Picking up where I left off yesterday (Help!) with my series on who contributed more to each Beatles album, John Lennon or Paul McCartney? So far John is up 5-0 but it should be pointed out that it was very close on a couple of occasions and that Paul won the “Who Wrote More #1 Singles?” and the “Whose Songs Are More Listened To On Last.FM?” battles.

01. “Drive My Car” – Paul

Besides singing the song and writing it, McCartney also played the lead guitar solo (many people don’t realize how often Paul played lead guitar on The Beatles recordings) although it was George Harrison who came up with the main guitar riff which drives the song.

02. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” – John

Harrison deserves some credit as well since his sitar (the first time the instrument had been recorded on a western pop song) was such an important part of the song’s sound.

03. “You Won’t See Me” – Paul

On an album with so many stand out tracks, it’s easy to over look this song but I think it has a lot of elements that make it quite interesting. Listen for Paul’s bass line which is much more adventurous than his pre Rubber Soul work.

04. “Nowhere Man” – John

I love the a cappella opening. The guitar solo is another highlight. It was apparently played by John & George together, I love the sparkling note at the end of it.

05. “Think For Yourself”

This is George’s song but Paul deserves an assist for his fuzz bass which really gives the song much of it’s personality. In fact the song actually has two bass parts, the fuzz bass which acts as the lead instrument and a “regular” bass part (both played by Paul.) This was the first Beatles song that included two bass parts (and from memory I’m not sure if they ever tried that again.)

06. “The Word” – John

This is a bit of a manifesto, isn’t it? Recorded a full 18 months before the “Summer of Love” Lennon was planting the seed here, spreading the word: “love.” Also give Paul another assist for another great bass line.

07. “Michelle” – Paul

John gets an assist on this one for coming up with the “I love you, I love you, I love you” bit. It was also actually John’s idea to record the song as Paul had been singing a version of it for a long time as a bit of a joke. Also, producer George Martin has said that he wrote the melody that the lead guitar plays in the middle of the song and again at the end (that’s a nice little bit.) I think my favorite bit about this song may be the harmony vocals which sound kind of like they were recorded in the 1920s or something. There’s a real mood to the whole song that’s quite groovy.

08. “What Goes On” – John

Ringo & Paul get an assist as they apparently helped finish this one up. It was a song that John had laying around for a long time and it was fished out to give Ringo something to sing on Rubber Soul. Paul & Ringo helped finish it up. It’s the only Beatles song with a Lennon/McCartney/Starkey writing credit! BTW, Starkey is Ringo’s is for Ringo’s birth name Richard Starkey. I’ve never been a big fan of this song, but recently I’ve started to get a bit of a kick out of the stuttered rhythm guitar part. I like how it almost sounds like Harrison is choking his guitar.

09. “Girl” – John

Brilliant. I love everything about this one. It has lot of things going on that make it interesting including the world weary lyrics, the “breath in,” the “tit tit tit” backing vocal, and the sort “German” sound of the whole thing.

10. “I’m Looking Through You” – Paul

I’m a big fan of this one. Great melody. Pretty groovy lyrics. And plenty of catchy musical bits. Delicious.

11. “In My Life” – John

How much Paul contributed to this song is under debate. Paul has claimed that he wrote the melody for the entire song and if so he obviously deserves co-writing credit (John definitely wrote the lyrics.) On the other hand John said that Paul only wrote the melody for the middle eight and the harmony for the verse. Although even if it’s “just” that, Paul still deserves some credit for this song.

12. “Wait” – John & Paul

John wrote & sang the verse. Paul wrote & sang the bridge. I’ve always felt this song fit more on Help! and in fact it was originally recorded for Help! But that being said, it really has grown on me over the years.

13. “If I Needed Someone”

Excellent song. Harrison was very much influenced by The Byrds. Of course The Byrds were very much influenced by Harrison as well.

14. “Run For Your Life” -John

I really dislike this song, not just because of the awful lyrics but also the music sounds very dated compared to most of the rest of Rubber Soul. I think I’m more likely to deduct points from John than to give him much credit for this. I usually stop the album at “If I Needed Someone.” Definitely one of my least favorite Beatles songs. The lead guitar parts are the only saving grace, and they’re nothing really special. Plus, those are Harrison’s handywork.

VERDICT – John

Again it’s very close but John sang the main vocal on 7 song’s to Paul’s 4 and John was also the principle songwriter behind Ringo’s “What Goes On” so all told I think John gets the nod although Paul’s bass playing was an essential part of this album and Paul was also an important part of the composition (how important is under debate) of “In My Life.” John is now up 6-0 but it seems likely that Paul will start winning some of these album battles soon.

Buy The Remastered Rubber Soul CD

The Beatles Box Sets

Rubber Soul is included in both the Mono Box Set and the Stereo Box Set. The mono box actually includes both the original mono and the original stereo mixes of Rubber Soul for the first time (the “regular” stereo CD version of Rubber Soul is a new stereo mix made in the 1980s.) As of this writing the Mono Box Set is sold out, but it seems likely to me that they will eventually make more (why wouldn’t they? It’s obvious there’s plenty of people who want to buy it who haven’t been able to.)

The remastered CDs and The Beatles Rock Band video game are available online at the Amazon.com Beatles Store.

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