Rubber Soul (United States, 1965)

Buy Rubber Soul (US version) on CD

Rubber Soul was the first Capitol Beatles album to resemble the UK version. Two songs left off the US Help! album, I’ve Just Seen A Face and It’s Only Love, were included, while the two remaining songs, Nowhere Man and What Goes On were released as a US single. No singles form the US version were released in the US. The songs The Word and I’m Looking Through You were mixed differently than the UK versions. The album was rereleased on CD in 2006 as part of the four disc set The Capitol Albums, Vol. 2 in both stereo and mono on one disc using the original Capitol masters, and again in 2014 in The U.S. Albums box set but featuring reworked EMI masters.

Dave Dexter’s folk album

Capitol executive Dave Dexter, Jr. took credit for turning Rubber Soul into a “folk album” for North America. According to Steve Hoffman, “Dave also said it was his idea to make Rubber Soul into a folk album by programming it to start with I’ve Just Seen A Face and by putting It’s Only Love on there and removing an uptempo number or two.”

The East Coast Mix

Most copies of Rubber Soul were pressed in Los Angeles, but a small number were pressed in New York and were mastered differently. These versions featured “Dexterization” of the masters, named for Capitol executive Dave Dexter, Jr., who modified many early Beatles records by compressing the sound and adding reverb. This version of Rubber Soul is commonly referred to as the “East Coast Mix” (even though the mix is not actually different) and only applies to stereo masters.

Further clarification is provided by Doctor Ebbetts: “For those not familiar with it, it is also known by some as the ‘East Coast’ version. It is identical the ‘regular’ US stereo version of the Rubber Soul LP in every way except that it has a layer of reverb across the entire album. That’s right…Capitol reverb across the whole LP! It is not dramatic, but it is very noticeable on specific songs where the vocals are completely or partially isolated. Songs like Girl and Wait are particularly noticeable…It can be heard clearly on a song like Think For Yourself, which normally ends cold and dry. On the ‘Dexterized’ version, there is a very definite echoey decay on that last note.”

The best way to tell if a pressing features the East Coast Mix is to check the record matrices: affected copies feature the letter W or X in the matrix number (i.e. ST1-2442-W4P), signifying the New York plant. It may be possible to differentiate by checking the cover: the “New Improved Full Dimensional Stereo” logo at the top of the cover appears in black text against a white background in the East Coast Mix, above the photo which is therefore shortened, as opposed to appearing in brown/orange text against the dark brown background of the cover photo.

The Capitol Albums, Vol. 2 features the Los Angeles pressing. The East Coast Mix has not been officially issued on compact disc or digitally.

Track list

Side A

1. I’ve Just Seen A Face
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3. You Won’t See Me
4. Think For Yourself
5. The Word
6. Michelle

Side B

1. It’s Only Love
2. Girl
3. I’m Looking Through You
4. In My Life
5. Wait
6. Run For Your Life

Release history

• Capitol ST 2442 (stereo), released December 6, 1965
• Capitol T 2442 (mono), released December 6, 1965
• Apple/Capitol CDP 0946 3 57501 2 6, released April 11, 2006 in The Capitol Albums Vol. 2
• Apple B0019707-02 (remastered mono & stereo CD), released January 21, 2014

Mono cover

East Coast stereo cover