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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 25 general entries.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Rubber Soul
| John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote “Drive My Car” together. What was the first name of the man who drove John’s car when he was with the Beatles? | The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” Album
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Alf. Alf was John Lennon’s chauffeur in the mid-sixties. I don’t know his last name, but I know he was in the chorus of “Yellow Submarine.” P.S.: “Drive My Car” wasn’t about him.
Paul McCartney. Paul did the background singing. George played the sitar, which Ravi Shankar was teaching him to play.
Mal Evans played the organ. Mal played a Hammond organ for this recording. No “Rubber Soul” song was recorded in 1966; the UK version was released in December 1965. John played the tambourine. I had always thought a woman was doing the background vocals, but that’s George’s voice, way up there. The first female lead vocal was on “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill,” although there were women in the background for “Yellow Submarine” and “Across the Universe” (World Wildlife Fund version).
It was on the first single that included a song by Ringo. The “Nowhere Man” single’s B-side was “What Goes On,” co-written by Richard Lee Starkey. All the Beatles were there, John wrote it the same year it was recorded, and it was on "Yesterday" and "Today", not “Revolver” in the US.
Jesus. Paul said, shortly after the release of “Rubber Soul,” “’The Word’ could be a Salvation Army song. The word is ‘love’ but it could be ‘Jesus.’ It isn’t, mind you, but it could be.” John once said after he left the Beatles, his whole songwriting method had grown from “All You Need is Love” to “all you need is peace.”
George Harrison. John and Paul wrote this together, with a little help from their friend Ringo, which makes “What Goes On” the first song to credit Ringo as an author.
| George Harrison played an acoustic guitar with a capo (creating a sitar-like sound) on “Girl.” How many songs on “Rubber Soul” feature the sitar? | The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” Album
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1. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” is the only one that has the sitar. Other songs featuring that long, crazy instrument are “Love You To,” “Tomorrow Never Knows,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Across the Universe”, and “The Inner Light.”
The Wallflowers. While all four of these musicians have songs on the soundtrack, the Wallflowers performed this one. Eddie Vedder did “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” Sheryl Crow did “Mother Nature’s Son,” and Rufus Wainwright did “Across the Universe.” It’s a good CD. Pick it up some time.
George Martin. Sir George Martin played that piano solo. John suggested that the solo be done “like Bach,” and while John was out on a tea break, Martin laid this part down at half speed and it was sped up for the final version. Malcolm “Organ” Evans played piano on a few songs throughout the Beatles’ career, and the Beatles didn’t team up with Billy Preston (“Let it Be”) until January 1969.
George alone. George wrote this song alone. John and George sound great together!
Baby Let’s Play House. John wrote the song around a line (“I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man”) from “Baby Let’s Play House.” He later said that he wasn’t too fond of “Run For Your Life,” but George liked it. Thanks for playing!
Peanut. Paul McCartney's lyrics are full of sexual innuendo about a female car owner who tells a man, "Baby, you can drive my car, yes, I'm gonna be a star, and maybe I'll love you." Paul's suggestive words also include the line, "Working for peanuts is all very fine, but I can show you a better time."
On a rug. John Lennon wrote of an old love affair with the words, "I once had a girl, or should I say she once had me". The lyrics continue, "...she told me to sit anywhere, so I looked around, and I noticed there wasn't a chair I sat on a rug biding my time, drinking her wine, we talked until two..."
Tears. At the time he wrote "You Won't See Me", Paul McCartney was romantically involved with actress Jane Asher. The song reflects Paul's dissatisfaction with the relationship, as Jane was often too busy with her own career to give Paul the attention he desires. "Time after time, you refuse to even listen, I wouldn't mind, if I knew what I was missing. Though the days are few, they're filled with tears, and since I lost you, it feels like years".
Nobody. The distinction of this song is that is was the first Beatle song not about love. It is said that John Lennon wrote it while feeling desperate and inadequate after a marathon songwriting session. "He's a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans for nobody. Doesn't have a point of view, knows not where he's going to, isn't he a bit like you and me?"
Opaque. George Harrison's lyrics encourage people to not trust the government and to think for themselves. "Do what you want to do, and go where you're going to, think for yourself, 'cause I won't be there with you. Although your mind's opaque, try thinking more if just for your own sake."
Freedom. Inspired by "Long Tall Sally", this was the first song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney that contained only one note. "Say the word and you'll be free. Say the word and be like me. Say the word I'm thinking of, have you heard the word is love? It's so fine, it's sunshine, it's the word, love."
Lips. Paul McCartney's volatile relationship with his girlfriend, Jane Asher, was the inspiration for many of his songs. He wrote the resentful "I'm Looking Through You" after their final breakup.
"I'm looking through you, where did you go? I thought I knew you, what did I know? You don't look different, but you have changed, I'm looking through you, you're not the same. Your lips are moving, I cannot hear, Your voice is soothing, but the words aren't clear.
You don't sound different, I've learned the game, I'm looking through you, you're not the same."
Wall. Written by George Harrison for his girlfriend Pattie, the song used only the D chord. "Had you come some other day, then it might not have been like this, but you see now I'm too much in love. Carve your number on my wall, and maybe you will get a call from me, if I needed someone, ah, ah, ah, ah."
wicked. This was not one of John Lennon's favorite songs, which is why it is the last one on the album. The threatening lyrics start with, "well I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man". It follows with, "Well I know that I'm a wicked guy, and I was born with a jealous mind." Poor girl.
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