Post by henryj on Feb 28, 2014 21:59:06 GMT
Amadeus the expert said I could do this.
I’ll tell you a little about myself. I’m a geezer. I was an American teenager when I first heard “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in January 1964. I can also still remember Walter Cronkite reporting, a month earlier, about a British rock group that was causing a sensation with their “Yeah Yeah Yeah” song. The Beatles would be all they were hyped to be and more.
When the Beatles’ albums were released in the US, they were in somewhat different form than the original British releases. US albums had 11 or 12 cuts and included songs released as singles, whereas the British releases had 14 cuts and often excluded the singles. So this American boy learned the Beatles from the American releases. Despite the subsequent availability of the British releases on vinyl in the ‘70s in certain specialty shops, it was not the new technology that CDs would be. Therefore, most of us Americans did not get to know the British versions of Beatle albums until they were released on CD in the late ‘80s.
Say what you will about Dave Dexter, his distaste for youth music, and what he did to Beatle albums, but the Dexterization of Rubber Soul actually turned out rather well. Hey, it’s Beatle songs. Other than it being a presentation not what the Beatles and George Martin had intended, what can go wrong with any collection of Beatle recordings?
Rubber Soul was a landmark album by the Beatles. It was often described as being the first album in which every cut was a good one. Before that, albums typically had a certain amount of filler.
American Rubber Soul begins on a folksy note with “I’ve Just Seen a Face” which appeared on the British Help! album but was withheld from the American release. Also from Help! is “It’s Only Love,” leading off side two of the vinyl LPs and cassettes. (Don’t ask me about the 8-track cartridge programming.) Absent from the American version are “ Drive My Car", "Nowhere Man", "What Goes On" and “If I Needed Someone”. Following convention, the American album has 12 songs whereas the British version 14.
Except for that last fact, that there are two fewer songs, in my opinion the American version is superior to the British version. I know this is probably because it was what I was listening to for well over two decades before hearing the 14-cut British version, but I still like “I’ve Just Seen a Face” as a leadoff. The only way Dexter could have made it better would have been to replace “Think for Yourself” with “If I Needed Someone,” but maybe that’s because I like jangle. Dexter could have put the single hit “Nowhere Man” in place of one of the cuts, but there is nothing on the American LP deserving of omission.
The songs…
“I’ve Just Seen a Face”
The American release of Rubber Soul begins with the folksy “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” a Help! leftover. With the late '64 release of Beatles ’65, the group unintentionally invented and popularized folk-rock, with such tunes as “I’m a Loser” and “I’ll Follow the Sun.” So, with 1965 being the year of folk-rock, Rubber Soul is the perfect year-end release, with “I’ve Just Seen a Face” as a leadoff cut. The first cut is all-acoustic (no electric bass). “Face” begins with a 5-measure 4/4 intro with two lead acoustic guitars, one a 12-string, before Paul begins singing in a rather stirring, good-time 2/4 feel. Vocal harmony on the refrain is double-track Paul himself. Instrumental break is played on the acoustic 12-string. IMHO one of the Beatles’ best songs.
“Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”
This continues the folksy feel begun by “Face.” No electric guitars.
John Lennon song, marking the first time George played the sitar. However, it’s not really the first appearance of a sitar on a Beatle record, if you count the American release of Help. That Capitol version of Help included 5 instrumentals, some featuring a sitar, that served as incidental music to the movie, wherein the Beatles battled villainous south Asians. In the process, George embraced one of their musical instruments, the sitar, and eventually more of their culture.
An all-acoustic and a rather folksy waltz. No bass. The lyrics tell the story of two people spending the night together and not doing anything.
I once heard Joan Baez telling an interviewer that she had crossed paths with the Beatles and spent the night with John Lennon, but “didn’t do anything ,“ which make me wonder if the lyrics are about this encounter with Baez. Joan had had an on-off relationship with Bob Dylan, whose 1966 Blonde on Blonde album cut “4th Time Around” sounds suspiciously like “Norwegian Wood.” (Forgive me, but I am prone to conspiracy theories.)
I’ve always thought the part about “I lit a fire” was about a fireplace, not committing arson.
“You Won’t See Me”
Paul McCartney song, moderately fast easy rocker. The pleading lyrics fit the mood of the melody and harmony rather well. “Organ” Evans was actually Beatle assistant Mal Evans, who held down one organ key when cued near the end of the performance. Good song, the Beatles performance still being better (IMHO) that the Ann Murray hit cover version from the ‘70s.
“Think for Yourself”
George Harrison song featuring Paul on a fuzz bass solo, played as if it were a guitar solo (just an octave lower). The meandering chord progression anticipates the unconventionality of songs George would write up to and ending with “Blue Jay Way” on Magical Mystery Tour.
“The Word”
Begins with a catchy and funky piano intro. Now this has very subtle Dylan influences. First, that harmonium recorded with the volume so high that the recorder’s VU meter surely went into the red. A harmonium is a reed organ, powered by foot pedals which cause air to blow across reeds, much like a harmonica (Dylan’s instrument). My grandma had one. On Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited album, recorded earlier in 1965, the harmonica was similarly recorded, with distortion and here the harmonium is recorded in a similar manner.
And was Lennon, as Dylan has occasionally done, quoting a brief snippet of Biblical scripture at the start of the first verse? “In the beginning…” happens to be the first three words of the Gospel of John, as well as first Epistle from the same Apostle. Except the gospel follows this with “…was the word.” More good harmonies.
“Michelle”
Very popular pop tune that got the attention of the generation born before 1940, as well as those of us born afterward. Features a jazzy-toned electric guitar solo, neck pickup, no treble. But instead of a jazzbox, my guess is that George played the solo on the same Fender Stratocaster heard on “Nowhere Man.” The Strat’s single coils, the solid body, and the bolt-on neck help the sound cut through the mix despite the dark tone setting on the guitar, if you’ll forgive my gearheadedness.
McCartney song, as usual credited to Lennon-McCartney. Going uncredited were the English-French translators who helped Paul with the French lyrics and the pronunciation thereof.
“It’s Only Love”
Like “Face,” a holdover from Help omitted from the American release of that album. Arguably the weakest cut on American Rubber Soul, this is a Lennon song that John was not particularly proud of. McCartney considered it filler. I consider it less filler-like than some of the cuts from, say, the white album, but that’s just me. It’s an okay song, just not as good as the rest of the album. It begins with an intro played by George’s tremoled Ric 12, and the vocal is all John.
“Girl”
John Lennon lament, beginning in a minor key, this is one of John’s more effective songs. As in “Michelle,”the underlying rhythms keep the song from just plodding along. Written years before meeting Yoko Ono, John once said this was a song about Yoko. The verse has a slight rhythmic swing, switching to straight eighths on the bridge, heightened by “ti-ti-ti…” background vocals (the boys considered themselves to be singing something mischievous here).
“I’m Looking Through You”
I like the false start in the American version. For those of you who have never heard it, the first chord is played twice as eight notes on one, rest on two, and then the song begins in earnest. Two/four time.
McCartney song. Though more folksy and less country than “What Goes On,” the guitar lick that follows “… treat me right” almost suggests Porter Waggoner and the Wagonmasters, except the Wagonmasters would have sung “treat me right” as call-and-response rather that playing it on the guitar. Ringo plays several organ chord licks.
“In My Life”
Classic John Lennon song. One of his best and most memorable. George Martin plays the piano solo in the middle, showing unbelievable keyboard technique until one learns that it was recorded at half-speed and played at half-tempo and an octave lower than is heard on the recording. Some critics has suggested that Martin was attempting to emulate a harpsichord, but the notes pass by too quickly for the decreased sustain to be a factor. I think he was just showing off piano technique. The 3-part harmonies anticipate those of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Ironically, Stills covered this song with no vocal harmonies on a solo album released in the 1990s.
“Wait”
This one features vocal solos by both John and Paul. Did they write this together? Lennon discounted this one years later, but it’s actually a good song.
“Run for Your Life”
John Lennon song. The first line ”I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man” was lifted directly from Elvis Presley’s “Baby, Let’s Play House.” It must be remembered that John had also written “You Can’t Do That,” with a similar message, and would several years later write “Jealous Guy,” which he probably really was.
A fine collection of strong songs. The fact that it predates psychedelia contributes to its being, by far, the most timeless album in the entire Beatle canon.
I’ll tell you a little about myself. I’m a geezer. I was an American teenager when I first heard “I Want to Hold Your Hand” in January 1964. I can also still remember Walter Cronkite reporting, a month earlier, about a British rock group that was causing a sensation with their “Yeah Yeah Yeah” song. The Beatles would be all they were hyped to be and more.
When the Beatles’ albums were released in the US, they were in somewhat different form than the original British releases. US albums had 11 or 12 cuts and included songs released as singles, whereas the British releases had 14 cuts and often excluded the singles. So this American boy learned the Beatles from the American releases. Despite the subsequent availability of the British releases on vinyl in the ‘70s in certain specialty shops, it was not the new technology that CDs would be. Therefore, most of us Americans did not get to know the British versions of Beatle albums until they were released on CD in the late ‘80s.
Say what you will about Dave Dexter, his distaste for youth music, and what he did to Beatle albums, but the Dexterization of Rubber Soul actually turned out rather well. Hey, it’s Beatle songs. Other than it being a presentation not what the Beatles and George Martin had intended, what can go wrong with any collection of Beatle recordings?
Rubber Soul was a landmark album by the Beatles. It was often described as being the first album in which every cut was a good one. Before that, albums typically had a certain amount of filler.
American Rubber Soul begins on a folksy note with “I’ve Just Seen a Face” which appeared on the British Help! album but was withheld from the American release. Also from Help! is “It’s Only Love,” leading off side two of the vinyl LPs and cassettes. (Don’t ask me about the 8-track cartridge programming.) Absent from the American version are “ Drive My Car", "Nowhere Man", "What Goes On" and “If I Needed Someone”. Following convention, the American album has 12 songs whereas the British version 14.
Except for that last fact, that there are two fewer songs, in my opinion the American version is superior to the British version. I know this is probably because it was what I was listening to for well over two decades before hearing the 14-cut British version, but I still like “I’ve Just Seen a Face” as a leadoff. The only way Dexter could have made it better would have been to replace “Think for Yourself” with “If I Needed Someone,” but maybe that’s because I like jangle. Dexter could have put the single hit “Nowhere Man” in place of one of the cuts, but there is nothing on the American LP deserving of omission.
The songs…
“I’ve Just Seen a Face”
The American release of Rubber Soul begins with the folksy “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” a Help! leftover. With the late '64 release of Beatles ’65, the group unintentionally invented and popularized folk-rock, with such tunes as “I’m a Loser” and “I’ll Follow the Sun.” So, with 1965 being the year of folk-rock, Rubber Soul is the perfect year-end release, with “I’ve Just Seen a Face” as a leadoff cut. The first cut is all-acoustic (no electric bass). “Face” begins with a 5-measure 4/4 intro with two lead acoustic guitars, one a 12-string, before Paul begins singing in a rather stirring, good-time 2/4 feel. Vocal harmony on the refrain is double-track Paul himself. Instrumental break is played on the acoustic 12-string. IMHO one of the Beatles’ best songs.
“Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)”
This continues the folksy feel begun by “Face.” No electric guitars.
John Lennon song, marking the first time George played the sitar. However, it’s not really the first appearance of a sitar on a Beatle record, if you count the American release of Help. That Capitol version of Help included 5 instrumentals, some featuring a sitar, that served as incidental music to the movie, wherein the Beatles battled villainous south Asians. In the process, George embraced one of their musical instruments, the sitar, and eventually more of their culture.
An all-acoustic and a rather folksy waltz. No bass. The lyrics tell the story of two people spending the night together and not doing anything.
I once heard Joan Baez telling an interviewer that she had crossed paths with the Beatles and spent the night with John Lennon, but “didn’t do anything ,“ which make me wonder if the lyrics are about this encounter with Baez. Joan had had an on-off relationship with Bob Dylan, whose 1966 Blonde on Blonde album cut “4th Time Around” sounds suspiciously like “Norwegian Wood.” (Forgive me, but I am prone to conspiracy theories.)
I’ve always thought the part about “I lit a fire” was about a fireplace, not committing arson.
“You Won’t See Me”
Paul McCartney song, moderately fast easy rocker. The pleading lyrics fit the mood of the melody and harmony rather well. “Organ” Evans was actually Beatle assistant Mal Evans, who held down one organ key when cued near the end of the performance. Good song, the Beatles performance still being better (IMHO) that the Ann Murray hit cover version from the ‘70s.
“Think for Yourself”
George Harrison song featuring Paul on a fuzz bass solo, played as if it were a guitar solo (just an octave lower). The meandering chord progression anticipates the unconventionality of songs George would write up to and ending with “Blue Jay Way” on Magical Mystery Tour.
“The Word”
Begins with a catchy and funky piano intro. Now this has very subtle Dylan influences. First, that harmonium recorded with the volume so high that the recorder’s VU meter surely went into the red. A harmonium is a reed organ, powered by foot pedals which cause air to blow across reeds, much like a harmonica (Dylan’s instrument). My grandma had one. On Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited album, recorded earlier in 1965, the harmonica was similarly recorded, with distortion and here the harmonium is recorded in a similar manner.
And was Lennon, as Dylan has occasionally done, quoting a brief snippet of Biblical scripture at the start of the first verse? “In the beginning…” happens to be the first three words of the Gospel of John, as well as first Epistle from the same Apostle. Except the gospel follows this with “…was the word.” More good harmonies.
“Michelle”
Very popular pop tune that got the attention of the generation born before 1940, as well as those of us born afterward. Features a jazzy-toned electric guitar solo, neck pickup, no treble. But instead of a jazzbox, my guess is that George played the solo on the same Fender Stratocaster heard on “Nowhere Man.” The Strat’s single coils, the solid body, and the bolt-on neck help the sound cut through the mix despite the dark tone setting on the guitar, if you’ll forgive my gearheadedness.
McCartney song, as usual credited to Lennon-McCartney. Going uncredited were the English-French translators who helped Paul with the French lyrics and the pronunciation thereof.
“It’s Only Love”
Like “Face,” a holdover from Help omitted from the American release of that album. Arguably the weakest cut on American Rubber Soul, this is a Lennon song that John was not particularly proud of. McCartney considered it filler. I consider it less filler-like than some of the cuts from, say, the white album, but that’s just me. It’s an okay song, just not as good as the rest of the album. It begins with an intro played by George’s tremoled Ric 12, and the vocal is all John.
“Girl”
John Lennon lament, beginning in a minor key, this is one of John’s more effective songs. As in “Michelle,”the underlying rhythms keep the song from just plodding along. Written years before meeting Yoko Ono, John once said this was a song about Yoko. The verse has a slight rhythmic swing, switching to straight eighths on the bridge, heightened by “ti-ti-ti…” background vocals (the boys considered themselves to be singing something mischievous here).
“I’m Looking Through You”
I like the false start in the American version. For those of you who have never heard it, the first chord is played twice as eight notes on one, rest on two, and then the song begins in earnest. Two/four time.
McCartney song. Though more folksy and less country than “What Goes On,” the guitar lick that follows “… treat me right” almost suggests Porter Waggoner and the Wagonmasters, except the Wagonmasters would have sung “treat me right” as call-and-response rather that playing it on the guitar. Ringo plays several organ chord licks.
“In My Life”
Classic John Lennon song. One of his best and most memorable. George Martin plays the piano solo in the middle, showing unbelievable keyboard technique until one learns that it was recorded at half-speed and played at half-tempo and an octave lower than is heard on the recording. Some critics has suggested that Martin was attempting to emulate a harpsichord, but the notes pass by too quickly for the decreased sustain to be a factor. I think he was just showing off piano technique. The 3-part harmonies anticipate those of Crosby, Stills & Nash. Ironically, Stills covered this song with no vocal harmonies on a solo album released in the 1990s.
“Wait”
This one features vocal solos by both John and Paul. Did they write this together? Lennon discounted this one years later, but it’s actually a good song.
“Run for Your Life”
John Lennon song. The first line ”I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man” was lifted directly from Elvis Presley’s “Baby, Let’s Play House.” It must be remembered that John had also written “You Can’t Do That,” with a similar message, and would several years later write “Jealous Guy,” which he probably really was.
A fine collection of strong songs. The fact that it predates psychedelia contributes to its being, by far, the most timeless album in the entire Beatle canon.