BEATLES RUBBER SOUL RARE 2ND UK PRESS KT TAX STAMP

	£		50
	$		66

THANK YOU FOR VIEWING MY LISTING FOR THE BEATLES "RUBBER SOUL" 1965 2ND UK PRESS WITH MATRIX ENDINGS - 4 - 4  AND KT TAX CODE STAMP ON THE YELLOW & BLACK PARLOPHONE LABEL CATALOGUE NUMBER PMC 1267, WITH ‘SOLD IN THE UK... & GRAMOPHONE CO..., IN THE ORIGINAL FRONT LAMINATED GARROD & LOFTHOUSE FLIPBACK COVER. I TEST PLAYED THE ALBUM TWICE AT HIGH VOLUME BEFORE LISTING ON MY MONO DEDICATED SYSTEM AND THE ALBUM PLAYS THROUGHOUT WITH ABSOLUTELY NO SKIPS, JUMPS OR ANY SIGNS OF GROOVEWEAR INTERFERENCE A VERY PLAYABLE COPY. SEE AUDIO DESCRIPTION FOR MORE DETAILS.

Matrix/Mothers  Side1 XEX 579 - 4 / 5 HHG     Side2 XEX 580 - 4 / 5 TAG

I have been a collector of vinyl for more than 30 years, with a collection of over 2,000 albums, the time has come to part with some of the collection. Over the coming months I will be listing some of the albums I have decided to part with here on ebay as well as on my bluesvinyl4u website, while the majority of my albums are blues related from all eras, there will be a mixed bag to chose from.

ALBUM DESCRIPTION (Scroll Down For Supersize Pictures)

Rubber Soul is the sixth album by The Beatles, first released in December 1965. Produced by George Martin, the album was recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market. It was a major artistic achievement for the band, attaining widespread critical and commercial success, with reviewers taking note of The Beatles' developing musical vision. In 2003, the album was ranked number 5 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Musically, the Beatles broadened their sound, most notably with influences drawn from the contemporary folk-rock of the Byrds and Bob Dylan. The album also saw the Beatles broadening rock n' roll's instrumental resources, most notably on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". This track is generally credited as being the first pop recording to use the sitar, an exotic Indian stringed instrument, and "Norwegian Wood" sparked a musical craze for the sound of the novel instrument in the mid-Sixties. The song is now acknowledged as one of the cornerstones of what is now usually called "world music" and it was a major landmark in the trend towards incorporating non-Western musical influences into Western popular music. Harrison had recently been introduced to Indian classical music and the sitar by David Crosby of the Byrds. He soon became fanatically interested in the genre and began taking sitar lessons from renowned Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar.

Recording innovations were also made during the recording of the album — for instance, the keyboard solo in "In My Life" sounds like a harpsichord, but was actually played on a piano. George Martin found he could not match the tempo of the song while playing in this baroque style, so he tried recording with the tape running at half-speed. When played back at normal speed during the mixdown, the sped-up sound gave the illusion of a harpsichord. Other production innovations included the use of electronic sound processing on many instruments, notably the heavily compressed and equalised piano sound on Lennon's "The Word"; this distinctive effect soon became extremely popular in the genre of psychedelic music.

Lyrically, the album was a major progression. Though a smattering of earlier Beatles songs had expressed romantic doubt and negativity, the songs on Rubber Soul represented a pronounced development in sophistication, thoughtfulness, and ambiguity. In particular, the relationships between the sexes moved from simpler boy-girl love songs to more nuanced, even negative portrayals. "Norwegian Wood", one of the most famous examples and often cited as the Beatles' first conscious assimilation of the lyrical innovations of Bob Dylan, sketches a poetically ambiguous extra-marital affair between the singer and a mysterious girl. "Drive My Car" serves as a satirical piece of reverse sexism. Songs like "I'm Looking Through You", "You Won't See Me", and "Girl" express more emotionally complex, even bitter and downbeat portrayals of romance, and "Nowhere Man" was the first Beatles song to move beyond a romantic subject.

After completing the album and the accompanying single "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper", the Beatles were exhausted from years of virtually non-stop recording, touring, and film work. They subsequently took a three-month break during the first part of 1966, and used this down time exploring new directions that would colour their subsequent musical work. These became immediately apparent in the next album, Revolver.

Until very late in their career, the "primary" version of the Beatles' albums was always the monophonic mix. According to Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn, the group, producer George Martin, and the Abbey Road engineers devoted most of their time and attention to the mono mixdowns, and the band were usually all present throughout these sessions and actively participated in them. Even with their landmark Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP, the stereo mixdowns were considered less important than the mono version and were completed in far less time than the mono mixdown.

While the stereo version of the original release of Rubber Soul was similar to that of their earliest albums, featuring mainly vocals on the right channel and instruments on the left, it was not produced in the same manner!!. The early albums were recorded on twin-track tape, and they were intended only for production of monaural records, so they kept vocals and instruments separated allowing the two parts to later be mixed in proper proportion. By this time, however, the Beatles were recording on four-track tape, which allowed a stereo master to be produced with vocals in the center and instruments on both sides, as evidenced in their prior albums Beatles for Sale and Help!. But Martin was looking for a way to easily produce a stereo album which sounded good on a monaural record player. In what he admits was some experimentation, he mixed down the four-track master tape to stereo with vocals on the right, instruments on the left, and nothing in the middle

Track Listing

   1.   “Drive My Car” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

   2.   “Norwegian Wood” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

   3.   “You Won't See Me” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

   4.   "Nowhere Man” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

   5.   “Think For Yourself” - George Harrison

   6.   “The Word” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

   7.   “Michelle” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

   8.   “What Goes On” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

   9.   “Girl” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

   10. “I'm Looking Through You” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

   12.   “Wait” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

   13.   “If I Needed Someone” - George Harrison

   14. “Run For Your Life” - John Lennon / Paul McCartney

 I have carefully played the album twice before listing at high volume using my mono dedicated system and am pleased to say that it plays through with absolutely no skips, jumps or any groovewear interference. In fact side one of the album plays as at least excellent with crystal clear mono reproduction, in fact on ‘Norwegian Wood’ you can clearly hear the plectrum strumming the acoustic guitar, the only exception is the track ‘Michelle’ notorious for pressing imperfections, it plays with minor crackle/pop, but still enjoyable to listen to in my opinion . On side two again the majority plays at least excellent with superb audio on three tracks I heard the occasional tick or pop, but nothing which spoiled my enjoyment.

THE VINYL

The vinyl is of course the heavy robust early type, and generally very clean considering this is a 45 year old vinyl, there are a few minor scuffs/needle marks but nothing which causes any serious problems with the audio as I have described.

THE COVER 

COVER

This is the original Garrod & Lofthouse laminated front flipback and is generally in pretty good condition with no splits or tears or writing. There is a tiny amount of laminate lifting and creasing and a small scuff mark on the front, on the rear there is laminate lifting on one of the flipbacks and minor colour aging, but other than this the rear is very clean with absolutely no marks or writing. Corners have virtually no storage wear and the spine is perfectly straight with all the writing perfectly clear and legible.

THE LABELS 

The labels are the early press only yellow and black Parlaphone while spidering can be seen they are in otherwise unmarked condition and show the album clearly hasn’t been overplayed.  Labels also feature the early press only ‘Sold In The UK...’ across and ‘The Gramophone Co...’ around them. Side to features the KT Tax Code Stamp.

THIS ALBUM WILL BE SENT IN A LARGE BOX WITH CARDBOARD STIFFENERS THE VINYL AND COVER WILL BE INSERTED SEPARATELY IN POLY SLEEVES AND WRAPPED WITH PLENTY OF BUBBLEWRAP FOR ADDED PROTECTION.

I have tried to give an honest assessment of the item listed. I have played the item track by track and again given my honest view on the audio quality. The photos I have taken are intended to give you the clearest impression of the visual quality. Please note, photos are the actual item for sale.

Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions regarding the album or details regarding the listing.

Shipping 

USA \ Canada \ Japan \ Australia - 11.76 GBP Including International Signed For Delivery With Insurance & Tracking

EUROPE - 8.76 GBP Including International Signed For Delivery With Insurance & Tracking

UK FREE - Sent by Recorded Delivery

All items are covered by insurance up to a value of £36.00 for loss or damage in transit. Higher value insurance can be arranged for an additional charge.Some countries however have a maximum value for insurance purposes.  Items will be dispatched by Royal Mail signed for 1st class delivery. normally the next working day on receipt of cleared funds. Tracking details are will be e-mailed to the winning bidder after dispatch.

I offer a postage discount for multiple purchases, but buyers must pay for the items as they are won.  

New ebayers with low, poor or no real history, please contact me before bidding otherwise bids will be cancelled

I WILL BE LISTING MORE BLUES RELATED ALBUMS ON THIS SITE OVER THE COMING WEEKS PLEASE BOOKMARK ME

Please view my other rare  Blues And Blues Related 1st UK pressings

Listed Now On Ebay at wwwbluesvinyl4ucom

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