On 50th anniversary, Beatles ‘Rubber Soul’ hailed as groundbreaking

13th August 1965:  Hundreds of teenagers gather at London Airport to give pop group The Beatles a send-off before they board an aeroplane to America.  (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
13th August 1965: Hundreds of teenagers gather at London Airport to give pop group The Beatles a send-off before they board an aeroplane to America. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
1965:  The Beatles, from left to right: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison (1943 - 2001) and John Lennon (1940 - 1980) in concert at the London Palladium.  (Photo by Les Lee/Express/Getty Images)
1965: The Beatles, from left to right: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison (1943 – 2001) and John Lennon (1940 – 1980) in concert at the London Palladium. (Photo by Les Lee/Express/Getty Images)
18th February 1965:  Singer, songwriter and guitarist John Lennon of The Beatles in his Triumph Herald convertible car.  (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images)
18th February 1965: Singer, songwriter and guitarist John Lennon of The Beatles in his Triumph Herald convertible car. (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images)
Police hold back a mass of young Beatles fans outside Buckingham Palace, London, where the pop group received MBE's, 26th October 1965. (Photo by Ted West/Roger Jackson/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Police hold back a mass of young Beatles fans outside Buckingham Palace, London, where the pop group received MBE’s, 26th October 1965. (Photo by Ted West/Roger Jackson/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) (Getty Images/Central Press)
2nd April 1965:  Brian Epstein (1934 - 1967), manager of pop groups The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer and Cilla Black, outside the Saville Theatre.  (Photo by Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images)
2nd April 1965: Brian Epstein (1934 – 1967), manager of pop groups The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer and Cilla Black, outside the Saville Theatre. (Photo by Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images)
15th March 1965:  British police hold back excited young Beatles fans hoping for a glimpse of their musical heroes during the filming of the musical 'Help', on location in London.  (Photo by Stan Meagher/Express/Getty Images)
15th March 1965: British police hold back excited young Beatles fans hoping for a glimpse of their musical heroes during the filming of the musical ‘Help’, on location in London. (Photo by Stan Meagher/Express/Getty Images)
Fans crowd the premiere of the new Beatles film 'Help!' at the London Pavilion, Piccadilly Circus, 29th July 1965. (Photo by Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Fans crowd the premiere of the new Beatles film ‘Help!’ at the London Pavilion, Piccadilly Circus, 29th July 1965. (Photo by Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Souvenir keychain that reads 'Sid Bernstein presents The Beatles, Shea Stadium, August 15, 1965'.  With more than 55,000 fans in attendence, this pop concert marked a world record and was a record-grossing milestone for The Beatles.  (Photo by Blank Archives/Getty Images)
Souvenir keychain that reads ‘Sid Bernstein presents The Beatles, Shea Stadium, August 15, 1965’. With more than 55,000 fans in attendence, this pop concert marked a world record and was a record-grossing milestone for The Beatles. (Photo by Blank Archives/Getty Images)
beatles_getty_640.jpg
The Beatles played their first American concert at the Washington Coliseum Feb. 11, 1964.
(Getty Images)
In a beautifully intimate moment in the middle of 25,000 fans, Paul McCartney turns away from the audience and beams when he finds Bob Bonis. The Bloomington, Minnesota, show on August 21, 1965, was the Beatles’ only stop in the Land of 10,000 Lakes on all three US tours. Though it was one of the few shows on the 1965 tour that didn’t sell out, for the then-bargain price of $2.50 to $5.50 per ticket (about $20-40 today), fans sang along with: She’s A Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket to Ride, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Help! and I’m Down. Because of a security breach at the airport promoter Ray “Big Reggie” Colihan declared that no journalists, or photographers, not even the Mayor of Bloomington would be permitted on the field.   So Bonis’ photographs, who as tour manager stood at the side of the stage, are the only close-up shots taken that night. And the Beatles’ genuine affection for their tour manager and friend is lovingly captured here.
Paul McCartney glances away from the audience in Bloomington, Minnesota on August 21, 1965, and flashes a smile at the band’s tour manager. (Getty Images)
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13th August 1965:  Hundreds of teenagers gather at London Airport to give pop group The Beatles a send-off before they board an aeroplane to America.  (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
1965:  The Beatles, from left to right: Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison (1943 - 2001) and John Lennon (1940 - 1980) in concert at the London Palladium.  (Photo by Les Lee/Express/Getty Images)
18th February 1965:  Singer, songwriter and guitarist John Lennon of The Beatles in his Triumph Herald convertible car.  (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images)
Police hold back a mass of young Beatles fans outside Buckingham Palace, London, where the pop group received MBE's, 26th October 1965. (Photo by Ted West/Roger Jackson/Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
2nd April 1965:  Brian Epstein (1934 - 1967), manager of pop groups The Beatles, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer and Cilla Black, outside the Saville Theatre.  (Photo by Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images)
15th March 1965:  British police hold back excited young Beatles fans hoping for a glimpse of their musical heroes during the filming of the musical 'Help', on location in London.  (Photo by Stan Meagher/Express/Getty Images)
Fans crowd the premiere of the new Beatles film 'Help!' at the London Pavilion, Piccadilly Circus, 29th July 1965. (Photo by Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Souvenir keychain that reads 'Sid Bernstein presents The Beatles, Shea Stadium, August 15, 1965'.  With more than 55,000 fans in attendence, this pop concert marked a world record and was a record-grossing milestone for The Beatles.  (Photo by Blank Archives/Getty Images)
beatles_getty_640.jpg
In a beautifully intimate moment in the middle of 25,000 fans, Paul McCartney turns away from the audience and beams when he finds Bob Bonis. The Bloomington, Minnesota, show on August 21, 1965, was the Beatles’ only stop in the Land of 10,000 Lakes on all three US tours. Though it was one of the few shows on the 1965 tour that didn’t sell out, for the then-bargain price of $2.50 to $5.50 per ticket (about $20-40 today), fans sang along with: She’s A Woman, I Feel Fine, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Ticket to Ride, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Baby’s In Black, I Wanna Be Your Man, A Hard Day’s Night, Help! and I’m Down. Because of a security breach at the airport promoter Ray “Big Reggie” Colihan declared that no journalists, or photographers, not even the Mayor of Bloomington would be permitted on the field.   So Bonis’ photographs, who as tour manager stood at the side of the stage, are the only close-up shots taken that night. And the Beatles’ genuine affection for their tour manager and friend is lovingly captured here.
D.J. Cerphe, on the 50th anniversary of the release of the iconic 'Rubber Soul.'

WASHINGTON — After the initial flush of Beatlemania, and the British band’s first two tours of America, something remarkable happened to The Beatles.

Their music got even better.

“‘Rubber Soul’ really opened my ears to new sounding music,” says longtime Washington-area disc jockey Cerphe Colwell. “Beatles producer George Martin seemed to grow and mature alongside the band’s remarkable songwriting and production techniques.”

The Beatles sixth studio album was released Dec. 3, 1965, in time for the Christmas shopping season, having been recorded in just over one month.

Cerphe says songs like “Norwegian Wood,” “Michelle,” and “In My Life,” were more sophisticated than earlier hits.

“When The Beatles met Bob Dylan, The Byrds, and the Beach Boys, their writing began showing more intensive introspection,” says Cerphe, of Music Planet Radio. “It wasn’t just love songs anymore from them, they’d moved toward poetry and politics.”

And it wasn’t just the sound — The Beatles looked different.

“I’ll never forget first seeing the cover for ‘Rubber Soul,'” says Chris Murray, owner of locally-based Govinda Gallery.

The photo, taken by photographer Robert Freeman (who had also shot the “Meet The Beatles” cover) featured George Harrison, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and Paul McCartney, in suede jackets, with the image stretched in psychedelic trippiness.

Unlike most albums of the era, “Rubber Soul”‘s front cover didn’t include the band’s name, just the album title, with the lettering approximating a boot’s heel.

“I was a freshman at Georgetown University and it’s the year I first ‘turned on,'” recalls Murray. “Turning on didn’t mean then just getting high — it meant opening up your soul, and expanding your consciousness.”

The Beatles have acknowledged marijuana played a large role in the songwriting and instrumentation of “Rubber Soul,” but it wasn’t just drugs the band members were experimenting with.

“‘Norwegian Wood’ had a sitar — no rock band or pop song ever featured a sitar before that song,” says Cerphe. “Arguably, by using a sitar on that track, George Harrison introduced ‘world music’ to our ears for the very first time.”

“Rubber Soul” is often cited by musicians as influential in their careers.

Anthony Meynell, singer/songwriter/guitarist with the British band Squire was struck by the album’s “Girl.”

“I ‘d heard it on my transistor radio from under my pillow in bed listening to late night Radio Luxembourg instead of being asleep,” says Meynell.

“It sounded so exotic, and the crackly reception made it sound like it was from outer space,” he said.

“It sounded so grown up and sophisticated compared to ‘Hard Days Night’ or ‘Help,’ and made me appreciate the value of not being constrained by the guitar, bass and drums of the band, but hearing the music in your head and striving for that,” said Meynell.

The record, which Rolling Stone  ranks as the fifth-best album of all time,  was a large step in the direction the band was heading creatively.

“‘Sgt. Pepper’ was to be released about a year and a half later and that album epitomized the new collective consciousness and awareness that was palpable in those days,” says Murray. “‘Rubber Soul’ was a precursor to that — and it was very hip.”

Just eight months after the release of “Rubber Soul,” The Beatles played their last live concert, Aug. 29, 1966 in San Francisco, choosing to concentrate on future albums, including “Revolver.”

“It was such a breakthrough record for me,” says Cerphe. “It’s aged very well over the last five decades — it still sounds great.”

Neal Augenstein

Neal Augenstein has been a general assignment reporter with WTOP since 1997. He says he looks forward to coming to work every day, even though that means waking up at 3:30 a.m.

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