{"id":610082,"date":"2026-07-29T14:11:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T14:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/610082\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T14:11:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T14:11:35","slug":"the-beatles-rubber-soul-exclusive-preview-of-the-special-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/610082\/","title":{"rendered":"The Beatles\u2019 ‘Rubber Soul’: Exclusive Preview of the Special Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe Beatles<\/a> grew up on Rubber Soul<\/a>. In the fall of 1965, the Fab Four went into the studio as the world\u2019s favorite moptops \u2014 but they emerged as bold artists, ready to challenge the world. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr were experimenting with new sounds, weird ideas. They invented the whole idea of the album as we know it today \u2014 a full-length statement, rather than a hits collection. \u201cFinally we took over the studio,\u201d as Lennon told Rolling Stone<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tRubber Soul shocked the world as soon as it arrived in December 1965. But it\u2019s never sounded better than it does now, on the long-awaited Special Edition. The new Rubber Soul drops on October 2, from Apple Corps Ltd and UMG. The new editions are available to pre-order here<\/a>. \u201cMichelle (Take 1)\u201d is available to listen to now.<\/p>\n

\n\tProducer Giles Martin, son of the band\u2019s visionary producer George Martin, gives Rolling Stone an exclusive preview of the secrets of the new edition. \u201cIt\u2019s an album born out of frustration of not wanting to be little boys anymore,\u201d he says. \u201cIt has so much depth to it. This is the first album where they weren\u2019t trying to write a bunch of singles and deciding what should be the single.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYou can hear the Beatles at their most playful and inventive, trying out their wildest whims. They explore fresh sounds like the sitar on \u201cNorwegian Wood<\/a>,\u201d or the harmonium on \u201cThe Word.\u201d \u201cIt was a license to experiment,\u201d Giles Martin says. \u201cI remember asking my dad on his deathbed, did he ever think he was bad at music? And he said, \u2018Well, I always thought I was brilliant.\u2019 And that\u2019s the thing about the Beatles. No matter what anyone says about them, my dad said, \u2018They didn\u2019t change a bit. They\u2019re the same arrogant bastards that they always were when I met them.\u2019 I think that we view them with a sense of humility and nervousness, but there\u2019s none of that. They weren\u2019t threatened by anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n

\n\tRubber Soul has the original 14-track album in stereo, mono, and Dolby Atmos. It\u2019s remixed by Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell, using the \u201cde-mixing\u201d audio technology developed for Peter Jackson\u2019s historic documentary Get Back<\/a>, by the team led by Emile de la Rey at Jackson\u2019s WingNut Films. It follows the previous Special Editions that have redefined the Beatles\u2019 legacy over the past decade \u2014 Sgt. Pepper<\/a> in 2017, followed by the White Album<\/a> in 2018, Abbey Road<\/a> in 2019, Let It Be<\/a> in 2021, Revolver<\/a> in 2022, and Anthology<\/a> in 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s got outtakes and alternate versions, including 20 previously unreleased takes. It\u2019s also got \u201cWe Can Work It Out\u201d and \u201cDay Tripper,\u201d both sides of the 1965 stand-alone single made at the same time. There\u2019s three unreleased home demos, with early drafts of \u201cDay Tripper\u201d and \u201cWe Can Work It Out.\u201d But there\u2019s also \u201cLittle Girl,\u201d a new John demo \u2014 until now, nobody had any idea this song even existed.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Super Deluxe Edition has 68 songs in all, on either four CDs or five vinyl LPs, with the \u201cWe Can Work It Out\u201d\/\u201cDay Tripper\u201d 7-inch single. There\u2019s an 88-page hardcover book of photos and essays with a new introduction by Paul McCartney (\u201ca very exciting record to make\u201d), with quotes from John Lennon and track notes from historian Kevin Howlett. There\u2019s also the U.S. version of Rubber Soul, with a slightly different tracklist \u2014 a massively influential album in its own right. Rubber Soul will be available in standard single-disc editions and double-disc Special Editions, as well as Blu-Ray, featuring the Dolby Atmos mix.<\/p>\n

\n\tJohn, Paul, George, and Ringo whipped up Rubber Soul at warp speed \u2014 they went into the studio with a tight deadline to crunch out an album in time for Christmas 1965, in just a month. But that just encouraged their madcap sense of experimentation. They wrote half the songs in a week. They were heavily influenced by their hero Bob Dylan \u2014 but also by some new substances. As George recalled, \u201cRubber Soul was the first one where we were fully-fledged potheads.\u201d They didn\u2019t even put their name on the cover, just their warped faces.<\/p>\n

\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n

\n\tBut as soon as Rubber Soul came out, listeners were stunned. Brian Wilson heard it one night in Hollywood and got the inspiration for Pet Sounds. \u201cI said to myself, \u2018Now I\u2019m gonna make an album just as good as Rubber Soul,\u201d he said in 2009. The next morning, he went to the piano and wrote \u201cGod Only Knows.\u201d From Bob Dylan to Stevie Wonder, from Marvin Gaye to Carole King, from the Rolling Stones to the Grateful Dead, artists everywhere took it as a challenge to make their own album-length personal statements.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s why Rubber Soul has always remained the standard that pop visionaries aspire to reach. \u201cRubber Soul \u2014 that\u2019s my favorite from The Beatles,\u201d Harry Styles told Rolling Stone. \u201c\u2018Girl,\u2019 \u2018Michelle,\u2019 \u2018The Word\u2019 \u2014 those are brilliant.\u201d Ariana Grande cited it as a key inspiration for her Eternal Sunshine. Phoebe Bridgers said that if she were a music teacher, Rubber Soul is the first album she would play for the kids. As she explained, \u201cI think that\u2019s a good introduction-to-everything record.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis edition has a snippet of the late-night studio banter from November 1965, with the Beatles trying out harmonies for George\u2019s \u201cThink for Yourself.\u201d They\u2019re giggling too hard to get it right, cracking each other up, with John sighing, \u201cI get something in me head, you know, and all the walls of Rome couldn\u2019t stop me!\u201d As Giles Martin says, \u201cI try and put as much dialogue on there as possible, because I think <\/strong>it\u2019s really important to hear them as people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s a snapshot of how playful the sessions were, even under the insane deadline pressure. \u201cAlso, it\u2019s the time they started working nights as well,\u201d Martin says. \u201cSo if you work at nights, it\u2019s a different vibe anyway, especially with the pot and whatever. \u2018Drive My Car\u2019 was the first session they played beyond 12 o\u2019clock at night. But by the time two weeks later, they were recording till seven in the morning.\u201d Yet instead of feeling the strain, the lads are bristling with comic energy at Abbey Road. \u201cIt\u2019s such a release for them as well. I mean, they didn\u2019t really have much of a social life. It was just one of the few places they could come and be free. They were there all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe biggest new surprise is the John demo \u201cLittle Girl\u201d \u2014 until now, this song has never been heard or even rumored. \u201cYeah, it was surprising,\u201d Martin says. \u201cIt was one of those things that came from the Lennon Estate \u2014 I think it was Sean. It was one of those things where they say, \u2018Oh, and then there\u2019s this.\u2019\u201d It\u2019s a raw sketch, with an unfinished lyric, but a bittersweet tune \u2014 it sounds like an early draft of \u201cI\u2019m Only Sleeping,\u201d which became a highlight of Revolver.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tOne of the album\u2019s most famous experiments is George Martin\u2019s piano solo for \u201cIn My Life,\u201d which he composed, played, and sped up to resemble a harpsichord. (This collection has an outtake where he also tries it on organ.) \u201cWhen my dad used to talk about doing that, he said they went out for lunch and he came up with that bit. He said, \u2018I played it to John, and John though it was great.\u2019 But I think that the experimentation came from all of them at that stage. I think they were just done with being that band. But they weren\u2019t done with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRubber Soul is where they declared their independence as a band. \u201cI do think this is probably John\u2019s decision to drag them out of Shea Stadium, out of their suits, out of that thing, and into what he believes they should be doing,\u201d Martin says. But all four Beatles shared that rebellious spirit. \u201cThe fact they chose to sing \u2018Baby\u2019s In Black\u2019 at Shea Stadium is just weird if you think about it. And that\u2019s the beginning of that. They\u2019re meeting Dylan and they\u2019re meeting the Byrds, hearing about how they\u2019ve influenced people like the Byrds, and going, \u2018Okay, if you\u2019re nicking our stuff, we\u2019re going to steal yours.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut they thrived under the pressure. You can hear that in these outtakes, as they tinker with\u201cI\u2019m Looking Through You,\u201d adding new ideas, dropping others, ending up with the song as we know it. (The American version accidentally added a false start on guitar that adds considerably to the song.) They were willing to try anything, even the clumsy blues-jam outtake \u201c12-Bar Original.\u201d (Mercifully omitted here, since as Martin says, \u201cIt\u2019s not very good in the first place, and it\u2019s on the Anthology.\u201d) Yet you can also hear that they\u2019re having the time of their lives together. \u201cIt\u2019s a very harmonious record,\u201d Martin says, \u201cand I mean that in both senses of the word.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe songs face up to adult emotion, with a sense of candor that was new for pop music \u2014 especially the way the Beatles sing about adult women with their own minds and their own lives. John\u2019s \u201cGirl,\u201d Paul\u2019s \u201cI\u2019m Looking Through You,\u201d George\u2019s \u201cIf I Needed Someone\u201d \u2014 these are remarkably tough-minded and unsentimental love songs, with no happy endings. Even Paul, pop\u2019s prime romantic, sings, \u201cLove has a nasty habit of disappearing overnight,\u201d at 23 \u2014 the age Olivia Rodrigo is now. (He really does seem pretty sad for a boy so in love.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new mix brings their voices alive \u2014 and more than anything, it\u2019s their singing that make Rubber Soul unique. Their moptop voices have deepened, to suit the adult emotions. You especially hear it in the way they keep elevating each other\u2019s songs \u2014 how Paul harmonizes with John in \u201cNorwegian Wood,\u201d or how John lifts \u201cYou Won\u2019t See Me\u201d with his \u201cno I wouldn\u2019t\u201d harmonies. If you\u2019re a Beatles fan because you love to hear them sing together, no other album gives such a vivid sense of a room full of boys sharing their most deeply personal stories out loud. For some of us, it\u2019ll always be our favorite.<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tOn the final night of the sessions, they still needed two more songs to finish the album. So they showed up with two of their best: John\u2019s \u201cGirl\u201d and Paul\u2019s \u201cYou Won\u2019t See Me.\u201d You can hear the weary strain in John\u2019s voice in \u201cGirl.\u201d \u201cBut it suits the song,\u201d Martin says. \u201cIt\u2019s such a beautiful atmospheric song. It\u2019s one of those songs that you can\u2019t really imagine someone covering without sounding like William Shatner.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNobody was prepared for Rubber Soul \u2014 least of all the Beatles themselves. But as Paul McCartney said at the time, \u201cWe are so well established that we can bring the fans along with us and stretch the limits of pop.\u201d Nobody was talking this way in 1965. But the Beatles were totally defiant about their new direction. \u201cYou don\u2019t know us if you don\u2019t know Rubber Soul,\u201d John insisted. \u201cAll our ideas are different now.\u201d Over 60 years later, those ideas continue to change the way pop music is heard and created \u2014 which is why the world has been listening ever since.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Beatles grew up on Rubber Soul. In the fall of 1965, the Fab Four went into the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[264],"tags":[1046,18,117,19,17,337,257638],"class_list":["post-610082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-beatles","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-music","tag-rubber-soul"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117003674943955644","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}