1- Original UK Stereo-2009 remaster; 2023 remasters listed
2- Original UK Mono-2009 remaster-available from the US Box set and Mono Masters set
3- Recording outtakes and sessions- This is an area that already has been covered by the Anthology and recordings from other sources.
Below are details on the remastered tracks already released from:
1- 1962-1966 Greatest Hits - The Red Album (2023)
2- The Anthology Collection (2025)
3- Rubber Soul Sessions from other sources.
4- YouTube Rubber Soul documentaries and mono audio album
5- Recording Rubber Soul-Wikipedia
1 - The Red Album-Greatest Hits 1962-1966 (2023 EDITION)
(2CD: stereo)
* = newly added track
CD1
1: Love Me Do (2023 Mix)
2: Please Please Me (2023 Mix)
3: I Saw Her Standing There (2023 Mix) *
4: Twist And Shout (2023 Mix) *
5: From Me To You (2023 Mix)
6: She Loves You (2023 Mix)
7: I Want To Hold Your Hand (2023 Mix)
8: This Boy (2023 Mix) *
9: All My Loving (2023 Mix)
10: Roll Over Beethoven (2023 Mix) *
11: You Really Got A Hold On Me (2023 Mix) *
12: Can’t Buy Me Love (2023 Mix)
13: You Can’t Do That (2023 Mix) *
14: A Hard Day’s Night (2023 Mix)
15: And I Love Her (2023 Mix)
16: Eight Days A Week (2023 Mix)
17: I Feel Fine (2023 Mix)
18: Ticket To Ride (2023 Mix)
19: Yesterday (2023 Mix)
CD2
1: Help! (2023 Mix)
2: You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (2023 Mix)
3: We Can Work It Out (2023 Mix)
4: Day Tripper (2023 Mix)
5: Drive My Car (2023 Mix)
6 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (2023 Mix)
7: Nowhere Man (2023 Mix)
8: Michelle (2023 Mix)
9: In My Life (2023 Mix)
10: If I Needed Someone (2023 Mix) *
11: Girl (2023 Mix)
12: Paperback Writer (2022 Mix)
13: Eleanor Rigby (2022 Mix)
14: Yellow Submarine (2022 Mix)
15: Taxman (2022 Mix) *
16: Got To Get You Into My Life (2022 Mix) *
17: I’m Only Sleeping (2022 Mix) *
18: Here, There And Everywhere (2022 Mix) *
19: Tomorrow Never Knows (2022 Mix) *
1 - Beatles Anthology-D2- 11-2025
Anthology 2- CD Disc One:
Real Love (1996 mix)
Yes It Is (Takes 2 and 14)
I’m Down (Take 1)
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away (Take 5)
If You’ve Got Trouble (Take 1)
That Means A Lot (Take 1)
Yesterday (Take 1)
It’s Only Love (Takes 3 and 2)
I Feel Fine (Blackpool Night Out)
Ticket To Ride (Blackpool Night Out)
Yesterday (Blackpool Night Out)
Help! (Blackpool Night Out)
Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby (Live at Shea Stadium, New York)
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Take 1)
I’m Looking Through You (Take 1)
12-Bar Original (Take 2 edited)
Tomorrow Never Knows (Take 1)
Got To Get You Into My Life (Take 5)
And Your Bird Can Sing (Take 2)
Taxman (Take 11)
Eleanor Rigby (Take 14 – Strings only)
I’m Only Sleeping (Rehearsal)
I’m Only Sleeping (Take 1)
Rock And Roll Music (Live in Tokyo)
She’s A Woman (Live in Tokyo)
3 - The Beatles Rubber Soul Sessions- Back to Basics-3CD Collection
Beatles Back to Basics- The Rubber Soul Sessions-3CD
Back To Basics / Helter Skelter Records
Rubber Soul Studio Sessions [HSR 21-22-23]
Remastered by Captain Acid, August 2025
This release included a bonus disc with this set containing 9 instrumentals made from the Rockband .mogg files with vocals removed.
Track Listing:
CD1
01 - Drive My Car (RS from Take 4 V1) Rock N Roll Music (stereo)
02 - Drive My Car (RS from Take 4 V2) Anthology DVD (stereo)
03 - Drive My Car (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
04 - Norwegian Wood (This Bird has Flown) (Take 1) (stereo)
05 - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Take 2) (stereo)
06 - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Take 3 Partial) (stereo-mono)
07 - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Take 4)
08 - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (RS from Take 1 V1) Barrett Mix (stereo)
09 - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (RS from Take 1 V2) Anthology CD (stereo)
10 - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (RS from Take 4 V1) Love Songs (fake stereo)
11 - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (RS from Take 4 V2) Anthology DVD (stereo)
12 - Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
13 - You Won't See Me (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
14 - Nowhere Man (RS from Take 3 V1) Rough Movie Mix (stereo)
15 - Nowhere Man (RS from Take 3 V2) YS Soundtrack (stereo)
16 - Nowhere Man (RS from Take 3 V3) Anthology DVD (stereo)
17 - Nowhere Man (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
18 - Think For Yourself (Session chat) (mono)
19 - Think For Yourself (RS from Take 1) YS Soundtrack (stereo)
20 - Think For Yourself (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
21 - The Word (Unknown Take) (mono)
22 - The Word (RS from Take 3) Anthology DVD (stereo)
23 - The Word (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
24 - Michelle (Take 1 Partial) (stereo)
25 - Michelle (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
26 - What Goes On (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
CD2
01 - Girl (Take 1 Partial) (mono)
02 - Girl (Take 2 Instrumental - Monitor Mix) (mono)
03 - Girl (Take 2 Instrumental - Mogg Mix) (stereo)
04 - Girl (RS from Take 2) Love Songs (fake stereo)
05 - Girl (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
06 - I'm Looking Through You (Take 1) (stereo)
07 - I'm Looking Through You (Take 4) (stereo)
08 - I'm Looking Through You (RS from Take 1 V1) 1,2,3,4 Mix (stereo)
09 - I'm Looking Through You (RS from Take 1 V2 Partial) ARVS Mix (stereo)
10 - I'm Looking Through You (RS from Take 1 V3) Anthology CD (stereo)
11 - I'm Looking Through You (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
12 - In My Life (Take 3 Partial - Alt Organ Solo V1) (mono)
13 - In My Life (Take 3 Partial - Alt Organ Solo V2) (mono) (Entomology)
14 - In My Life (Take 3 Partial - Piano Overdub V1) (mono)
15 - In My Life (Take 3 Partial - Piano Overdub V2) (stereo) (Moggs)
16 - In My Life (Unknown Take) (stereo)
17 - In My Life (RS from Take 3 V1) Imagine Laserdisc (stereo)
18 - In My Life (RS from Take 3 V2) Anthology DVD (stereo)
19 - In My Life (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
20 - Wait (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
21 - If I Needed Someone (RM from Take 1) Rough Mix (mono)
22 - If I Needed Someone (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
23 - If I Needed Someone (RS from Take 1 - Partial) LITMW Mix (stereo)
24 - Run For Your Life (Take 1) (stereo)
25 - Run For Your Life (Studio Chat) (mono)
26 - Run For Your Life (Take 5 Partial V1) (mono)
27 - Run For Your Life (Take 5 Partial V2) (mono) (Entomology)
28 - Run For Your Life (Unknown Take) Rockband (mono)
29 - Run For Your Life (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
CD3
01 - We Can Work It Out (Take 1) (stereo-mono)
02 - We Can Work It Out (RM1 from Take 2 - Single Track Vocal) (mono)
03 - We Can Work It Out (Take 2 - With Overdubs) (stereo)
04 - We Can Work It Out (RM1 from Take 2) TMOLAM (mono)
05 - We Can Work It Out (RS1 from Take 2) 1962-66 Vinyl (stereo)
06 - We Can Work It Out (RS from Take 2 V1) Japanese EP (fake stereo)
07 - We Can Work It Out (RS from Take 2 V2) Anthology DVD (stereo)
08 - Day Tripper (Take 1) (stereo)
09 - Day Tripper (Take 2) (stereo)
10 - Day Tripper (Take 3) (stereo)
11 - Day Tripper (Take 3 - Monitor Mix with Cleaner Guitar Solo) (mono)
12 - Day Tripper (RM1 from Take 3) TMOLM (mono)
13 - Day Tripper (RS1 from Take 3) 1962-66 Vinyl (stereo)
14 - Day Tripper (RS from Take 3) Anthology DVD (stereo)
15 - Day Tripper (Rockband Mix) (stereo)
16 - 12-Bar Original (Pre-Take 1 - Jam) (stereo)
17 - 12-Bar Original (Take 1) (stereo)
18 - 12-Bar Original (Take 2) (stereo)
19 - 12-Bar Original (RM1 from Take 2) (mono)
20 - 12-Bar Original (Edit of Take 2) Anthology CD (stereo)
Bonus Disc
01 - Drive My Car (Take 4 - Instrumental) (stereo)
02 - You Won't See Me (Take 2 - Instrumental) (stereo)
03 - Nowhere Man (Take 3 - Instrumental) (stereo)
04 - Think For Yourself (Take 1 - Instrumental) (stereo)
05 - Michelle (Take 2 - Instrumental) (stereo)
06 - What Goes On (Take 1 - Instrumental) (stereo)
07 - Girl (Take 2 - Instrumental) (stereo)
08 - If I Needed Someone (Take 1 - Instrumental) (stereo)
09 - Run For Your Life (Take 5 - Instrumental) (stereo)
Beatles Soul Sessions from Silent Sea- 2CD set
Beatles Soul Sessions - Silent Sea 2CD
Track Listing:
DISK 1-"Rubber Soul" Era Demos
1-1 We Can Work It Out - Home Demo (Partial)
1-2 Michelle - Home Tape - Instrumental
"Rubber Soul" Era Sessions
1-3 Day Tripper - Take 1
1-4 Day Tripper - Take 2
1-5 Day Tripper - Take 3
1-6 We Can Work It Out - Take 1
1-7 We Can Work It Out - Take 2 - Rough Mix
1-8 We Can Work It Out - S1 Omto Take 2
1-9 12-Bar Original - Rehearsal Take
1-10 12-Bar Original - Take 1
1-11 12-Bar Original - Take 2
1-12 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - Take 1
1-13 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - Take 2
1-14 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - Take 4
1-15 Girl - Take 2
1-16 I'm Looking Through You - Take 1
1-17 I'm Looking Through You - Take 4
1-18 In My Life - Take 3 - Rough Mix
1-19 Run For Your Life - Take 1
1-20 Run For Your Life - Take 5
The "Think For Yourself" Vocal Overdub Session Excerpts
1-21 "...About The Good Things That We Can Have..."
1-22 "...About The Good Things That We Can Have..."
1-23 "...About The Good Things That We Can Have..."
1-24 "...I Know Your Mind's Made Up..."
1-25 "...I Know Your Mind's Made Up..."
1-26 "...And You've Got Time To Rectify..."
1-27 "...And You've Got Time To Rectify..."
1-28 "...And You've Got Time To Rectify..."
1-29 "...And You've Got Time To Rectify..."
1-30 "...And You've Got Time To Rectify..."
1-31 "...And You've Got Time To Rectify..."
1-32 "...And You've Got Time To Rectify..."
1-33 "...And You've Got Time To Rectify..."
1-34 "...And You've Got Time To Rectify..."
1-35 "...Lukewarm Baby Got A Custard Face..."
1-36 "...Lukewarm Baby Got A Custard Face..."
1-37 "...Lukewarm Baby Got A Custard Face..."
1-38 "...Lukewarm Baby Got A Custard Face..."
1-39 All You Need Is Love (Take 57)/All You Need Is Love (Take 58)
Mixing The "Rubber Soul" Outtake
1-40 12-Bar Original - Take 2
1-41 12-Bar Original - Take 2
DISK 2- The Mono "Rubber Soul" Album
2-1 Drive My Car - Take 4
2-2 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - Take 4
2-3 You Won't See Me - Take 2
2-4 Nowhere Man - Take 4
2-5 Think For Yourself - Take 1
2-6 The Word - Take 3
2-7 Michelle - Take 2
2-8 What Goes On - Take 1
2-9 Girl - Take 2
2-10 I'm Looking Through You - Take 4
2-11 In My Life - Take 3
2-12 Wait - Take 4
2-13 If I Needed Someone - Take 1
2-14 Run For Your Life - Take 5
The "Rubber Soul" Era Single
2-15 We Can Work It Out - Take 2
2-16 Day Tripper - Take 3
Mixing The "Rubber Soul" Alternate Take
2-17 I'm Looking Through You - Take 1
2-18 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - Take 1
2-19 I'm Looking Through You - Take 1
2-20 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - Take 1
Other "Rubber Soul" Era Mixes
2-21 We Can Work It Out - Take 2
2-22 Day Tripper - Take 3
2-23 The Word - Take 3
2-24 Michelle - Take 2
2-25 I'm Looking Through You - Take 4
2-26 Girl - Take 2
2-27 Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - Take 4
2-28 In My Life - Take 3
Rubber Soul Deluxe Sessions - 3CD- from Purple Chick
DISC ONE - stereo
DISC TWO - mono
18: We Can Work It Out (US mix)
19: Day Tripper (US mix)
20: The Word (US mix)
21: I'm Looking Through You (US mix)
22: Nowhere Man (Yellow Submarine Songtrack)
23: Think For Yourself (Yellow Submarine Songtrack)
24: In My Life (Anthology DVD)
25: We Can Work It Out (Anthology DVD)
26: Day Tripper (Anthology DVD)
DISC TWO - Alternate Mono Mixes
18: Michelle (US mix)
19: We Can Work It Out (Songs of L&M)
20: Day Tripper (Songs of L&M)
DISC THREE
1: Run For Your Life - take 1 (Studio Sessions+A Day In The Life)
2: Run For Your Life - take 5 (from me you you+Arrive Without Aging)
3: This Bird Has Flown (Norwegian Wood) - take 1 (TMODM+More Masters)
4: Day Tripper - take 1 (Studio Sessions)
5: Day Tripper - take 2 (Studio Sessions)
6: Day Tripper - take 3 (Studio Sessions)
7: In My Life - take 3 organ overdub (from me to you)
8: We Can Work It Out - take 1 (Studio Sessions)
9: We Can Work It Out - take 2 (SS +Arrive Without Aging)
10: This Bird Has Flown (Norwegian Wood) - take 2 (Turn Me On Dead Man)
11: Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - take 4 (URT 2 + More Masters)
12: In My Life - take 3 piano overdub, original speed (created from As It Happened, Baby!)
13: In My Life - take 3 piano overdub (As It Happened, Baby!)
14: Nowhere Man - take 3 (remixed from Yellow Submarine DVD)
15: I'm Looking Through You - take 1 (Ultra Rare Trax vol. 1)
16: We Can Work It Out - take 2 + overdubs (Studio Sessions)
17: 12 Bar Original - take 1 (Turn Me On Dead Man)
18: 12 Bar Original - take 2 (TMODM + Arrive Without Aging)
19: 12 Bar Original - rehearsal (Arrive Without Aging)
20: I'm Looking Through You - take 4 (Another Sessions Plus)
21: Girl - take 2 - instrumental monitor mix (Miscellaneous Tracks)
22: Think For Yourself - studio session (Miscellaneous Tracks 2005)
Alternate Mixes:
23: This Bird Has Flown (Norwegian Wood) - take 1 (Another Sessions Plus)
24: Day Tripper - take 3 (As It Happened, Baby!)
25: In My Life - complete, with alternate solo (RS mono + from me to you)
26: I'm Looking Through You - take 1 (Anthology 2)
27: I'm Looking Through You - take 1 (Abbey Road Video Show)
Below are back covers from the Purple Chick CDs:
You can listen and download this from the Internet Archive here:
https://archive.org/details/rubber-soul-deluxe
4 - Video from YouTube on the making of Rubber Soul:
Listen to the Beatles Soul Sessions:
https://www.last.fm/music/The+Beatles/Soul+Sessions
Rubber Soul Playlist-54 tracks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT_MiOgCSeM&list=PLEsglFiYyN2bTYunmDIhieW9k2eEQfxbh
Recording of Rubber Soul:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWTW2csVFUk
Behind The Recording of "Rubber Soul" - The Beatles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOZT6jxO0Z8
Beatles Rubber Soul - Mono recordings can be listened to here:
https://archive.org/details/RubberSoulMono
5 - Recording Rubber Soul from the Paul McCartney Project-Wikipedia:
1965 was a very busy year for The Beatles. They spent the early months filming their second feature film, “Help!“, and recording the accompanying album. The summer months were taken up with extensive touring across Europe and the United States. In September, they took a six-week break, which they partly used to write new material.
They were committed to a new UK tour starting on December 3, 1965, and to releasing another studio album before the end of the year. They entered the studio on October 12, 1965 to record their new album. “Rubber Soul” was recorded in record time. But despite the time pressure, the album marked a clear shift in direction. The Beatles began moving away from straightforward pop songs towards more mature material with more elaborate lyrics. They also expanded their studio approach, experimenting with new sounds and techniques, including the introduction of the sitar on a pop recording for the first time, and devoting more time and care to the recording of each track.
The same sessions also produced the new single “We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper“, released on December 3, 1965, the same day as the album and the opening night of the UK tour.
From Wikipedia:
Recording history
Rubber Soul was a matter of having all experienced the recording studio, having grown musically as well, but [getting] the knowledge of the place, of the studio. We were more precise about making the album, that’s all, and we took over the cover and everything.
Recording for Rubber Soul began on 12 October 1965 at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London; final production and mix down took place on 15 November. During the sessions, the Beatles typically focused on fine-tuning the musical arrangement for each song, an approach that reflected the growing division between the band as a live act and their ambitions as recording artists. The album was one of the first projects that Martin undertook after leaving EMI’s staff and co-founding Associated Independent Recording (AIR). Martin later described Rubber Soul as “the first album to present a new, growing Beatles to the world”, adding: “For the first time we began to think of albums as art on their own, as complete entities.” It was the final Beatles album that recording engineer Norman Smith worked on before being promoted by EMI to record producer. The sessions were held over thirteen days and totalled 113 hours, with a further seventeen hours (spread over six days) allowed for mixing.
The band were forced to work to a tight deadline to ensure the album was completed in time for a pre-Christmas release. They were nevertheless in the unfamiliar position of being able to dedicate themselves solely to a recording project, free of touring, filming and radio engagements. The Beatles ceded to two interruptions during this time. They received their MBEs at Buckingham Palace on 26 October, from Queen Elizabeth II, and on 1–2 November, the band filmed their segments for The Music of Lennon & McCartney, a Granada Television tribute to the Lennon–McCartney songwriting partnership. According to author Christopher Bray, this intensive recording made Rubber Soul not just unusual in the Beatles’ career but “emphatically unlike those LPs made by other bands”. From 4 November – by which point only around half the required number of songs were near completion – the Beatles’ sessions were routinely booked to finish at 3 am each day.
After A Hard Day’s Night in 1964, Rubber Soul was the second Beatles album to contain only original material. As the band’s main writers, Lennon and McCartney struggled to complete enough songs for the project. After a session on 27 October was cancelled due to a lack of new material, Martin told a reporter that he and the group “hope to resume next week” but would not consider recording songs by any other composers. The Beatles completed “Wait” for the album, having taped its rhythm track during the sessions for Help! in June 1965. They also recorded the instrumental “12-Bar Original“, a twelve-bar blues in the style of Booker T. & the M.G.’s. Credited to Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr, it remained unreleased until 1996.
The group recorded “Day Tripper” and “We Can Work It Out” during the Rubber Soul sessions for release as a single accompanying the album. To avoid having to promote the single with numerous television appearances, the Beatles chose to produce film clips for the two songs, the first time they had done so for a single. Directed by Joe McGrath, the clips were filmed at Twickenham Film Studios in south-west London on 23 November.
Studio aesthetic and sounds
[On Rubber Soul] the Beatles demonstrated an ability to reach beyond the confines of acceptable rock and roll techniques and bring to the studio truly innovative ideas such as layering bass and fuzz-bass guitars, creating rhymes in different languages, mixing modes on a single song, utilizing tape manipulation to give instruments entirely new sounds, and introducing the sitar – a most unusual instrument for a rock band.
Lennon recalled that Rubber Soul was the first album over which the Beatles took control in the studio and made demands rather than accept standard recording practices. According to Riley, the album reflects “a new affection for recording” over live performance. Author Philip Norman similarly writes that, with the Beatles increasingly drawn towards EMI’s large cache of “exotic” musical instruments, combined with their readiness to incorporate “every possible resource of the studio itself” and Martin’s skills as a classical arranger, “Implicitly, from the very start, this [music] was not stuff intended to be played live on stage.”
According to Barry Miles, a leading figure in the UK underground whom Lennon and McCartney befriended at this time, Rubber Soul and its 1966 follow-up, Revolver, were “when [the Beatles] got away from George Martin, and became a creative entity unto themselves”. In 1995, Harrison said that Rubber Soul was his favourite Beatles album, adding: “we certainly knew we were making a good album. We did spend more time on it and tried new things. But the most important thing about it was that we were suddenly hearing sounds that we weren’t able to hear before.”
During the sessions, McCartney played a solid-body Rickenbacker 4001 bass guitar, which produced a fuller sound than his hollow-body Hofner. The Rickenbacker’s design allowed for greater melodic precision, a characteristic that led McCartney to contribute more intricate bass lines. For the rest of his Beatles career, the Rickenbacker would become McCartney’s primary bass for studio work. Harrison used a Fender Stratocaster for the first time, most notably in his lead guitar part on “Nowhere Man“. The variety in guitar tones throughout the album was also aided by Harrison and Lennon’s use of capos, such as in the high-register parts on “If I Needed Someone” and “Girl“.
On Rubber Soul, the Beatles departed from standard rock and roll instrumentation, particularly in Harrison’s use of the Indian sitar on “Norwegian Wood”. Having been introduced to the string instrument on the set of the 1965 film Help!, Harrison’s interest was fuelled by fellow Indian music fans Roger McGuinn and David Crosby of the Byrds, partway through the Beatles’ US tour. Music journalist Paul Du Noyer describes the sitar part as “simply a sign of the whole band’s hunger for new musical colours”, but also “the pivotal moment of Rubber Soul“. The Beatles also made use of harmonium during the sessions, marking that instrument’s introduction into rock music.
The band’s willingness to experiment with sound was further demonstrated in McCartney playing fuzz bass on “Think for Yourself” over his standard bass part, and their employing a piano made to sound like a baroque harpsichord on “In My Life“. The latter effect came about when, in response to Lennon suggesting he play something “like Bach”, Martin recorded the piano solo with the tape running at half-speed; when played back at normal speed, the sped-up sound gave the illusion of a harpsichord. In this way, the Beatles used the recording studio as a musical instrument, an approach that they and Martin developed further with Revolver. In Prendergast’s description, “bright ethnic percussion” was among the other “great sounds” that filled the album.
Lennon, McCartney and Harrison’s three-part harmony singing was another musical detail that came to typify the Rubber Soul sound. According to musicologist Walter Everett, some of the vocal arrangements feature the same “pantonal planing of three-part root-position triads” adopted by the Byrds, who had initially based their harmonies on the style used by the Beatles and other British Invasion bands. Riley says that the Beatles softened their music on Rubber Soul, yet by reverting to slower tempos they “draw attention to how much rhythm can do”. Wide separation in the stereo image ensured that subtleties in the musical arrangements were heard; in Riley’s description, this quality emphasised the “richly textured” arrangements over “everything being stirred together into one high-velocity mass”.
McCartney said that as part of their increased involvement in the album’s production, the band members attended the mixing sessions rather than let Martin work in their absence. Until late in their career, the “primary” version of the Beatles’ albums was always the monophonic mix. According to Beatles historian Bruce Spizer, Martin and the EMI engineers devoted most of their time and attention to the mono mixdowns, and generally regarded stereo as a gimmick. The band were not usually present for the stereo mixing sessions.
Band dynamics
While Martin recalled the sessions as having been “a very joyful time”, Smith felt “something had happened between Help! and Rubber Soul“, and the family atmosphere that had once characterised the relationship between the Beatles and their production team was absent. He said the project revealed the first signs of artistic conflict between Lennon and McCartney, and friction within the band as more effort was spent on perfecting each song. This also manifested in a struggle over which song should be the A-side of their next single, with Lennon insisting on “Day Tripper” (of which he was the primary writer) and publicly contradicting EMI’s announcement about the upcoming release. […]
‘Rubber Soul’ for me is the beginning of my adult life
Paul McCartney – From Facebook, December 3, 2025
In October 1965, we started to record the album. Things were changing. The direction was moving away from the poppy stuff like ‘Thank You Girl’, ‘From Me To You’ and ‘She Loves You’. The early material was directly relating to our fans, saying, ‘Please buy this record,’ but now we’d come to a point where we thought, ‘We’ve done that. Now we can branch out into songs that are more surreal, a little more entertaining.’ And other people were starting to arrive on the scene who were influential. Dylan was influencing us quite heavily at that point.
Paul McCartney – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000
We had to write 14 songs for this new LP, plus two for the single. It’s a question of value for money — more than anything else — we want to do what we would have liked when we were record-buyers ourselves. A 14-track LP and a separate single is unheard of in the States — there you’d have 12 tracks, and the single would just be two numbers from the LP. They’re not the same as English record people. It’s not quite that they’re unscrupulous, but they’ll put the singles on the LP just to fill up. It’s cheating anyhow, but the scene is different there. The kids in America can afford to buy an LP just for a few new tracks, but here they’re more choosy.
Paul McCartney – From interview for London Life, December 4, 1965
John and I were writing quite well by 1965. For a while we didn’t really have enough home-made material, but we did start to around the time of Rubber Soul.
Most of the time we wrote together. We’d go and lock ourselves away and say, ‘OK, what have we got?’ John might have half an idea, something like for ‘In My Life’: ‘There are places I remember…’ (I think he had that first as a lyric – like a poem, ‘Places I Remember’) and we’d work out the extra melody needed, and the main theme, and by the end of three or four hours we nearly always had it cracked! I can’t remember coming away from one of those sessions not having finished a song.
One of the stickiest was ‘Drive My Car’, because we couldn’t get past one phrase that we had: ‘You can buy me golden rings’. We struggled for hours; I think we struggled too long. Then we had a break and suddenly it came: ‘Wait a minute: “Drive my car!”’ Then we got into the fun of that scenario: ‘Oh, you can drive my car! What is it? What’s he doing? Is he offering a job as a chauffeur, or what?’ And then it became much more ambiguous, which we liked, instead of golden rings, which was a bit poofy. ‘Golden rings’ became ‘beep beep, yeah’. We both came up with that. Suddenly we were in LA: cars, chauffeurs, open-top Cadillacs, and it was a whole other thing.
Paul McCartney – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000
Rubber Soul was the pot album, and Revolver was the acid. It was like pills influenced us in Hamburg, drink influenced us in so and so; I mean, we weren’t all stoned making Rubber Soul, because in those days we couldn’t work on pot. We never recorded under acid.
John Lennon – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000
We were getting better, technically and musically. We finally took over the studio. In the early days, we had to take what we were given; we had to make it in two hours, and one or three takes was enough and we didn’t know how you could get more bass – we were learning the techniques. Then we got contemporary. I think Rubber Soul was about when it started happening.
Everything I, any of us, do is influenced, but it began to take its own form. Rubber Soul was a matter of having all experienced the recording studio, having grown musically as well, but [getting] the knowledge of the place, of the studio. We were more precise about making the album, that’s all, and we took over the cover and everything.
John Lennon – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000
Rubber Soul was my favourite album, even at that time. I think that it was the best one we made; we certainly knew we were making a good album. We did spend a bit more time on it and tried new things. But the most important thing about it was that we were suddenly hearing sounds that we weren’t able to hear before. Also, we were being more influenced by other people’s music and everything was blossoming at that time; including us, because we were still growing.
George Harrison – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000
Songwriting for me, at the time of Rubber Soul, was a bit frightening because John and Paul had been writing since they were three years old. It was hard to come in suddenly and write songs. They’d had a lot of practice. They’d written most of their bad songs before we’d even got into the recording studio. I had to come from nowhere and start writing, and have something with at least enough quality to put on the record alongside all the wondrous hits. It was very hard.
George Harrison – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000
By the time of Rubber Soul they were ready for new musical directions. In the early days they were very influenced by American rhythm-and-blues. I think that the so-called ‘Beatles sound’ had something to do with Liverpool being a port. Maybe they heard the records before we did. They certainly knew much more about Motown and black music than anybody else did, and that was a tremendous influence on them. And then, as time went on, other influences became apparent: classical influences and modern music. That was from 1965 and beyond.
George Martin – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000
The Beatles were always looking for new sounds, always looking to a new horizon and it was a continual but happy strain to try and provide new things for them. They were always wanting to try new instruments even when they didn’t know much about them.
George Martin – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000
They had a great time in the studio and, in the main, they were enormously happy times. They would fool around a lot and have a laugh, particularly when overdubbing voices. John was funny; they all were. My memory is of a very joyful time.
George Martin – From “The Beatles Anthology” book, 2000
Source: https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/session/recording-rubber-soul/
Below are scans from the UK 2009 CD release:
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CD-2009
CD-1987
