#35 The Beatles, 'Rubber Soul' (1965)
Previously #5
The highest album to fall yet! The prospective Top 10 is shaping up to be very interesting. This album was mostly composed following the band’s return from their US tour. On that tour, they broke the attendance record for a concert when they played to over 55,000 people at Shea Stadium, they met Bob Dylan (who gave them their first taste of marijuana) and they would also meet one of their biggest influences, Elvis. The songs were influenced by the sounds they heard during their month-long stay in the US, drawing on the Soul music that they heard on the radio. The title is a bit of self-deprecating humour referring to the fact that their Soul music lacked the authenticity of real Soul music by the African-American artists that they admired. They were also inspired by their newfound friend, Bob Dylan and The Byrds.
The result was one of the most influential records of all time. It was a shift in sound for The Beatles, the first of their “later” and “experimental” years. Their first album under the influence of drugs; “the pot album,” according to John Lennon. The songs were socially conscious, not just about love. Opening with ‘Drive My Car,’ the song was a clear homage to Stax-type Soul. ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’ was about an extramarital affair that Lennon had had. One of many. His true colours as a man really started to shine through on this record. It’s a song that would have been unheard of in the pop world at the time; lead by sitar, an instrument that Harrison has become increasingly interested in. ‘You Won’t See Me’ has more of a Motown feel, drawing inspiration from The Four Tops. ‘Nowhere Man’ was a song that emerged through Lennon’s experiences with LSD. Harrison’s ‘Think For Yourself’ was inspired by Dylan’s ‘Positively Fourth Street,’ and ‘The Word’ could have been a James Brown song. The word is love, foreshadowing the ethos behind the Summer Of Love. ‘Michelle’ is another unusual song, drawing inspiration from French Pop. Side two continues to break new ground. ‘Girl’ is similar to ‘Michelle’ in sound and structure, with Lennon heavily drawing suggestive breathes as if he was inhaling a joint. ‘I’m Looking Through You’ is one of a few songs on the record detailing McCartney’s failing relationship with Jane Asher. ‘In My Life’ is one of my all-time favourite Beatles songs. George Martin needed something to finish the song off. Not knowing what to do, as a place filler he played a Bach-inspired piano solo. The solo stuck and can be heard two thirds into the song. George Harrison was really starting to come into his own as a songwriter on this record, as displayed in ‘If I Needed Someone,’ one of his best Beatles compositions. Closing the album with the song ‘Run For Your Life,’ I’ve always had an issue with this song. Lennon sings the line “I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man,” a song about jealousy and a seemingly controlling man. Lennon denied it was a misogynistic song, but the dude had a history. Brian Wilson has always claimed that ‘Rubber Soul’ is an album that blew his mind and directly inspired him to better it. His response to this album was ‘Pet Sounds.’ With this record, The Beatles were reborn as a new force to be reckoned with and it was only up from here.
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