As a gentleman (if I may call myself that) born in 1954, The Beatles were truly a band that I grew up with, as the albums were released. It's so odd for me to hear such a sophisticated album "Rubber Soul" when I was 11 years old. How could I possibly understood "Norwegian Wood" at that age, yet, on its original release I played that song over and over again. Even as a young child I like songs that sounded sad, that somehow I felt was a reflection of my being at the time. Of all the Beatle albums, "Rubber Soul" is an album that I can listen to in my head by just reading the songs off the back cover. They're etched not in color, but in black and white, just like the photos on the back cover of the album. A very contrast black & white, compared to high definition images replaced by "Revolver" their next album. After that, it was all bright technicolor photos of The Beatles from "Sgt. Pepper" to "Abbey Road."
The sound I hear on "Rubber Soul" is four men, who seemed to be older (of course) and perhaps wiser, yet, in reality, it's a record of reflection of men still young. Almost like a soldier who came from the front lines of a war, young, but bitter from the experience. In reality, there is not one bad song on this album, yet, it's not my favorite Beatles album anymore. I recently purchased the album in mono (all the Beatle records I own are in mono, except "Abbey Road") and as I played it, I didn't feel any emotional attachment to "Rubber Soul" whatsoever. Yet, as a child, it had a huge impact on me by how it brought a sense of sophistication into my world. If you think of the pop music (almost all great) being made in 1965, especially by the British Invasion bands of the time, "Rubber Soul" in comparison is a rainy day with thick clouds in the sky type of record. "Michelle" is probably the first time I heard a song that is sung in partly French. How could I possibly relate to that, except I loved how the language was sung by Paul in that song. Not exotica in the sense of an American tourist in a foreign part of France, but conveyed a sense of bitter romanticism just by Paul's voice and instrumentation.
"Rubber Soul" is an important album, and when you think of it as being released in 1965, the Fab Four were somewhat distanced from all the others in the music market at the time. It reminds me image-wise of Fellini's early film "I, Vitelloni" (1953) when one of the characters at the end of the film moves on from his childhood/teenage friends to a new world, but traveling alone. In a sense, The Beatles were waving goodbye to their contemporary fellow musicians and some fans, that they are moving on, to territory that is not yet formed or idealized at the time.
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