Spin of the Week - April 10th - 16th

The Beatles - Rubber Soul

Every week I will be showcasing the spin of the week. It will provide information that might even possibly help you win pub trivia. This week I picked an album that is near and dear to my heart.

The Beatles - Rubber Soul

Release date - December 1965

Lineup

John Lennon (Vocals and Guitar)

Paul McCartney (Vocals and Bass guitar)

George Harrison (Vocals and Guitar)

Ringo Starr (Drums)

When you think of a perfect album cover to cover this one often comes to my mind. In my opinion this is their best album.

This album contains two of my favorite songs by the group: Norwegian Wood and In My Life, but it also contains other excellent songs.

The Origins of Rubber Soul

Rubber Soul was actually a subtle dig at the falseness of pop music and as a joke after hearing an American musician describe Mick Jagger’s singing as, ‘plastic soul’.

This album contained numerous firsts for the group. It was their first album that did not contain their name on the album cover, concert tours, radio or film commitments that in the past would interfere with producing albums.

For the first time an album by the group would be influenced by drugs (Marijuana and LSD). The effect had two major shifts in the band. The first was the group shedding it's wholesome image that was previously marketed by their record label. The second was that the band would start to feel the strains as John, Ringo, and George would partake in using LSD which strengthened the bond between the three but at the same time alienated them from McCartney. Some say this was the beginning of the group's decision to part ways a few short years later.

Norwegian Wood

When I was a kid I didn't understand the meaning of the song as I just thought he lit a fire to stay warm at the house he was staying at but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Norwegian Wood is actually about an extramarital affair John Lennon had with an unnamed woman in 1965. Paul McCartney actually explained in an interview Norwegian Wood was actually the cheap pine wall paneling used in posh London homes at the time. He also said in his book, Many Years from Now, the song was not about a fire to keep warm but, ‘it meant I burned the fucking place down as an act of revenge’. ¹

There's a very good chance my mom (who loves the Beatles) didn't want to tell a ten year old kid that and just stuck to the story that John Lennon was very cold in a house in Norway. I mean can you blame her?

In My Life

This song has a very special place in my heart for a few reasons. The first, it is the song I danced to at my wedding for the mother/son dance. This song is also my favorite Beatles song.

The song was also Lennon’s first that covered his childhood in Liverpool (Penny Lane and others would come later). At first he would call the song, ‘ridiculous’ and ‘the most boring trip to the country.’ He said this because the lyrics were based on a bus trip he would take as a child and wrote the song about sites and sounds along the route.

The final work would be one that Lennon would come to appreciate as would many music critics. It consistently ranks in the top 10 of Beatles songs on many lists and within the top 50 songs of all time.

The Word

Some say this song was the group’s first foray into what some would call their, ‘high psychedelic period’ as it was predicting what would follow in a few short years; the summer of love (the summer of 1967).

The song focuses on love as a way to enlightenment which would become the ethos for the counter culture movement that was slowly gaining steam in England and the United States.

UK and US Album Differences

Depending on which album you play you will notice a substantial difference in the song lineup.

In the US version four songs are notably removed and moved to their 1966 release, ‘Yesterday and Today’. These songs were, ‘Drive My Car’, ‘Nowhere Man’, ‘What Goes On’, and ‘If I Needed Somebody’.

They were replaced by two shorter song that were originally on the, ‘Help!’ soundtrack: ‘I've Just Seen a Face’ and ‘It's Only Love’. Capitol Records actually felt the first song fit the more folk sounding album rather than, ‘Drive My Car’.

All things considered in my mind it didn't hurt the release and only helped make their next album even better.

Now that we have examined pieces of this album I would recommend giving it a listen and give me your opinions and thoughts!

Source Farmhouse Brewery - All You Need is Love, Imperial IPA (9% ABV)

1. Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.