The Beatles' "Rubber Soul" - Putting together the proper tracklist

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by yesstiles, Dec 23, 2017.

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  1. aphexj

    aphexj Sound mind & body

    There are good things about both tracklistings, but the North American album compiled by Capitol is too short (all of them are)...

    Here's my preference (brutal but fair):

    Side A
    I've Just Seen a Face
    Norwegian Wood
    Think for Yourself
    Drive My Car
    Nowhere Man
    Day Tripper
    Michelle

    Side B
    What Goes On
    Girl
    I'm Looking Through You
    In My Life
    We Can Work It Out
    If I Needed Someone
    Run for Your Life

    The rest are B-sides
     
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  2. Dr. Robert

    Dr. Robert Forum Reconstructor

    Location:
    Curitiba, Brazil
    Mine is basically a collection of the songs they recorded during the "Rubber Soul" sessions, in the order they were recorded:

    Norwegian Wood (This Bird has Flown)
    Run for Your Life
    Drive My Car
    Day Tripper
    If I Needed Someone
    In My Life
    We Can Work it Out
    Nowhere Man
    I'm Looking Through You
    Michelle
    What Goes On
    Rubber Soul*
    Think For Yourself
    The Word
    You Won't See Me
    Girl

    Don't ask me why I like this order that much, because I don't know either. "Rubber Soul" is just 12-Bar Original, but sped up by about 12,5%, which improves the song, to my ears.
     
  3. johnny moondog 909

    johnny moondog 909 Beatles-Lennon & Classic rock fan

    What I'm learning at my now advanced age. About redoing, altering, substitutions on Beatles album tracklists, is this.

    It's necessary to think of the entire catalogue all together.

    If you alter Rubber Soul, it's going to also affect Help or Revolver, Past Masters or whatever else, depending on which songs you move around.

    Of course you can get around that by having duplicates of the same song on multiple albums. Which I don't want.

    If you take 2 tracks off of Help & stick them onto Rubber Soul, because you like the folky vibe. What do you then do about the Help album which is now missing 2 songs ?

    This is what I mean when I say think of the Beatles catalogue as a whole. I like the idea of a 2nd Beatles 1966 studio album. As Capitol did with Yesterday & Today. The problem for me was they destroyed the Revolver album in the process. They lifted 3 of the 5 Lennon songs making Revolver very short & with only 2 Lennon songs remaining.

    I think we can add a Yesterday & Today album, a She Loves You-Beatles"Beatles 2nd album, & a full Yellow Submarine album of 11-14 songs not on another studio LP. There's also room to adjust Rubber Soul, for those that prefer a folky American tracklist. But every move, every adjustment needs to consider the effect it has on other albums. It can all be done, getting a few extra albums as Capitol did, but without wounding the albums in the process.

    I think it's long overdue actually. But altering Rubber Soul to match the USA version, is forgive me, one of the weakest reasons, needs of the catalogue. But it can be done without harming anything so why not.
     
  4. wildstar

    wildstar Senior Member

    Location:
    ontario, canada
    My cassette version from just after the release of Anthology II (circa Spring 1996):

    01 - Day Tripper
    02 - We Can Work It Out

    03-16 - The REAL Rubber Soul (UK - obviously!)

    17 - Norwegian Wood (Anthology 2)
    18 - I'm Looking Through You (Anthology 2)

    Fit/filled up one side of a 90 minute tape perfectly.
     
  5. AFOS

    AFOS Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brisbane,Australia
    I'd agree with that - "We can work it out" fits in with the folk rock feel & "Day tripper" would be a hit regardless. Disagree on "Wait" don't mind that one and it has a Rubber Soul feel IMO
     
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  6. Psychedelic Good Trip

    Psychedelic Good Trip Beautiful Psychedelic Colors Everywhere

    Location:
    New York
    Just sharing this video.


     
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  7. idleracer

    idleracer Forum Resident

    Location:
    California
    :kilroy: I find that with every Beatles release, the concurrent non-LP single never sounds out of place when you put both tracks in between side 1 and side 2. Follow "Michelle" with "Day Tripper" then "We Can Work It Out" in rapid succession and then on to "What Goes On" and the rest of side 2.

    This also works with "Paperback Writer" and "Rain" on "Revolver."
     
  8. schnitzerphilip

    schnitzerphilip "Modern Dad" Unlocked Award

    Location:
    NJ USA
    I agree with many that Rubber Soul is the one LP that Capitol got right. They took a typical UK release that was half pop and half folk apart and reconstructed it as the quintessential Beatles LP of the era. "I've Just Seen A Face" is the perfect opener, sets the tone for the rest of the set just perfectly. This is the Rubber Soul playlist I've been rocking since 2009 which is the original US version with the following songs added in the highlighted places:

    1. "I've Just Seen A Face"
    2. "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)"
    3. "You Won't See Me"
    Nowhere Man
    4. "Think for Yourself"
    5. "The Word"
    6. "Michelle"

    1. "It's Only Love"
    2. "Girl"
    3. "I'm Looking Through You"
    4. "In My Life"
    Drive My Car
    5. "Wait"
    If I Needed Someone
    6. "Run for Your Life"

    'We Can Work It Out' and 'Day Tripper' left alone as the single, it's how it was in the US and UK back then, and those songs rock a little too hard for the acoustic vibe. 'Nowhere Man' and 'If I Needed Someone' go back in in their original place on the UK version. 'Drive My Car' goes from the UK opener to Side 2 in the dull spot before 'Wait', a good pick me up after 'In My Life'. The one omission from the UK version is 'What Goes On' it's brutal, it's kicked to the curb.

    So take the US version, stick those three songs in, done.
     
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  9. delmonaco

    delmonaco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sofia, Bulgaria
    Side 1:
    Day Tripper
    The Word
    Drive My Car
    Norwegian Wood
    Think for Yourself
    In My Life
    What Goes On

    Side 2:
    Michelle
    We Can Work It Out
    Girl
    I'm looking through you
    Nowhere Man
    Wait
    Run for Your Life
     
  10. Mr. Grieves

    Mr. Grieves Forum Resident

    I don't either Wait or What Goes On, just don't love them(I like Wait more than What Goes On)

    I agree Wait absolutely has a Rubber Soul feel but I don't think it would feel out of place on Help either.

    Help was kind of wired as it had a foot in the pop rock of the early years, one in the country & Western stuff they flirted with on Beatles for sale and to a lesser degree A Hard Day's Night as well as the folk/pop folk-rock they would perfect on Rubber Soul.

    I'm cool with the original U.K. release though
     
  11. Mr. Grieves

    Mr. Grieves Forum Resident

    Imo I don't think We Can Work It Out rocks out more than I'm Looking Through You, Drive My Car, Run For Your Life, If I Needed Someone, or The Word
     
  12. adad

    adad Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Diego
    I like:
    1. "It's Only Love"
    2. "Girl"
    they belong together
     
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  13. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member Thread Starter

    Okay I think I got mine:

    Rubber Soul

    I've Just Seen A Face
    Norwegian Wood
    You Wont' See Me
    Nowhere Man
    Think For Yourself
    The Word
    Michelle
    It's Only Love

    We Can Work It Out
    Girl
    I'm Looking Through You
    In My Life
    Wait
    If I Needed Someone
    Run For Your Life
    Day Tripper

    ....I dropped the 2 songs I dislike, then I kept the original track order and inserted the double A-sided single where I thought it fits best. :righton:
     
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  14. YardByrd

    YardByrd rock n roll citizen in a hip hop world

    Location:
    Europe
    I prefer the US LP simply because I have never liked Nowhere Man since first hearing it in the 70s as a kid when the Fabs were still my be all, end all...
     
  15. JFS3

    JFS3 Senior Member

    Location:
    Hooterville
    Folk-Rock was dominating the American music scene at the time, so it only made sense for Capitol to repurpose Rubber Soul as The Fabs answer to the phenomenon. And it worked.

    Even after fifty years, and despite being far removed from its original context, the American tracklisting still holds up. I even prefer the American cover art to the original British as well:

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2017
  16. Gila

    Gila Forum Resident

    "My" Rubber Soul: original UK side A, then Day Tripper / We Can Work it Out, then original UK side B, total of ~42 minutes. I do the same for Revolver and its related single (~41 minute).

    About "weaker" songs like What Goes On - I like it. Yes, it's pretty simple but sometimes these songs are needed for a bit of contrast.
     
  17. chacha

    chacha Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    mill valley CA USA
    That’s really good! Nicely done.
     
  18. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    “I’ve Just Seen a Face” does sound good at the top of an album side, but I’d rather rearrange the second side of Help than move it to Rubber Soul.
     
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  19. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    Yesterday and Today was only six months later. And in February, only two months after Rubber Soul, 'What Goes On' was the B side of Capitol's 'Nowhere Man' single. THAT'S a ton of money!!
     
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  20. nikh33

    nikh33 Senior Member

    Location:
    Liverpool, England
    No, Day Tripper was written as a single ('forced' as John Lennon said) and was never intended for the album.
    What is surprising is that Capitol didn't put both songs on their Rubber Soul, the first time they hadn't put the new single on the new album.
     
  21. chrisblower

    chrisblower Norfolk n'good

    The UK Rubber Soul is /was perfectly perfect ..
     
  22. Dante Fontana

    Dante Fontana Forum Resident

    Location:
    Melbourne
    Having grown up with the red album, and not being one for sudden mood changes, I've always found the Rubber Soul track order a bit awkward although it's still one of my all-time favourite albums on the strength of the individual songs. Never tried an alternate order so here goes. I think the US tracks do belong on Help! and have dropped poor Ringo. The first side I think grooves along very nicely imo, the second was more problematic, with Nowhere Man belonging nowhere in particular and In My Life being too much of a show stopper. Anyway for In My Life, took the easy option of the 1962-66 order to finish.

    Side A
    We Can Work It Out
    Day tripper
    The Word
    Think For Yourself
    I'm Looking Through You
    Drive My Car
    You Won't See me

    Side B
    If I Needed Someone
    Wait
    Run For Your Life
    Nowhere man
    Norwegian Wood
    Michelle
    In My Life
    Girl
     
  23. Flaming Torch

    Flaming Torch Forum Resident

    Good morning and I asked my fellow Rubber Soul fans and they and me believe the UK Rubber Soul to be definitive although the last couple of tracks are a bit weak. The We Can Work It Out single is perfect and I would leave it as a stand alone single. For a cdr yes definitely place it on after a short gap at the end of the main Rubber Soul.
     
  24. humpf

    humpf Allowed to write something here.

    Location:
    Silesia
  25. Thievius

    Thievius Blue Oyster Cult-ist

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY
    Look, I'd just assume keep the UK track listing as The Beatles created. That's the proper tracklist. However if I were given charge to do this correctly, I'd avoid some of the choices people are recommending. I've Just Seen A Face as an album opener? Or Norwegian Wood? Gah, no. There's an art to this sort of thing. An ebb and flow. Rock n' roll records start with a bang with ballads and other quirky tunes sprinkled throughout.

    But seriously. Stick with the original UK tracklist. They knew what they were doing.
     
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