatles, too 🎶🥰
Excellent analysis! I loved this album as a young teenage boy growing up. I think George Martin took his game up a notch on this album as well. Many outstanding songs. It was very groovy.
Rubber Soul has a mood throughout that is almost palpable. The instrumentation, arrangements, sound and feel is unlike any other. It's as if I can smell and taste the scenes, situations and landscape sung about in these songs.
For those reasons, this is my favorite Beatles album.
Abbey Road is #2 for me.
One of the best albums ever conceived.
This is my #1 favorite Beatles album of all time. So many incredible songs with such a variety of topics.
I remember when Rubber Soul came out my friends and I kept saying "How much better can they get?" It turns out better, came to mean "more complex". While the other albums that followed were all fantastic, none of them were any better than Rubber Soul, just different.
In Rubber Soul Paul McCartney`s efforts are lacklustre.
Comparing either to "Help" or "Revolver""You wont see me"and"I`m Looking through You" are mediocre.
@@ari1234a I'm looking through you is great but your right Lennon was the big star on this lp
@@ari1234a Pretty sure the opening track is one of Paul's best, not to mention the brilliant Michelle. Sure Paul's later songs were better but these pieces were in line with the caliber of anything else he had written up to that point. John had the best writing up to this album but was about to hit his peak. McCartney was just getting warmed up.
Jeff...A well known Liverpool photographer shares his memories of Liverpool today through pictures and video. And current Liverpool! ...ruclips.net/video/5zVN1qpMPlw/видео.html
@@ari1234a Some albums are more Paul some more John. Lennon is nearly invisible on Abbey Road save for a couple of tracks.
These Beatle history videos are awesome. As well as the album analyses.
Yes
Love love love the beatles
My favorite Beatles album, I loved all their music but this one just touches my heart, especially “In my life” I was a teenager n ow I’m 70 n I can look back. Geniuses 🥰🥰🥰
In Norwegian Wood, Lennon sings “This bird had flown,” letting us know that when he awoke, the girl he was with had left him alone. From hours and hours of watching British detective series, I discovered that the British equivalent of the American phrase “That ship has sailed” , meaning an opportunity no longer exists, is “That bird has flown.” “Bird” also being British slang for girl, Lennon came up with a pretty clever pun.
Absolutely love this! The Beatles’ records, up until about the White Album, were stepping stones. We wouldn’t have gotten records like Sgt. Pepper or Revolver without Rubber Soul!
When Rubber Soul first came out in 1965 I remember how incredible it sounded. The song 'In My Life' is one of the deepest meaning and favourites Beatles songs for me. When I made family photo slide show I added 'In My Life' to the DVD photo slideshow I made back in 2006 and I really enjoy it the hundred times I watched it since then. I made DVD photo slide shows of my life since then and love adding some iconic songs to the soundtrack and share it with my family and many friends. I'm been showing Kodak carousel slide shows of my 35 mm pictures and slides since 1975 and also digital photos since 2006. The music and great photos are all my choices and are a celebration of my life when I watch them. It's a match made in heaven for me. I've been a photographer for 50 years and a music lover and collector since 1960. Put the two together and we have a party.
The Beatles changed the music world forever and still influence music today and tomorrow.
Every year of my life in that decade is in retrospect remembered as a Beatles album
This was the first album I bought. I was 15 at the time. I remember standing on the shore of a little lake in Loveland Colorado and I said to many friend, I wonder if the Beatles will be able to keep up with this new trend in rock music with politically aware songs? Then came Nowhere Man.
I was a 14 yr old Army brat living near Mannheim, Germany. I mowed some lawns, washed some cars and road the Strausenbahn into downtown just to buy the album. Yes, the Euro version was a bit different. What a great time for music. Hearing any of the tracks I transport back to experiences in a foreign land. It was the best life with the best music.
I think they were especially apolitical....surprisingly so. Same with the Stones...both had only one overtly political song: "Revolution" for The Beatles and "Street Fighting Man" for The Rolling Stones. Did this make them better? Maybe.
@@walt1999walt Maybe “socially aware” would be a better term. The shift was away from simple love songs to a more socially conscious perspective.
I was a 17 Year old Freshman at Ithaca College when sound came out. Playing this in our off campus dorm. What an amazing breakthrough, we had no idea what was going to happen with studio albums after this. Beautiful melodies "Girl" "Michelle" "in my life"
I was playing in a band called the committee in 2001. I brought in a bunch of Beatles songs. I was the rhythm guitar player and the lead singer. All they had was come together. after a while the drummer screamed at me and said “DUDE !!! YOU’RE STUCK IN THE 60’s. I said “DAM STRAIGHT”
Their first amazing album imo. Michelle, in my life, nowhere man, Norwegian wood, you won’t see me, girl, etc. So good
Imagine a double album of Rubber Soul and Revolver with Paperback Writer and Rain included... 😲
Nice idea - We Can Work it out could close side one, Rain, side two, Paperback Writer could close out side 3, and Day Tripper can bring it on home on side 4.
I just heard The Beatles albums within the last few months. I'm glad I engaged myself to give them a try. I was blown away by the Get Back sessions. It was magic. Paul was just a monster song making machine.
In the universe of music, there are The Beatles, and then, there's everyone else.
Every once in a while I see comments from people who say the Beatles are SOOO overrated. These people are ignorant beyond measure.
@@johnwilliams1223 Many who were not alive to actually witness the profound impact, not only musically, but culturally, to the world. They entered musical realms, and cracked the rock-and-roll doors wide open, for all that was to follow.
@@johnwilliams1223 They are overrated! And this is coming from a life-long Beatles fan. When the Stones learned how to write, they started releasing better singles than the Beatles did.
@@apocalypsenow317
That’s your opinion. I’m also a lifelong fan of the Beatles. I think the Beatles were doing shit the stones couldn’t even dream of doing.
" Before anyone did anything .. SINATRA did everything." ( Elvis Presley)
Beatles for Sale and Help! also had breakthroughs. The beginning of everything for the Beatles actually started with Love Me Do. They revolutionized pop from the start.
Agreed. I think with Beatles for Sale you start to see a material change in their music.
When I first heard Rubber Soul (sitting in a record store booth- yes, the old days) I sensed it was a major change for the Beatles and the artistic transition of rock birthing the late 60s.
Which version, US or UK? If you played US version in order, song 1 on side 1 was I've Just Seen a Face, which apparently signaled a big change of sound AND turned out to be on side 2 (rhe side with non-movie music) of UK "Help!" album.
I have to head over to the mention of Brian Wilson.
Nice review. Rubber Soul is my favorite Beatle album. For a long time, Abbey Road held that spot because hearing it was the first time I took music seriously as a thing and it just blew me away. I was still a kid and knew who the Beatles were but in my home AM radio ruled the air so I got the poppy stuff (though I did love Hey Jude). Anyway, I was a full-blown Beatlemaniac after that and learned to play guitar because of them.
But over time, Abbey Road fell way to Rubber Soul. I didn't realize it at the time but when I was a teenager I spent more time listening to Rubber Soul than any album. I was a paperboy and I got up each morning at 4 to work my route. Most mornings before heading out I popped on Rubber Soul as I ate a quick breakfast. It had become my go-too record. Later, as an adult, I just admitted that Rubber Soul had always been my favorite. I just didn't know it at the time.
There are so many good things to say about the record. I do think John steals the show on this one. Paul wrote some nice stuff and his vocals on You Won't See Me are, in my opinion, maybe his most underappreciated. But In My Life, Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, Girl. You write those songs in one career you've done pretty well for yourself. John did it on one album. I do agree that Run For Your Life is a crummy, dark song and sorry, but I was never a fan of What Goes On. It's inoffensive enough but it just doesn't fit on the album. I get it, Ringo needed a tune, but to say they kept it around for the right time is being generous. From what I understand, George Martin turned it down on numerous occasions and well, Ringo needed a song so John got it in. I think Act Naturally would have been a better fit for this record but that was, unfortunately, already done on Help.
I also think the U.S. version is better than the U.K. version. It's the only album I can say that about. I've Just Seen a Face is a better opener and It's Only Love, while maligned by some because John said he didn't like it (John said a lot of stuff) fits with the theme. It is better as a folk album. Take off Run For Your Life and replace it with Nowhere Man on the U.S. version and you've got one helluva record. I even like the little stutter/misstep at the beginning of I'm Looking Through You on the American version. I learned that as part of the song and included when I played it. Later, when I found it missing from the U.K. version I felt cheated. Like, "what happened to my lick?" I also remember reading or maybe hearing somewhere that John, not Jane Asher, was the target of I'm Looking Through You, along with We Can Work It Out, but I can't find that source anymore. If anyone takes the time to read this and comes across that let me know.
Anyway, as I said up front, very nice review. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.
I always preferred the US version too. Maybe it's because it's what I grew up with but I think "I've just seen a face" is the perfect opening track, and everything just flows from there. Add "Nowhere Man" and you have as close to a perfect album as you can get!
Imagine recording such a masterpiece in just 4 weeks nowadays
I actually count Help as the beginning of their mature period
An absolute masterpiece, never get bored of listening to it.
To me Rubber Soul always has been the start to the best 10 years in music history. It began all here! Was released 4 December 1965, "Help" 6 August 1965...4 months only between the realeasedates! While "Help" was still beataera, Rubber Soul was something completely new and fresh! A gift to the world (same with the Beatles themself).
@Let Your L⚡️GHT Forever Shine ❤️ No, it isn't, sorry. Blues, Rock'n Roll etc. are of cause cool genres and without these older styles there wouln't have been any psych, prog, electronic, british rockinvasion, funk, jazzrock and all the stuff, that came after 1965. But comeon...just have al look at what happened in music all over the world from 1966 to 1975...and last but not least I started my quote with the magical two words "To me"...so, it's just a personal view. If you listen to another kind of music...feel free. I listen to Chuck Berry, Cochran, Little Richard, Muddy Waters, the Duke, Coltrane etc. too. Just don't tell me my point is an insult.
The drummer for The KIngsmen played this album for me when it came out. We were both blown away. Bought it right away and still have it in my collection. Rubber Soul and Revolver paved the way for everything that was to follow. Glad i got to see them live. Unbelievable
Revolver is their best but Rubber Soul comes close and the best thing is the beautiful background harmonies.
I remember when my high school age daughter had some friends over. One of them said that she was not a Beatles fan, but she really loved the band Rubber Soul.
Its a brilliant album, it’s when everything went to a higher level. RS has slightly been obscured by what followed. I played it the other day - wonderful.
They went for greatness and they achieved it.
When I turned 12 years old in 1991, my uncle gave me his entire collection of Beatles albums which included almost every album (minus Yellow Submarine). Anyway, the 2 albums I gravitated to first were Rubber Soul and Pepper.
The cover of Pepper was eye catching obviously, but the songs on Rubber Soul were just so immediately lovable.
I transferred the album onto cassette and listened to it from start to finish atleast 50x that year.
It became the soundtrack for my time delivering newspapers every single morning and getting ready for school.
Began my love of the Beatles for life!
When I first heard this album I was a small child, but I'd already been into records for a few years and became a huge fan of the Beatles after A Hard Days Night came out. My first thought, was wait, that's the Beatles? That's incredible! I heard the American Capitol record version, which I like a little better than the British Parlophone version. Although I would've happily substituted What Goes On for Drive My Car, that should've been on both records. Lastly, a missed item in the discussion of "Girl" is that the Beatles intentionally put a sneaky reference to a woman's breast in the backing vocals, while John was singing, "she's the kind of girl who puts you down when friends are there, you feel a fool".
Tits. Oh yes...well spotted.
My dad loved Rubber Soul so much. He was a big Dylan fan; loved folk and folk rock with smart poetic lyrics. When Rubber Soul came out, he read a review in the L.A. Times I think, and decided it was "The Beatles' Folk Album" (US/CAPITOL version) and so it played in our house and importantly, it was there in his collection for me to re-discover when I got old enough to play records. I heard the "real" version on CD in the late 80s and was shocked. I didn't even know the song "drive my car" existed! A lot of Americans had that experience.
And, John Lennon's tender smile on the cover IS priceless
the others looking off and him looking dead into the camera as if to say, "yes, I am the leader of the beatles"
Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper are a trilogy of albums for me. Absolutely love all three.
The Beatles weren't a pop band, they were a force of nature.
Great video Music Box, thank you! Excellent photographs
Rubber Soul was, and remains the Beatles Best. The Fab Four at their prime of youth and beauty too.
Norwegian Wood, Girl. Total top notch. A touch of The Birds, a premier band, elevated the sound by George.
Iconic and beautiful album cover. Best dressed too!
Got this album when it came out and loved it then, and it is still among my favorites. Definitely withstood the test of time.
In 1970 a bought a portable record player.
My records:
Born on the Bayou, Creedence Clearwater
Santana, first album
Rubbersoul, the Beatles !!! 🕉
Not a bad beginning! Rubbersoul was captivating at 13 years old. I couldn't get enough. I was in love for life.
They had some great songs before Rubber Soul, but they were in zone for the next four years starting with Rubber Soul.
Rubber Soul is my favourite Beatle album if not my favourite album of any group. I first played it when I bought it over 50 years ago and I haven’t stopped listening to it since
Beautiful album but I believe their music truly evolved with their next release, Revolver.
Everyone says Sgt. Pepper was the breakthrough album but my opinion is that Revolver marked the beginning of a new Beatles era, away from their love songs and more into complex lyrics and melodic instrumentation
Tomorrow never knows
Tax man
And your bird can sing
Just my 2 cents
I agree... RS was a turning point in their career. I remember when it came out. It was so different from anything they'd done before but yet you knew it was the Beatles. Every song on the album was great.
This is when the Beatles became THE BEATLES to me!
I was fortunate to see the Beatles three times as a teenager in Chicago. As many of the other people have stated Rubber Soul blew my mind and changed my life. Like Brian Wilson I played this over and over again when I bought this "masterpiece". It was the beginning of their best work.Great review of the album.
thanks
My favorite Beatles album, probably because my family and I wore it out after playing it so much. Even though my siblings were developing different musical tastes, we all found something in the Beatles that we liked.
Bill Morrow from Glen Ridge?
@@andyradin7992 ... That would be me, always great to see Ridgers on the net, enjoying semi-retirement in St. James-Southport, NC ... Send my regards to Roy ... ;)
@@billmorrow3742 Glad you are well, I'll pass it on! I live in Eastport, Maine, on my 6th career as school teacher!
Arguably Lennon's high point (4 extraordinary songs) - marking the end of his leadership of the group which from Revolver on passes to McCartney
50:50 still on both revolver and white album
I am SO OLD I was at the 1st Beatles live concert in America (age 15) - at the Washington Coliseum, a hockey rink in D.C. between the 1st & 2nd Ed Sullivan show Feb. 11, 1964 (ticket price $4), as well as a few others including Shae Stadium '65 and D.C./later RFK Stadium '66 on final live tour when the KKK was demonstrating against them outside over John's "more popular than Jesus"comment - I have ALWAYS thought and said "Rubber Soul" was their BEST ALBUM - I believe it to this day - AT LEAST my FAVORITE
I’m glad there’s this video. Because it seems like when people make list of the greatest Beatles songs, they’ll put hard days night and help in the list. And really the Beatles greatest songs were everything starting with rubber soul. And especially on revolver which has some of the greatest songs ever written. This album was recorded with painstaking effort. The songs were all good. The album still holds up 60 years later.
This was the album that made the world realise that they were not a flash in the pan. They were just getting started!
My favorite Beatles album! This was the beginning of the crossroads in their music and songwriting!
Loved the album. During the song "Girl", they managed to slip the word "tit" into it. "Tit, tit, tit, tit, tit" during the middle parts as backing vocals.
The gist of existential change going on in Lennon's head from his cry for HELP (recorded April 65) to Nowhere Man (which is a highly underrated lyrical and musical song), through Tomorrow Never Knows, to Rain (Recorded April 66, after Tomorrow Never Knows), is an amazing shift in one year ... putting Rubber Soul (released EMI, December 3, 65) right in the middle. The album's wonderful texture and warmth brings together the soul of Rubber Soul ... the hinge on the door between the Beatles musical worlds. Though I love them all, none of the other Beatles records have a glimpse of this kind of change - COO COO Ca Chew! - Matt April 66
Personally I think "Help" was the beginning of everything. Some of the most personal songs John has ever written. Help, Ticket To Ride, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away and Paul's classic "Yesterday". I think it get's overlooked because it's considered a soundtrack album. The British version was a full blown studio album. Leave it to Capital records to muck it up.
I didn't think of this; you're right
Help! and hard days night were really good albums, it’s just rubber soul and everything after took it to a whole new level. They weren’t writing songs like Michelle and Happiness is a Warm Gun yet on their earlier albums
@@toddpacker4683 Love HDN. Every song is a keeper. But then, weren't most of their albums? Never will see or hear the likes of them again.
Rubber soul is just in another level
@@kristoamadeus4441 Yes, that is trur though, but Help! is in my Beatle top 6
When i was a boy, in the 1970s, id started getting Beatles albums, but we had a house fire, i got burns and while in the hospital, the male nurse i had told me, when i get out of the hospital, get rubber soul to listen to as i finished healing at home.... God, was he right.
George Harrison said it felt to him like "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" were vol 1 and 2 of the same album; he had the tracks all mixed up in his head as one piece of work divided into 2 for commercial reasons.
That would have been the end of the "Best Album" debate...
This is still my favorite Beatles album… definitely their rebirth. They still had some innocence, yet delved down deep into life’s deep thought-provoking experiences. Revolver, as great as it was, lacked that tinge of innocence as did all future landmark Beatles albums including the iconic Sergeant Pepper’s and Abbey Road. I also prefer HELP! out of all their films. It was just fun to see them at the beginning of their rebirth. With such combined creative forces and the times they were living in, The Beatles HAD to evolve as did rock music. They were the major driving force of that musical and cultural r/evolution.💟
They had actually already begun to change their style the year before on Beatles For Sale, look at a song like I'm A Loser. Help was a huge turning point too. It didn't just start at Rubber Soul.
Correct. The sound of a string section on Yesterday was stunning at the time....The Beatles...with STRINGS? ;) Always pushing forward.
True! Ticket to Ride, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, being two songs that made a big leap forward; in addition to the song Help! As you mentioned.
While their first psychedelic phase that consisted of "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver" still owed a lot to the sound of their Jangle Pop phase (which in turn influenced The Byrds, which later was often misunderstood as the begnning of psychedelia) begun especially with AHDN (and maybe some early germs of it can already be found on "With the Beatles"), "Rubber Soul" *DOES* kick off their psychedelic phase and the studio years. This was the exact album when the sound became so overwhelming and technically intricate that overnight, the music started to become a lot harder and eventually impossible to reproduce on stage.
@@tlatosmd ....Well, there is nothing remotely psychedelic on Rubber Soul. If you want to listen to psychedelic you listen to "7+7 "is by Love, or "White Rabbit" by Airplane or "Purple Haze." And nothing technically challenging on RS, just great songs and all the right playing and parts as always with them. It's biggest change was being so heavily acoustic throughout, so that it almost appeared as a folk/pop album at many times. "Rain" would be more appropriate as to be considered their first foray into the psychedelic genre.
@@TheAerovons a.) You're obviously talking about the US version which is a lot more folksy than the UK version.
b.) It's early psychedelia, not related to acid but to pot, and, as said, it was still to a large degree endebted to their earlier Jangle Pop and *SOME* folk, while being far from as folksy as a lot of US psychedelia.
Nobody will disagree with you that their Psychedelia II phase ("Sgt. Pepper", MMT, a lot of the first side of "Yellow Submarine") is a lot more mature and more complex psychedelia, but you won't find many people who will disagree that "Rubber Soul" is the start of their studio years which by "Rubber Soul" by far eclipsed their technical simplicity up to then already.
On December 25th 1965 my sister give me the 'Rubber Soul' album for a Christmas present. . That gift changed my life.
i knew about the beatles and few of their songs, however this was my first full album, my music teacher played “drive my car” for the class, i wasn’t too impressed, the song felt a bit cheesy the first time i heard it and said so to my teacher, he responded by extending his arm towards me with the CD on his hand and said “here, you can keep it, take it home and listen to it” … that was about 20 years ago and still my favorite Beatles album, Drive my car grew on me since then btw.
Your channel has been a very pleasant discovery. Keep up the great work! I wish you a lot of success!
As great as Rubber Soul was (The U.S. version that is)....I think the beginning of The Beatles greatness was the English version of A Hard Days Night. A Stellar 13 song masterpiece......dominated by John of course
Finally, someone gets that part of Beatles history right.
For me, it's their first album, "Please Please Me" (UK). 98% of it was recorded in one long day, live off the studio floor. The great selection of songs, the arrangements, the tempi and dynamics, the interplay between bass and drums, rhythm guitar and George's fills and signature riffs, the vocal harmonies, everything... and John's powerhouse performance of Twist and Shout at the end of it. All human. No machines. These four young men could really sing and play and write. No bullshit -- just pure, honest performances. This is why the kids got it and why they got famous. It all started here...
@@2340Vegas Absolutely. Totally original songs, etc.
Side one of HDN is great. Side two? Not so much. Rubber Soul is a better album.
@@antoniomarine1567 Don't feel that way at all. The two albums are coming from totally different directions as well.
l'm an American. My brother Bill gave me Rubber Soul for Christmas. Because of this my record had 'l've Just Seen a Face' as the lead off track. Favorite Paul song of all time. For me.
This album is so eclectic. Think of some of the elements: Indian sitar in Norwegian Wood, French lyrics in Michelle, Greek sounds in Girl, and Ye Olde English harpsichord solo in In My Life.
Greek sounds? Where?
@@iceicekodi6402 Girl. From about about the 1m 30s mark, there are high guitar parts that sound like a bouzouki.
@@martingifford5415 cool. I'll check it out.
The keyboard break in "In My Life" was a piano part played by George Martin at half tempo then speeded up x2 to sound like a harpsichord. But your point is still valid - eclectic sounds that went way beyond the standard pop vocabulary.
I got 'Rubber Soul' as a Christmas present....It turned out to be the best present I got...I loved almost every track...
Next summer I bought 'Revolver' and at first had trouble with a few of the tracks...They grew on me over time though...
The discordant sound of 'I Want To Tell You' threw me off....But they're not all going to be perfect gems....
My favorite Beatles album. The English version of Rubber Soul has The Beatles in top form, with a perfectly balanced mix of rockers, folk rocks, and ballads. The lyrics are mature and inspired, especially the Lennon tunes. The vocals and harmonies are superb, like never before or after that. And the melodies are excellent, with some all time classics, such as Drive my car, Norwegian wood, Nowhere man, Michelle, Girl, In my life, and If I needed someone. Also, Rubber Soul marks the emergence of George Harrison as a great composer. No other Beatles album equals Rubber Soul in quality and ballace, with the possible exception of Revolver.