{"id":8383,"date":"2021-01-14T16:27:46","date_gmt":"2021-01-14T21:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=8383"},"modified":"2021-01-14T16:28:26","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T21:28:26","slug":"rubber-soul-the-back-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/rubber-soul-the-back-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Rubber Soul: The Back Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the next 12 months, the Fest for Beatles Fans<\/strong> blog will each month move track-by-track through the magical LP that was <\/em>Rubber Soul. Many people consider <\/em>Revolver to be The Beatles\u2019 \u201ctransitional\u201d LP. Others, including myself, think the pivot point in The Beatles\u2019 career was <\/em>Rubber Soul. John Lennon, in fact, stated that Rubber Soul was \u201cthe album on which The Beatles began dominating the recording process.\u201d (Hertsgaard, 168-169) In almost every way, the late 1965 LP was a bold directional change. Let me explain\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

They had more than a month to devote to the new LP \u2014 a luxury never before afforded to the lads. Please Please Me<\/em> \u2014 comprised of a few original songs and a plethora of numbers from their old Cavern Club show \u2014 had been honed on the Helen Shapiro Tour bus and recorded in a single day. The songs for A Hard Day\u2019s Night<\/em> had been written in between concerts in a Georges Cinq<\/em> hotel room in Paris, January 1964. And the country-and-western themed tunes for Beatles for Sale<\/em> had been hastily churned out prior to the 1964 North American Tour, refined in \u201ccatch-as-catch-can\u201d moments on tour, and recorded in a handful of days immediately following the tour. Never <\/em>had the boys ever been given a full month<\/em> dedicated solely to the planning, writing, polishing, and recording of a new LP.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But the results of such an extravagance were well worth the wait\u2026and the devotion. Rubber Soul<\/em> was, according to New York Times <\/em>and Rolling Stone<\/em> journalist\/author Mark Hertsgaard in A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of The Beatles<\/em>, \u201c\u2026the finest album to date, and some say, [The Beatles\u2019] finest album ever. With Rubber Soul<\/em>, The Beatles offered, for the first time, an album with virtually no weak spots. It was made up of songs that were immediately captivating and enduring.\u201d (p. 167)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The motifs <\/em>of the late autumn 1965 LP were significantly more mature than the subject matter found on earlier albums. The popular themes of \u201cshe loves you,\u201d \u201cI love you,\u201d and \u201cyou love me\u201d were superseded by complex, mature, adult themes: struggling relationships (\u201cThink for Yourself,\u201d \u201cWhat Goes On,\u201d \u201cGirl,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m Looking Through You\u201d), casual dalliances (\u201cDrive My Car\u201d and \u201cIf I Needed Someone\u201d), adultery and female-scorned liaisons (\u201cNorwegian Wood\u201d and \u201cDrive My Car\u201d), deep-seated jealousy and anger (\u201cRun for Your Life\u201d), and lingering self-doubt (\u201cNowhere Man\u201d). But the album\u2019s catalog was also graced with emotional songs of friendship and love, such as \u201cIn My Life,\u201d \u201cWait,\u201d and \u201cMichelle.\u201d And there is even a track, \u201cThe Word,\u201d which celebrates agape<\/em> love, that universal bond that could ultimately bring us all together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not only are the themes of Rubber Soul<\/em> more developed and considered, but the music itself is also enriched with variety. The enchanting harmonium work in \u201cThe Word,\u201d \u201cWe Can Work It Out,\u201d and more subtly, in \u201cIf I Needed Someone\u201d is sublime, as is the harpsichord-sounding piano in \u201cIn My Life.\u201d Harrison\u2019s sitar work (once pared down a bit from the overpowering first takes) makes \u201cNorwegian Wood\u201d soar. And McCartney\u2019s fuzz bass in \u201cThink for Yourself\u201d enhances the power of Harrison\u2019s lyrics. Wonderfully, the Beatles signature techniques, such as handclaps and three-part harmony, are still present and still viable as the boys retain their unique identity. Indeed, in Rubber Soul<\/em>, nothing is abandoned but much is added.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Given the opportunity to focus entirely on their work, the late 1965 Beatles raised an already-elevated bar. Their lyrics became edgier, allowing the listener to investigate myriad levels of meaning. Their story songs offered multiple conclusions. And as they embraced global influences (such as The Byrds in \u201cIf I Needed Someone,\u201d The Yardbirds in \u201cNorwegian Wood,\u201d and Dylan on many of the new tracks), the boys rose to equal their peers and surpass them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Noted Beatles music experts have widely varying theories about why Rubber Soul<\/em> affected (and still continues to affect) listeners so powerfully. Some point to the music; others, to the unique Scouse wit, and still others, to poetic lyrics. And all of this mattered. But one can\u2019t ignore the importance of the record\u2019s inherent vulnerability<\/em> as a tremendous point of connectivity.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In almost every song on the Parlophone LP, one or more of The Beatles is admitting weakness. And in the words of St. Paul, \u201c\u2026when I am weak, I am strong.\u201d John, Paul, George, and Ringo find a universal connection to their fans in simply confessing that they \u2014 just like the members of their audience \u2014 often feel isolated, lonely, afraid, frustrated, angry, and unfulfilled. The Fab Four are no longer \u201cfab.\u201d In Rubber Soul<\/em>, they become human. They emerge \u201ca bit like you and me.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In his classic work, Tell Me Why<\/em>, Tim Riley states, \u201cRubber Soul<\/em> intensified the bond with the audience\u2026it drew [The Beatles] closer to their listeners, as the frenzy of their tours continued to isolate them.\u201d (p. 153) By freely admitting their own flaws, failures, and fears, The Beatles bridged the gap that the stadium fans were always trying to hurdle. The band dismantled that barrier. In Rubber Soul<\/em>, the fans and The Beatles find an avenue to \u201ccome together.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I can\u2019t wait to explore this album with you as over the next twelve months we walk, track-by-track though Rubber Soul<\/em>. Up first, we\u2019ll take a fresh look at \u201cDrive My Car\u201d with noted author, Dr. Kenneth Womack (author of the best-selling new work, John Lennon 1980<\/em>) about this clever opening track. Join us in just a few days, and our Rubber Soul<\/em> adventure will begin!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the next 12 months, the Fest for Beatles Fans blog will each month move track-by-track through the magical LP that was Rubber Soul. Many people consider Revolver to be The Beatles\u2019 \u201ctransitional\u201d LP. Others, including myself, think the pivot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":8384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[89,117],"class_list":["post-8383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-rubber-soul","tag-the-beatles"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8383"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8387,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8383\/revisions\/8387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}