The Beatles Rubber Soul - UK vs. USA | Vinyl Rewind

The Beatles are notorious for having different versions of the same album released on either side of the Atlantic so we thought it would be fun to figure which version The Vinyl Geek likes better. We're gonna start with their 1965 classic, Rubber Soul, UK verses USA.
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Every other Tuesday, let The Vinyl Geek be your guide though a sea of music, delivered on the enduring quality of vinyl. With his charming wit, The Geek presents timeless classics, rare gems, the bizarre, funny or just plain weird! You never know who might drop by from musical guests to the zany cast of side characters. It's so much fun, you'll forget you're actually learning about music.

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[RealShrigmaMale]

Removing if I needed someone is an unforgivable sin. One of the greatest guitar riffs ever.

[casemaker]

"I've Just Seen a Face" is a nice catchy little ditty, perfectly suited to its position on UK "Help!", but as an album opener - no way! Give me "Drive My Car" anytime, not only well written but also great rock and roll. Similarly, taking out "What Goes On" removes Ringo's contribution to Rubber Soul, while replacing with a song off "Help", It's Only Love, that even Lennon didn't take seriously. And removing "Nowhere Man", a heart and soul component of "Rubber Soul"? Give me the UK version of "Rubber Soul" anytime.

[davidgena]

The fact that my favorite Harrison song, “If I Needed Someone” was cut from the U.S. version makes the U.K. version the automatic winner.

[gwwayner]

'Drive my Car' is an awesome tune and I love to hear it anytime it is played. Gawd, can anyone come up with a pop tune like this anymore?

[NowhereMan]

Drive My Car is epic! Yes it sounds cheesy, but that's because it's a joke. The whole song is literally a joke - with a punchline, and some great rhythm guitar!

[matthatter]

For me, I can't hear "I'm Looking Through You" WITHOUT the false start. I remember when I first heard the album as a young boy, and I immediately loved that little false start at the beginning. I found that part to act as sort of a "teaser" or prelude to the great song that follows. Like the song has to wind itself up to get started.

[mr.l]

Rubber Soul and Revolver will always be my favorite Beatles albums

[mickeyalba]

Gotta admit, I like the US version.... I think  "I've Just Seen A Face" and "It's Only Love" fit the "mood" of the album better....

[GerryMATW]

Um... it slightly baffles me that there can be any dispute about which is the superior version of a Beatles work. Is it the full UK one which they themselves created as a complete work, oversaw in fine detail and unanimously approved of when it was finished? Or is it the short measure one which bean counters at Capitol calculated they could get away with so that they could con American fans into buying three records to get two LPs?
Hmm. Difficult question.
Okay, I do appreciate that if people grow up with a particular version and become thoroughly familiar with it, anything else is possibly going to sound "wrong". But the objective truth of it is that the US version simply doesn't respect the piece of art which the Beatles strove so hard to achieve and that's entirely because the Capitol execs couldn't have cared less about its artistic merit so long as they had profitable product.
The Beatles would have perfectly capable of producing an album of pure folk-rock if that's what their intention had been for Rubber Soul but it clearly wasn't. Variety was always an essential element of any Beatles album and it does the group a great disservice to attempt to homogenise one of their greatest albums.
However, I have to admit that it's great fun seeing all the different opinions on this one!

[goldwaterproductions]

I'm glad that the UK versions have been accepted as the superior albums in the United States. You can't even buy the US albums unless they are apart of a boxset or second hand and I think that's good. They are meant for curiosities and for people who grew up on them.

[fireglomusic]

I'm entirely used to the UK albums, and I prefer them because they are ordered as they were intended to be. I think the idea of songs from Help! being on Rubber Soul is just wrong. The two albums don't sound the same, so they shouldn't be mixed.

[JakobPfeifferTheJavascriptPro]

ALL UK albums are better than US albums. Enough said.

[serock]

Drive my car is one of the very best Beatles songs, no Rubber Soul without it.

[judmcc]

I prefer the song selection on the US version - more consistently acoustic. I've Just Seen a Face really seems to belong there. And I like the false start!

[leighfoulkes]

The only US version of a Beatles album that I like was "Magical Mystery Tour". I'm still flabbergasted that you don't like "Drive my Car" (no offense, just one my favorites).

[exactlybackwards]

I agree, US version is better. I've always thought Rubber Soul was the one album where Capitol's hatchet job turned out to be an improvement, quite by accident. "Nowhere Man" would have been a plus, but "Seen A Face" and "It's Only Love" are a much better fit than "Drive My Car" and "What Goes On." "If I Needed Someone" would also be a plus, although it does bug me that it's so much like "Bells of Rhymney". The US Rubber Soul is a gem, the version that inspired Brian Wilson to do Pet Sounds.

[jmad]

The UK version hands down, IMHO. Besides the inclusion of "Nowhere Man", a favorite of mine as well, but "If I Needed Someone" one of George's best songs. Plus I love the kickoff of "Drive My Car" with the killer bass...beep-beep, beep-beep..yeah!!!

[DrDan-uede]

PERFECT!...Just what I was looking for....thanks for the facts and your personal takes as well....looking forward to your other vs vids!

[VinylRewind]

@Jack Stedron For the most part The Beatles in mono is the way to go but anything after Sgt. Pepper's it depends on the song

[sarahporter]

The only saving grace for the U.S release of Rubber Soul is the fact that they put the songs they took out on Yesterday and Today