Sold Date: March 2, 2021
Start Date: March 1, 2021
Final Price: $50.00 (AUD)
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Beatles Rubber Soul LP US 1978 Capitol stereo Lemay reissue in shrink NM

US “John Lemay” Winchester repress on purple Capitol label. Sleeve still in shrink.

Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released in December 1965. Produced by George Martin, Rubber Soul had been recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market. Unlike the five albums that preceded it, Rubber Soul was the first Beatles album recorded during a specific period, the sessions not dashed off in between either tour dates or during filming projects. After this, every Beatles album would be made without the need to pay attention to other commitments, except for the production of short promotional films or principal photography and editing to Magical Mystery Tour. The album was described as a major artistic achievement, attaining widespread critical and commercial success, with reviewers taking note of The Beatles' developing musical vision.

The original United Kingdom release shows the "soul" influence of the album's title. Track list changes to the United States release, including two acoustic songs held over from the previous UK album, Help!, gave the US version a folk rock feel that critics attributed to Bob Dylan and The Byrds.

Rubber Soul is often cited as one of the greatest albums in music history. In 1998, Q magazine readers voted it the 40th greatest album of all time, while in 2000 the same publication placed it at number 21 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2001, VH1 placed it at number 6. In 2003, the album was ranked number 5 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2006, the album was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time

Until very late in their career, the "primary" version of The Beatles' albums was always the monophonic mix. According to Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, producer George 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!. But Martin was looking for a way to easily produce a stereo album which sounded good on a monaural record player. In what he admits was some experimentation, he 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", Ringo's vocal is mixed on the left instead of the right, with McCartney's harmony vocal on the right.

"What Goes On" was the first song which has Ringo Starr (Richard Starkey) as co-composer beside Lennon/McCartney. The end of the song is different on the mono and stereo versions.

After completing the album and the accompanying single "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper", The Beatles were exhausted from years of virtually non-stop touring, recording, and film work. They subsequently took a three-month break during the first part of 1966, and used this free time exploring new directions that would colour their subsequent musical work. These became immediately apparent in the next (UK) album, Revolver.

A1         I've Just Seen A Face                2:04

A2         Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)    2:00

A3         You Won't See Me       3:19

A4         Think For Yourself     2:16

A5         The Word         2:42

A6         Michelle            2:42

B1         It's Only Love                1:53

B2         Girl       2:26

B3         I'm Looking Through You     2:20

B4         In My Life         2:23

B5         Wait     2:13

B6         Run For Your Life        2:21

CONDITION:

SLEEVE: EX+ to NM  Still in shrink

RECORD: EX+ Spindle mark or two; vinyl looks and plays NM