It is very interesting to get the background story of how the US track listing came about.--jtk
The Beatles’ ‘Rubber Soul’ Turns 50
Is it possible to make a better Beatles?
Debating different versions of an iconic album
By MARC MYERS / Wall Street Jounal
The 12-song album issued in the U.S. was markedly different from the British version, which featured 14 songs. PHOTO: COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP
For most American teens, the arrival of the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” 50 years ago was unsettling. Instead of cheerleading for love, the album’s songs held cryptic messages about thinking for yourself, the hypnotic power of women, something called “getting high” and bedding down with the opposite sex. Clearly, growing up wasn’t going to be easy.
Released in the U.K. on Dec. 3, 1965, and in the U.S. three days later, “Rubber Soul” remains one of the most critically acclaimed albums in rock history, influencing a generation of artists, including Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder. It also marked rock’s shift from formulaic pop to studio experimentation and high art.
But while “Rubber Soul” has been hailed as an epic masterpiece and one of the first fully developed folk-rock albums, the vision for the U.S. release wasn’t entirely the work of John, Paul, George and Ringo or the Beatles’ producer, George Martin.
The 12-song album issued in the U.S. was markedly different from the British version, which featured 14 songs. Though both versions shared Robert Freeman’s cover photo and psychedelic lettering (ginger here and burnt orange in the U.K.), the U.S. version dropped two songs and replaced two others.
Over the years, many U.S. critics have hailed the British release as the true masterpiece, a pure reflection of what the Beatles and Mr. Martin intended. But the U.S. version of “Rubber Soul,” with its more consistently poetic sound and narrative, is arguably the more powerful statement. It’s also the version that changed the direction of American rock.
The invisible hand behind the U.S. release belonged to Dave Dexter Jr., the head of Capitol’s international A&R in Los Angeles. Dexter and his team set out to keep the compelling folk narrative running throughout the album.
In 1965, Capitol had contractual permission to alter British versions of Beatles albums for the U.S. market. The agreement dated back to 1955, when British EMI purchased Capitol. At the time, EMI didn’t want to lose U.S. executives and figured they’d know best how to milk their own market.
Once the Beatles were signed to Capitol in late 1963, Dexter was put in charge of reprogramming U.K. versions of their albums for the U.S. market. U.S. versions usually used 11 songs to stay within licensing budgets. The dropped songs were then used on subsequent albums released only in the U.S.
But by late 1965 the Beatles had a problem. Bob Dylan’s album “Highway 61 Revisited” and the single “Like a Rolling Stone,” with its socially conscious folk-rock theme, was resonating with draft-age listeners in the States. To remain relevant, the Beatles needed a more mature, acoustic album.
Fresh off their successful stadium tour in August ’65, the Beatles returned to London and recorded “Rubber Soul” in just four weeks. When the recording was completed, a master reel was shipped to Dexter in Hollywood.
Earlier that fall, Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, spoke with Voyle Gilmore, Capitol’s head of U.S. A&R. Gilmore, in turn, wrote a memo to Capitol president Alan Livingston and Dexter urging that the cover and tracks for the American “Rubber Soul” be identical to the British version.
Dexter pushed back, explaining that a 14-song album was out of the question due to costs and that the covers should be different. Capitol compromised by featuring 12 songs instead of the customary 11 but retained the same covers.
Then Dexter went to work on the U.S. track list. Instead of just dropping two songs, he replaced the raucous “Drive My Car” and cornball “What Goes On,” which opened sides 1 and 2, respectively, on the U.K. version.
In those critical lead-in slots, he inserted “I’ve Just Seen a Face” and “It’s Only Love”—acoustic songs he had cut from the British version of “Help!” for it’s U.S. release. Next, he dropped the alienating “Nowhere Man” and mystical “If I Needed Someone” from “Rubber Soul.”
All of the changes were brilliant and resulted in a more cohesive album. But when the U.S. version was released, the Beatles voiced displeasure to EMI, which demanded that Dexter no longer work on Beatles releases. In early 1966, Dexter was replaced by Bill Miller, who programmed the next two U.S. releases—“Yesterday and Today” and “Revolver.”
Today, most Beatles fans view Dexter, who died in 1990, as a villainous rock-hating executive who resented the Beatles and whose programming approach diluted the band’s U.S. releases.
Whatever Dexter’s shortcomings, the Beatles albums he programmed for Capitol are the ones American teens heard and loved. As for “Rubber Soul,” it may have been his greatest achievement, turning an unfocused album into a taut acoustic story of self-awareness and romantic confusion. It also provided millions in the U.S. with their first gentle glimpse of adulthood.
Mr. Myers, a frequent contributor to the Journal, writes daily about music and the arts at JazzWax.com.