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UK Release date : Friday, December 3, 1965

Rubber Soul (UK Stereo)

By The BeatlesLP • Part of the collection “The Beatles • The original UK LPs

Last updated on March 19, 2017


Details

  • UK release date: Dec 03, 1965
  • Publisher: Parlophone

Timeline

Master album

Related albums

Related sessions

This album was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Track list

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Side 1

  1. Drive My Car

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2:25 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, Vocals Ringo Starr : Cowbell, Drums John Lennon : Piano, Tambourine, Vocals George Harrison : Guitar, Harmony vocals George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Oct 13, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Oct 26, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

  2. Norwegian Wood (The Bird Has Flown)

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2:01 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Harmony vocals Ringo Starr : Bass drum, Tambourine John Lennon : Acoustic rhythm guitar, Vocals George Harrison : 12-string acoustic guitar, Sitar George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Oct 12, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Recording: Oct 21, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Oct 26, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

  3. You Won't See Me

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    3:18 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Piano, Vocals Ringo Starr : Drums John Lennon : Backing vocals George Harrison : Backing vocals, Rhythm guitar, Tambourine George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer Mal Evans : Hammond organ

    Session Recording: Nov 11, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Nov 15, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road

  4. Nowhere Man

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2:40 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Harmony vocals Ringo Starr : Drums John Lennon : Acoustic rhythm guitar, Lead guitar, Vocals George Harrison : Harmony vocals, Lead guitar George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Oct 21, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Recording: Oct 22, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Oct 26, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

  5. Think For Yourself

    Written by George Harrison

    2:16 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Harmony vocals Ringo Starr : Drums, Maracas John Lennon : Harmony vocals, Tambourine, Vox continental organ George Harrison : Rhythm guitar, Vocals George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Nov 08, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Nov 09, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Room 65, Abbey Road

  6. The Word

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2:41 • Studio versionC • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Piano, Vocals Ringo Starr : Drums, Maracas John Lennon : Rhythm guitar, Vocals George Harrison : Lead guitar, Vocals George Martin : Harmonium, Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Nov 10, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Nov 15, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road

  7. Michelle

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2:40 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Bass, Vocals Ringo Starr : Drums John Lennon : Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals George Harrison : 12-string acoustic guitar, Backing vocals, Lead guitar George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Nov 03, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Nov 09, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Room 65, Abbey Road

  8. What Goes On

    Written by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon

    2:47 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Harmony vocals Ringo Starr : Drums, Vocals John Lennon : Harmony vocals, Rhythm guitar George Harrison : Lead guitar George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Nov 04, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Nov 09, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Room 65, Abbey Road

  9. Girl

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2:30 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Bass Ringo Starr : Drums John Lennon : Acoustic guitar, Vocals George Harrison : Acoustic 12-string guitar, Backing vocals, Lead acoustic guitar George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Nov 11, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Room 65, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Nov 15, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road

  10. I'm Looking Through You

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2:23 • Studio versionB1 • Stereo • Untrimmed version of [B]

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Vocals Ringo Starr : Drums, Organ, Percussion John Lennon : Acoustic rhythm guitar, Harmony vocals George Harrison : Guitar, Tambourine George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Nov 10, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Recording: Nov 11, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Nov 15, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road

  11. In My Life

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2:24 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Harmony vocals Ringo Starr : Drums John Lennon : Rhythm guitar, Vocals George Harrison : Harmony vocals, Lead guitar George Martin : Piano, Producer, Tambourine Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Oct 18, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Overdubs: Oct 22, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Oct 26, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

  12. Wait

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2:12 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Vocals Ringo Starr : Drums, Maracas John Lennon : Rhythm guitar, Tambourine, Vocals George Harrison : Guitar George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Jun 17, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Recording: Jun 18, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Overdubs: Nov 11, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Recording: Nov 15, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road

  13. If I Needed Someone

    Written by George Harrison

    2:20 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Harmony vocals Ringo Starr : Drums, Tambourine John Lennon : Harmony vocals, Rhythm guitar George Harrison : 12-string electric guitar, Vocals George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Oct 16, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Recording: Oct 18, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Oct 26, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

  14. Run For Your Life

    Written by Lennon - McCartney

    2:18 • Studio versionB • Stereo

    Paul McCartney : Bass, Harmony vocals Ringo Starr : Drums, Tambourine John Lennon : Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar, Vocals George Harrison : Harmony vocals, Lead guitar George Martin : Producer Norman Smith : Recording engineer

    Session Recording: Oct 12, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road

    Session Mixing: Nov 10, 1965 • Studio EMI Studios, Room 65, Abbey Road


See Rubber Soul (Mono)

From Wikipedia:

[…] Until very late in their career, the “primary” version of the Beatles’ albums was always the monophonic mix. According to Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, Martin and the Abbey Road engineers devoted most of their time and attention to the mono mixdowns, and the band were not usually present for the stereo mixing sessions. Even with their landmark Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LP, the stereo mixdowns were considered less important than the mono version and were completed in far less time.While the stereo version of the original release of Rubber Soul was similar to that of their earliest albums, featuring mainly vocals on the right channel and instruments on the left, it was not produced in the same manner. The early albums were recorded on twin-track tape, and they were intended only for production of monaural records, so they kept vocals and instruments separated allowing the two parts to later be mixed in proper proportion. By this time, however, the Beatles were recording on four-track tape, which allowed a stereo master to be produced with vocals in the centre and instruments on both sides, as evidenced in their prior albums Beatles for Sale and Help!. Looking for a way to easily produce a stereo album which sounded good on a monaural record player, Martin mixed down the four-track master tape to stereo with vocals on the right, instruments on the left, and nothing in the middle, even though in “What Goes On“, Starr’s vocal is mixed on the left instead of the right, with Lennon and McCartney’s harmony vocals on the right, while on “Think for Yourself” Harrison’s double-tracked lead vocal is split between the two channels. […]

Paul McCartney, in MOJO, July 2004:

During the making of Rubber Soul, were you all aware that the music was taking such a dramatic shift?

Not as much. People say now: ‘’Oh, The Beatles were breaking all the rules.’’ But we didn’t know what the rules were. We had no knowledge whatsoever of musical theory. We just did what felt right. The Beatles were always looking forward. Our new album was never nostalgic for the one we’d last made. I think the Stones were different. At certain points, they seemed to be paying too much attention to what we were doing. Like Satanic Majesties, that was like their direct answer to Pepper. In that way, they took their lead from us. But we were just doing our own thing. It wasn’t that we set out to make ground-breaking albums. The reason those records were so musically diverse was that we all had very diverse tastes. Also, we’d served our apprenticeship in Hamburg where businessmen would come into the club and say, ‘’Can you play a mambo? Can you do a rhumba?’’ and we could just keep saying no, you know, so we had to learn these different styles.

John once said that Rubber Soul was the pot album and Revolver was the acid album. Would you agree with that?

That’s true in as much as those were the drugs that were going on at the time. But neither of those albums were actually recorded under the influence. It was only on Pepper that we started to use stuff in the studio. On the earlier albums, we’d have been using those drugs socially so, in that sense, the drugs informed what we did. A song like ‘’Got to Get You Into My Life’’, that directly about pot, although everyone missed it at the time. ‘’Day Tripper’’, that’s one about acid. ‘’Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’’, that’s pretty obvious. But y’know, it’s easy to overestimate the influence of drugs on The Beatles’ music. Drugs were part of the picture. Just about everyone was doing them in one form or another. We were no different. But the writing was too important for us to mess it up by getting off our heads all the time. It was just easier to write when we were straight and seemly. When we were making the Help! film, we might have sneaked off into the bushes for a quick smoke, and we could handle that. But we could never have written all those songs if we were always stoned.

Paul McCartney writing

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