Tis Better To Have Loved and Lost Than To Never Loved At All. Alfred Lord Tennyson – Part 6a

Well now, there was no way in my mind the new year of 2017 could turn so quickly for the better as early as six hours before New Year’s Day. That’s right, last week I predicted 2017 will be my best year ever thanks to my best friends, making life much more special. What happened? The owner/manager of a Large Facebook Group found this very blog you're reading and asked me to join his team. I am now a contributing editor with a daily blog entry for BEATLES FOREVER Facebook Page. (Use this link: https://www.facebook.com/BeatlesJohnPaulGeorgeRingoForever/  You heard right, and I’m honored and thrilled. Therefore, as of today, my unrequited love song series per other Beatles albums shall arrive weekly as a two fragment split post, which will highlight a single side of the LP, examining side 1 and after seven days, side 2.  

All right, here we are in week 6, and time for Rubber Soul’s side 1 unrequited love songs vs. mutual love songs. The album known as their Unplugged LP hit the market December 3, 1965, on a long list of presales pushing the coveted item to #1 for several weeks. Recorded during a mad dash non-stop four weeks to meet the Christmas rush, sales topped 300,000 in the UK, but the Capitol Records version sold six million through its year-end holiday shopping in America. Not bad.

6th LP – Rubber Soul-side 1  (Mutual Love / 0 vs. One-sided Love / 4)

Track 1: – Drive My Car. Considered not to be a love song at all, but most likely inspired by the scores and scores of American women dying for an interview on the scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours Hollywood producers’ casting couch. Background Fun Facts: Written between September and October 1965 at John’s Kenwood home. Paul had the chords and melody, but his lyrics proved pitiful, such as, “I can give you golden rings, I can give you anything, Baby, I love you.” John snubbed the words labeling them as “crap.” Paul added a Motown style bass line to it in the studio that really drove the tune hard, and he toyed with lines like “drive my car,” and “beep, beep” right then and there. Drive my car had implications of an old blues tag for sex. Recorded on October 13, 1965, during a five-hour-plus session. George remembers how Paul often arrived early after writing a song, and as the others strolled in, Mr. Bass man would tell his mates, “Do this.,” withholding the additional three rock stars any opportunity to come up with something just as brilliant. However, this time, while learning ‘Drive My Car,’ it was George who borrowed the guitar passage off of Otis Redding’s ‘Respect, ’ and Paul copied the guitar lick on bass. John sat out from the rhythm track, and his only involvement included overdubbed vocals. Other overdubs caught Ringo thumping his cowbell, and two tracks picked up a pair of tambourines played differently. Paul added a piano plus a lead guitar solo using a finger slide, and George added a third part harmony to the beep-beeps. Listeners can notice a slight variance of volume and reverb on the cowbell stereo mix compared to mono. Also of interest, the stereo mix captured a few faint adlibbed guitar licks from George on the final verse that shouldn’t have remained. Plus Paul supposedly rehearses for his benefit, the line, “Baby you can drive my car” in the final four-count during his guitar solo, before delivering the phrase directly into the mic. Last but not least, because ‘Drive My Car’ lost a spot on the American issued Rubber Soul, kids from the United States fell victim to a six-month wait before hearing the toe-tapping tune.

Track 2 – Norwegian Wood. A one-sided love song about an actual adulterous affair by John with a female journalist friend, based on the lyric portrayal the singer once had a girl, but quickly corrects himself and admits she used him. Hence, the working title of the song read, ‘This Bird Had Flown.’ Background Fun Facts: Written in October 1965 at John’s Kenwood home with some lyrics and the middle eight measures written by Paul. “We’ve written some funny songs, songs with jokes in the words,” jested Paul, in reference to, “sit anywhere, but there wasn’t a chair.” John pretty much remained open about his affairs but tried his best to keep them hidden from wife, Cynthia, and in order to do this, sings he went off to sleep in the bath when the young lady insisted it was time for bed. After a long rehearsal, the rhythm track consisted of two acoustic guitars, a bass guitar, and Ringo bouncing his sticks on cymbals, which took just one take. Overdubs entailed John’s lead vocal plus double-tracked vocal at the end of every line, Paul’s harmony vocal during the bridge, two separate tracks for George to insert the sitar notes twice, and two tracks used as Ringo added finger cymbals, then maracas. After all that work, the tape was deemed rubbish and left alone for another nine days. With a new arrangement, four takes brought a keeper rhythm track that Ringo included bass drum kicks. Fresh overdubs pretty much followed the old pattern, except Ringo switched to a tambourine and during the bridge, he performed knee slaps next to a hot mic. In the mono mix, a cough from George slipped by on the sitar track just before the words, “so I looked around and I noticed there wasn’t a chair.” Likewise, on the stereo mix, an audible voice instructing George when to cue the sitar part at the tune’s instrumental segment slipped by the control room and made it on the master pressing.

Track 3 – You Won’t See Me. A one-sided love song by Paul, based on the lyric portrayal the singer has had enough not able to contact his lover, losing their time together will cause him to lose his mind if she won’t see him, and when she does, time after time she refuses to listen to his side. Background Fun Facts: Written in Jane Asher’s parents’ home on Wimpole Street between October and November 65. The lyrics came easy in that Jane teamed up with the Bristol Old Vic Live Theater Troup that October and grew immensely involved with her acting career making it sometimes impossible for Paul to stay in touch.  Recorded on November 11, 1965, the absolute deadline target to finish the album in time for Christmas shoppers. Just two takes were required to complete a fine rhythm track. Overdubs included Paul’s lead vocal, and then double-tracked vocal with bits of harmony for added flavor. Next came John and George singing background harmonies while Paul tossed in an elaborate bass guitar arrangement. Ringo tapped a three-beat tempo on the high-hat cymbals during each verse, and on the bridge, he switched to a five-beat tempo again on the high-hat. Then, to help fatten the last verse bringing the song home with a bang, Mal Evans contributed a single note held down on a Hammond Organ for the full duration including the fade-out of which you can hear a couple of hand-claps, possibly directed at Mal for a job well done. Mixing stages differ again at the fade-out where more seconds are added to the mono mix––3:25 play length and 3:22 play length on stereo––making this the longest Beatles track since controlled by George Martin.

Track 4 – Nowhere Man. This song misses the mark as a love song. Therefore, we will move on to track 5.

Track 5 – Think For Yourself. A one-sided love song by George, based on the lyric portrayal the singer speaks his mind about all the lies he hears from the lips he’s been kissing, and glad he finally left her far behind, aware she still can’t comprehend her faults, which will surely cause him more misery. Background Fun Facts: Written between August and November 65 with a working title called, ‘Won’t Be There With You.’ Recorded on November 8, 1965, straight after a lengthy rehearsal period that paid off handsomely by recording the rhythm track in just one take. George played rhythm guitar, Paul on bass, and Ringo worked the steady beat with his drums. Overdubs started with lead and harmony vocals while John had the most trouble finding the notes. Once the vocals scored a victory, all three singers were double-tracked and managed to do their parts again. Next, John added a piece with the Hammond Organ, and Ringo filled in two more tracks using a tambourine, then maracas. Looking for a new sound, and remembering how powerful the dominate hook reaped a fortune for the Rolling Stones with ‘Satisfaction,’ Paul plugged his bass into a fuzz box then mirrored the same bass notes he played on the rhythm track, giving the song a new heavy edge of grit and grime. The mixing board for the mono mix ran through the straight forward step procedure, but for the first time, George Martin sent the lead and harmony vocals to one channel and the double-tracked vocals to the opposite channel during the stereo mix. How odd!

Track 6 – The Word. Again, this song misses the mark as a love song but instead promotes Peace and Harmony throughout the human race. To this day, Ringo echoes peace and love to everyone within the sound of his voice.

Track 7 – Michelle. A one-sided love song by Paul, based on the lyric portrayal the singer loves, needs, and wants a woman who doesn’t speak his language, yet he will try to find a way to share his feelings toward her and hopes for a positive respond. Background Fun Facts: Written strictly as an instrumental in late 1959. Paul wrote this song on his Zenith acoustic and would bring this guitar to parties while pretending to speak French, then play his composition centered around a group of ladies mish mashing sound-a-like phrases a young man from France would sing. Gibberish murmurs close in tone to a Maurice Chevalier style, and nobody knew the wiser, except John. The melody line caught inspiration from a Chet Atkins number titled, ‘Trambone,’ a finger picked tune with a descending pattern on the lowest registered string. In the event the Beatles hoped to offer nothing but original songs for the upcoming album, John suggested his mate try adding lyrics to the long-lost French thing he remembered hearing at parties. So, during a holiday vacation, Paul and Jane Asher trekked off to Portugal for a visit with Muriel Young, a Luxembourg Radio personality. Muriel recalls Paul sitting on her couch trying different lines to match the melody, such as “Goodnight Sweetheart” or “Hello, my dear.” Do you remember Ivan Vaughan, the boy who introduced Paul to John at the church social? Well, by 1965, Ivan married a young lady named Jan who just happened to be a French teacher. Paul inquired how to say “these are words that go together well,” spoken in French. She wrote down the spelling and taught him the pronunciations. Thereafter, it was a utilized keepsake bound for the LP record. Years later, Paul sent Jan an undisclosed financial check, feeling a bit guilty not rewarding her for her part of history. However, the tune wasn’t complete as yet. Paul had no middle bridge and asked John where should the song go after its second verse. John had been listening to Nina Simone’s, ‘I Put a Spell On You,’ and her song had a line that repeats the words, “I love you” four times. John cut it short to three times, but still added a bluesy touch and wrote the bridge. In the studio, November 3, 1965, Michelle ended up as the only song on the Rubber Soul LP requiring more than the console’s four track machine. Track one captured acoustic guitars played by John, George, and Paul, plus Ringo’s drums. Track two seized Paul’s lead vocal. Track three received three-part harmonies from the lads. Track 4 contained the same harmonies from track three, only re-recorded double-tracked. Next, a tape copy was made that combined track three and four onto track three, leaving track four fresh for more overdubs. New track four holds Paul’s bass, another acoustic guitar, and the electric guitar solo played by George but written by George Martin. From the mixing board, the mono version has a slightly longer fade-out and a tad more volume on the drums.

Wow! So far mutual love songs have vanished as the greatest rock group’s lyrics advance away from puppy-love and step toward the signs of the times. Next week, watch for Rubber Soul side 2 and tell your friends. Also, don’t forget each of you may listen to samples of all 14 love songs included on my CD, and Amazon.com’s “Look Inside” feature lets readers preview more than four chapters in my novel, Beatlemaniac. Just click on the MY Shop tab near the upper left corner underneath the heading for access.