Rubber Soul was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom, on EMI’s Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single “Day Tripper” / “We Can Work It Out“. The original North American release, issued by Capitol Records, contains ten of the fourteen songs and two tracks withheld from the band’s Help! album. Rubber Soul was met with a highly favourable critical response and topped sales charts in Britain and the United States for several weeks.

The recording sessions took place in London over a four-week period beginning in October 1965. For the first time in their career, the Beatles were able to record an album free of concert, radio or film commitments. Often referred to as a folk rock album, particularly in its Capitol configuration, Rubber Soul incorporates a mix of pop, soul and folk musical styles. The title derives from the colloquialism “plastic soul” and was the Beatles’ way of acknowledging their lack of authenticity compared to the African-American soul artists they admired. After A Hard Day’s Night in 1964, it was the second Beatles LP to contain only original material.

The songs demonstrate the Beatles’ increasing maturity as lyricists, and in their incorporation of brighter guitar tones and new instrumentation such as sitar, harmonium and fuzz bass, the group striving for more expressive sounds and arrangements for their music. The project marked a progression in the band’s treatment of the album format as an artistic platform, an approach they continued to develop with Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The four songs omitted by Capitol, including the February 1966 single “Nowhere Man“, later appeared on the North American release Yesterday and Today.

Rubber Soul was highly influential on the Beatles’ peers, leading to a widespread focus away from singles and onto creating albums of consistently high-quality songs. It has been recognised by music critics as an album that opened up the possibilities of pop music in terms of lyrical and musical scope, and as a key work in the creation of styles such as psychedelia and progressive rock. Among its many appearances on critics’ best-album lists, Rolling Stone ranked it fifth on the magazine’s 2012 list “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. In 2000, it was voted at number 34 in the third edition of Colin Larkin’s book All Time Top 1000 Albums. The album was certified 6× platinum by the RIAA in 1997, indicating shipments of at least six million copies in the US. In 2013, Rubber Soul was certified platinum by the BPI for UK sales since 1994.

• Release date: December 3, 1965
• Label: Capitol Records
• Genres: Rock, Pop music, Rock and roll, Pop rock, Folk rock, Blues rock, Art rock
• Length: 34:59
• Studio: EMI, London

Rubber Soul tracklist

SIDE A

1. Drive My Car
   (Lennon/McCartney)
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
   (Lennon/McCartney)
3. You Won’t See Me
   (Lennon/McCartney)
4. Nowhere Man
   (Lennon/McCartney)
5. Think For Yourself
   (Harrison)
6. The Word
   (Lennon/McCartney)
7. Michelle
   (Lennon/McCartney)

SIDE B

1. What Goes On
   (Lennon/McCartney/Starkey)
2. Girl
   (Lennon/McCartney)
3. I’m Looking Through You
   (Lennon/McCartney)
4. In My Life
   (Lennon/McCartney)
5. Wait
   (Lennon/McCartney)
6. If I Needed Someone
   (Harrison)
7. Run For Your Life
   (Lennon/McCartney)

Help! is the fifth studio album by the Beatles and the soundtrack to their film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the singles “Help!” and “Ticket to Ride“, appeared in the film and take up the first side of the vinyl album. The second side includes “Yesterday“, the most-covered song ever written. The album was met with good critical reviews and topped the Australian, German, UK and US charts.

During the recording sessions for the album, the Beatles continued to explore the studio’s multitracking capabilities to layer their sound. “Yesterday” features a string quartet, the band’s first use of Baroque sensibilities, and “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” includes a flute section. The North American release is a true soundtrack album, combining the first seven songs with instrumental music from the film. The omitted tracks are instead spread across the Capitol Records LPs Beatles VI, Rubber Soul and Yesterday and Today.

In the US, Help! marked the start of artistic recognition for the Beatles from mainstream critics, including comparisons to the European art music tradition. It was nominated in the category of Album of the Year at the 1966 Grammys Awards, marking the first time that a rock band had been recognised in this category. In 2000, it was voted 119th in the third edition of Colin Larkin’s book All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2020, it was ranked 266th on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. In September 2013, after the British Phonographic Industry changed its sales award rules, Help! was certified platinum for recorded sales since 1994.

• Release date: August 6, 1965
• Genres: Rock, Pop music, Pop rock, Country rock, Folk rock
• Label: Parlophone
• Nominations: Grammy Award for Album of the Year

Help! tracklist

SIDE A

1. Help!
   (Lennon/McCartney)
2. The Night Before
   (Lennon/McCartney)
3. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
   (Lennon/McCartney)
4. I Need You
   (Harrison)
5. Another Girl
   (Lennon/McCartney)
6. You’re Going To Lose That Girl
   (Lennon/McCartney)
7. Ticket To Ride
   (Lennon/McCartney)

SIDE B

1. Act Naturally
   (Russell/Morrison)
2. It’s Only Love
   (Lennon/McCartney)
3. You Like Me Too Much
   (Lennon/McCartney)
4. Tell Me What You See
   (Lennon/McCartney)
5. I’ve Just Seen A Face
   (Lennon/McCartney)
6. Yesterday
   (Lennon/McCartney)
7. Dizzy Miss Lizzy
   (Williams)

Beatles for Sale is the fourth studio album by the Beatles. It was released on 4 December 1964 in the United Kingdom on EMI’s Parlophone label. The album marked a departure from the upbeat tone that had characterized the Beatles’ previous work, partly due to the band’s exhaustion after a series of tours that had established them as a worldwide phenomenon in 1964. Beatles for Sale was not widely available in the US until 1987, when the Beatles’ catalogue was standardized for release on CD. Instead, eight of the album’s fourteen tracks appeared on Capitol Records’ concurrent release, Beatles ’65, issued in North America only.

The sessions for Beatles for Sale also produced a non-album single, “I Feel Fine” backed by “She’s a Woman“. During the sessions, the band ventured into studio experimentation, such as employing a fade-in and incorporating guitar feedback, and supplemented the basic recordings with percussion instruments such as timpani, African hand drums and chocalho. The album reflects the twin influences of country music and Bob Dylan, whom the Beatles met in New York in August 1964. Partly as a result of the group’s hectic schedule, only eight of the tracks are original compositions, with cover versions of songs by artists such as Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Little Richard being used to complete the album. The original songs introduced darker musical moods and more introspective lyrics, with John Lennon adopting an autobiographical perspective in “I’m a Loser” and “No Reply“.

Beatles for Sale received good reviews in the UK musical press, where it held the number one spot for 11 of the 46 weeks that it spent in the top 20. The album was similarly successful in Australia, where the band’s cover of Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music” also topped the singles chart. One of the songs omitted from the US version of the album, “Eight Days a Week”, became the Beatles’ seventh number one in the US when issued as a single there in February 1965. In 2000, it was voted number 204 in the third edition of Colin Larkin’s book All Time Top 1000 Albums.

• Release date: December 4, 1964
• Genres: Rock, Pop music, Rock and roll, Pop rock, Country music, Folk rock, Country rock
• Label: Parlophone

Beatles For Sale tracklist

SIDE A

1. No Reply
   (Lennon/McCartney)
2. I’m A Loser
   (Lennon/McCartney)
3. Baby’s in Black
   (Lennon/McCartney)
4. Rock And Roll Music
   (Berry)
5. I’ll Follow The Sun
   (Lennon/McCartney)
6. Mr Moonlight
   (Johnson)
7. Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey!
   (Leiber/Stoller/Penniman)

SIDE B

1. Eight Days A Week
   (Lennon/McCartney)
2. Words Of Love
   (Holly)
3. Honey Don’t
   (Perkins)
4. Every Little Thing
   (Lennon/McCartney)
5. I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party
   (Lennon/McCartney)
6. What You’re Doing
   (Lennon/McCartney)
7. Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby
   (Carl Perkins)