{"id":626,"date":"2007-06-14T22:38:53","date_gmt":"2007-06-15T02:38:53","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-12-15T16:29:10","modified_gmt":"2008-12-15T16:29:10","slug":"kind-of-a-drag-lennon-prevents-rubber-so","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/kind-of-a-drag-lennon-prevents-rubber-so\/","title":{"rendered":"Kind of a Drag: Lennon Prevents Rubber Soul From Being My Favorite Beatles Album"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There’s so much to love about Rubber Soul<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, beginning with the all-important album cover. That fish-eye lens photo of the band, in their best collective Look – complete with perfect ’60s rock hair and the brown suede jackets – is the visual representation of the feeling of running into a friend and smoking an unexpected joint on a September day. Come to think of it, the last time I drank alcohol was on a September day, when a friend, fish-eye lens in tow, shot a roll of film of our band in the woods, trying our like hell to cop a Rubber Soul<\/em> vibe. You could say the hopelessness of reaching this goal drove me to sobriety.<\/p>\n

But what a goal it was, and what an album Rubber Soul<\/em> is – but it doesn’t get much more obvious than that last statement, does it? As I stated earlier today, I’m a bass man, and this might be rock’s first album to fully capture the potential of the bass. Right out of the gates there’s the archetypal “Drive My Car”<\/strong>, pulling from the bass-fetishist’s favorite version of “Respect” (ie, Otis Redding’s) and mapping out the general bassline that enabled The Jam’s Bruce Foxton<\/strong> to enjoy a brief career of vital mediocrity. Then John’s fine “Norwegian Wood” and Paul’s stunning piece of concise proto-power pop, “You Won’t See Me”. Two songs that make the entire output of The Byrds<\/strong> practically redundant follow, “Nowhere Man” and George Harrison’s “Think for Yourself”<\/a>. So far, so great!<\/p>\n