A countdown clock has gone up on the Beatles’ website.
Tomorrow morning at 9am will come the announcement of the last anniversary box set from the Beatles canon.
“Rubber Soul” — released in December 1965 — was the 9th American Beatles album but just fifth in the UK. It was the beginning of the group’s turn toward their adult, megawatt classic period, followed by “Revolver,” “Sgt Pepper,” “The White Album,” “Abbey Road,” and “Let it Be.”
The album features such classics as “Drive My Car,” “Nowhere Man,” “Michelle,” “You Won’t See Me,” and best of all, “In My Life,” a song so advanced and lyrically sophisticated for someone of John Lennon’s age (25?) that it’s jaw dropping.
A 2009 remaster is still perfectly good, but you knew technology will make us feel like the group is singing in our living rooms. It will be loud, and super fans will fight over the mixes. But, again, the 2009 version doesn’t go away.
All the other Beatles albums have had anniversary box sets, and for the layman they’re terrific. Each one has a CD we couldn’t get before, whether it’s the Esher recordings from “The White Album” or Glyn Johns’ mix of “Let it Be.” So we can expect demos, outtakes, takeout menus, and such from the “Rubber Soul” era.
Are we excited? Always. Last year the big event was the refreshed Anthology box, which applied new technology, a sound facelift so to speak, plus a 4th volume. Experts and enthusiasts will say there’s a lot more Apple can release, lots of stuff we’ve never heard as far as demos etc, but I think this may be ‘it.”
Should be released in October, the usual time for Beatles’ reissues, just in time for Christmas.
