Rubber Soul (American)--The Beatles--Capitol-EMI Confuses Me Again, at the Expense of Artistic Integrity

In a recent review of the American release of Revolver, which I view as the greatest achievement of The Beatles, I vowed never to address the greed and hypocrisy of Capitol-EMI Records for butchering the original British releases of The Beatles for the sole purpose of making money. Well, I've gotta renege on my promise--when I was going through my old wax album collection this weekend, I came across the American release of Rubber Soul, and became so outraged, and perplexed, that I just had to put my poison pen to paper one more time.

The British release of Rubber Soul is a very significant album--it was the album which preceded Revolver, and even though it doesn't reach the heights set up by Revolver, it's a very interesting work, all the same, because it hints at the glory and magnitude of the music that would follow. The British release of Rubber Soul is not conceptual, like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or Abbey Road, but it has a logic within itself that shows the listener where The Beatles were headed with the ideal of concept or programmed albums.

Rubber Soul (American) probably makes me more confused than peeved. Of the twelve tracks on this album, ten are taken from the British release, and two songs are added from the British release of Help!, which means that four songs from the British version of Rubber Soul are missing. What really confounds me is that I consider three of the omitted tracks to be the best songs on the British release of Rubber Soul. The first missing song, Drive My Car, is a flat-out rocker with a message that sort of sets the tone for the British version. Nowhere Man is John Lennon's introspective look at his own insecurities that features lush vocal harmonies and a glittering guitar solo by George Harrison, while Harrison's guitar hook-laden If I Needed Someone remains one of his finest compositions. What Goes On, Ringo's country and western effort, is not as important to the album's integrity, but it is critical when you consider the country and western influences that shaped The Beatles. Rubber Soul just can't be Rubber Soul without these songs.

That being said, Rubber Soul (American) kicks off with McCartney's acoustic-folk tune I've Just Seen A Face, lifted directly from the track list of Help!--it doesn't set the same tone as Drive My Car, so the "feel" of the British version is lost immediately. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) is Lennon's folk effort, albeit with a rather vicious ending to a one night stand. You Won't See Me is a lighthearted frolic with a hammered piano centerpiece, while Think For Yourself is another Harrison composition that features McCartney's experiment with the fuzz bass.

The Word might be viewed a a political statement, albeit in vague terms, while Michelle is one of McCartney's loveliest and most enduring ballads. It's Only Love, taken from Help!, is a song Lennon later came to despise, but I think it's a pretty solid tune, and Girl is another Lennon tale of despair that typifies his innate distrust of women.

I'm Looking Through You is McCartney's message of breakup to longtime girlfriend Jane Asher, while In My Life is a sober, gorgeous ballad that features a beautiful message and a classical harpsichord solo. Wait, with its' stop-start motif, might be a true collaboration between Lennon and McCartney, much like We Can Work It Out, while the last song on the album, Run For Your Life, literally smolders with Lennon's threats of revenge on a cheating lover.

Should you buy this album? Of course not--just buy the British version of Rubber Soul and you'll see why the arrangement of the songs on an album by The Beatles is so important. More importantly, you'll get an accurate idea of what The Beatles were trying to say with this collection of songs, something not adequately conveyed by Rubber Soul (American).

Thanks for enduring my rant.