‘Rubber Soul’: The Beatles’ Classic 1965 Album

If it was possible to pinpoint a single moment when the Beatles’ journey took a turn away from “just pop stars” to being serious artiststhen it was the release in December 1965 of their second LP of the yearRubber Soul.

Just four months earlierHelp! had shown signs that their music was becoming more eruditewith songs like “Yesterday” and “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away” bringing new sounds to the mix. By the following year’s Revolverthey were charting a new coursereinventing pop music with otherworldly pieces like “Eleanor Rigby” and “Tomorrow Never Knows.”

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Rubber Soulsandwiched between the tworeflects the joys of both camps. Glorious pop songs such as “Drive My Car,” “Nowhere Man,” and “If I Needed Someone” seem loaded with a knowing wink that the times were indeed a-changin’. But it was on “Michelle,” “Norwegian Wood,” and “In My Life” that the sophistication of their songwriting and performance clearly raised the bar.

With the group spending longer locked away in the studio (Rubber Soul sessions saw them working into the wee small hours for the first time)they continued their quest to broaden their sonic palettea fact not lost on producer George Martin. His role was evolving from schoolmasterly grown-up to sage guide.

The Beatles’ world moved at a frightening pace. They had completed their 1965 North America tour in San Francisco at the end of Augustand between then and October 12thwhen sessions for Rubber Soul began at EMI Studios on Abbey Road in LondonJohn and Paul composed songs for the new record. Recording took longer than for any other Beatles record to daterunning until November 15th. The album was in the shops in time for the Christmas rush.

The title makes tongue-in-cheek reference to the influence of American soul music on the pop of the day – a pun of plastic soulwhich was a sneering term used to devalue unsuccessful attempts at the genre. All four Beatles were big fans of R&B recordings from labels like Stax in Memphiswho had recently put out “Respect” by Otis Reddingand one whose influence can be detected in “Drive My Car”’s groove.

In terms of songwritingJohn and Paul continued to improve at a breakneck pacewhile George was also now adding to the pool with increasing confidence. (Even Ringo gets a writer’s credit on Rubber Soulwith “What Goes On” attributed to “LennonMcCartneyStarkey.”)

On “Nowhere Man,” John picked up the introspection he had first explored on 1963’s “There’s A Place.” But this new song was far more complexillustrating not just how much he had grown as a songwriterbut how far the group had pushed the boundaries of the pop song. Gone was the girl/boy narrative that dominated their work to dateand in its place was the rather sorry tale of an aimless man at odds with the world he sees.

Paul’s “You Won’t See Me” and “I’m Looking Through You,” as well as George’s “Think For Yourself,” are less “boy meets girl” and more “boy becomes dismissive and impatient of girl and strides out on his own.”

Nowhere is this transformation more striking than on John’s “In My Life.” At just 24 years oldhe takes a walk down memory lane (in an early incarnationthe lyric literally followed a journey from his Liverpool home – he even namechecked nearby Penny Lane).

Elsewhere on the albuman increased use of acoustic guitars adds a distinctly laid-back quality to some of the songs: “Girl” and “Michelle” boast effortless grooves that bring smoky late nights to mind. On “Girl,” the backing vocals tease with their heavy breathing and “tit-tit-tit” refrain. “Michelle” evolved from a party trick of Paul’s and George’sin which they attempted to sound French and sophisticated. Againthe backing vocals add a richness to what is one of the warmest-sounding productions in their catalogue.

On “The Word,” they celebrate the power of loveand offer a hint at the flower power that was to color much of the mid-60swhile “Norwegian Wood”’s use of the sitar brought to the Western world the sound of the East – more of which would follow in Revolver and Sgt. Pepperas the Beatles continued to lead the charge in expanding the pop world.

In such a relatively short recording careerThe Beatles created revolutions by the bucketloadbut it’s debatable as to whether anything they did would have such seismic aftershocks as Rubber Soulan LP that marks the point at which pop music becomes art. Before thisThe Beatles had made brilliant pop musicfar in advance of anything the vast majority of their contemporaries were creatingbut it was still not considered by many critics to be anything beyond disposableharmless fun for teenyboppers. Rubber Soul changed that forever.

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