Unreleased, undocumented John Lennon song to feature on new Beatles Rubber Soul super deluxe collection

Following on from the expanded, super deluxe edition releases of several of the band’s classic, studio albums, The Beatles return with a bumper, four-LP collection documenting their iconic 1965 masterpiece, ‘Rubber Soul’.

Chronologically (in the UK), ‘Rubber Soul’ appeared as the sixth album in the Beatles’ oeuvre. It’s a remarkable collection of songs for a number reasons. Firstly, considering how busy the band were in 1965, possibly their peak year. It’s any wonder they could catch their breath never mind pen a whole new album and while they were at it, maintain their position as the lords and shapeshifters of popular music and popular culture.

Recording began at Abbey Road studios on October 12 1965 - less than two months after the group has played in front of over 55,000 hysterical fans at New York’s Shea Stadium - at the time, the largest crowd ever to attend a pop concert.

On their return to England on September 2, the Fabs had just under six weeks to compose the songs that would appear on ‘Rubber Soul’ - an album that would see the band set off in a new direction, and signal the end of the ‘Beatlemania’ era. Even the title, a play on words, and Robert Freeman‘s distorted cover photo felt new and different.

The entire album, from start to finish, was recorded in less than a month (October 12 - November 11, 1965) and rushed out for the Christmas market, hitting shops on December 3.

What songs feature on the Beatles ‘Rubber Soul’ super deluxe edition?

The full track listing has not been officially released yet, but it’s been leaked online. The four LP set contains both the UK release on Parlophone as well as the US release on Capitol - both releases were slightly different. The UK edition has 14 tracks and opens with Drive My Car while the US edition has 12 tracks, including two songs from the previous album, Help.

All of the previous super deluxe editions of the Beatles back catalog featured new stereo mixes created by Giles Martin, so we can expect something similar.

There is a bonus disc which includes early takes, remakes, instrumentals and the big surprise - a couple of demos. We will get to hear Paul McCartney strumming an acoustic guitar along to his latest composition, We Can Work it Out. A recording of this surfaced in the 90s, but it’s incomplete. Who knows if Paul gave John Lennon the demo tape to work on in his new attic studio at Kenwood, but half of it has been recorded over by Lennon in a zany, gameshow host spoof. Could a complete demo recording still exist in Apple’s vaults.

Brand new Lennon track comes to light

And the real exciting news for fans is the inclusion of a brand new Lennon track: Little Girl, which has never been documented - not even by top historian Mark Lewisohn.

Will Little Girl be any good? It’s difficult to say but judging by the group’s strict quality control both during their heyday and in the years after they split, it might not be quite up to their impossibly high standards. Other songs left in the can and deemed not good enough have since made it onto the Anthology series as it clear there is a sizable market for completists.

Then there will be the alternate takes of the song that actually appeared on the album along with the double-header single: Day Tripper/We Can Work it Out.

There are four takes of Day Tripper, three of Norwegian Wood and I’m Looking Through You plus otherwise unknown takes of Nowhere Man and In My Life - the latter was tried out with an organ solo overdub by producer George Martin which was eventually binned. Some of these alternate takes could be instrumentals, false stars or remakes. Nevertheless, another fascinating insight into the Fab Four at work and at their creative best.

The Rubber Soul super deluxe edition is available for preorder on multiple LP, CD, and Blu-ray formats and will go on full release on October 2.

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