Every once in a while, we at the Collective present an album that needs no introduction. Most of us likely have our own experiences with and stories to tell about Rubber Soul, The Beatles’ tenth studio album, released at the end of 1965. That’s part of what led us to this bluegrass retelling, to shine some new light on this well lit classic. Considered by many to be one of the greatest albums in pop music history, the songs were written after The Beatles toured North America. It is their second album to contain only original material. The songwriting and sound was said to be influenced by Dylan, The Beach Boys and The Byrds. Pitchfork Media said the album was “the most important artistic leap in the Beatles’ career—the signpost that signaled a shift away from Beatlemania and the heavy demands of teen pop, toward more introspective, adult subject matter.” The name “Rubber Soul,” is a play how some African American soul musicians came to call Mick Jagger’s singing style, “plastic soul,” meaning a white musician singing soul music. Though recorded and mixed in only a month, Lennon said that this was the first album where they had complete control of their sound in the studio. The response was immediate. It quickly topped the charts, replacing the soundtrack to The Sound of Music. It held the top spot for 8 weeks but was on the charts for 42 weeks. In 2012 Rolling Stone put it fifth on its top 500 albums ever. Brian Wilson famously said that Rubber Soul was one of the first pop albums to be a whole album and not just a few singles and filler. He and The Beach Boys responded with Pet Sounds. And of course, The Beatles responded to Pet Sounds with Sgt. Pepper’s. The American edition of Rubber Soul was released by Capitol Records on December 6th with both stereo and mono versions. It was an immediate sensation, selling nearly 2 million copies by New Year’s Eve. The American version was 7 minutes shorter than the UK version. “Drive My Car,” “Nowhere Man,” “What Goes on” and “If I Needed Someone” were saved for subsequent releases. They were traded out for two tracks (“I’ve Just Seen a Face” and “It’s Only Love”) from the UK Help! in an attempt to enable the branding of the album as more “folk rock” than pop rock. Tonight we present Rubber Soul in its original British format because we’re purists…well, except for the bluegrass spin we’re about to put on it all.”

Lineup

• Michael Mann
• Little Country Giants
• Dee Dee Westbrook
• Joe McGuiness