Infestation pt. 3....i think

As The Beatles transitioned from Help (released in August of '65) and really all other Beatles albums to Rubber Soul (released in December '65), many Beatles fans were shocked.  Within the course of about 3 years the worlds most popular rock band went from singing about holding hands to using sitar and lots and lots of drugs.   Most of this influence came from none other than the great Bob Dylan, who introduced our favorite English lads to marijuana...great idea.



















Although the themes of the songs changed, The Beatles didn't stop writing and recording great music.  In their 1965 album Help, John's infatuation with Dylan continues with the song "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away."  Lennon tries his hardest to sound just like him not only vocally but also instrumentally with the acoustic guitar and hints at a tambourine.  The funny part is (in my opinion) Lennon didn't do a very good job at his impersonation because he still sounds better.    

Two other giant hits off of Help include the title track "Help" and one of the groups biggest hits of all time: "Yesterday."  The song was essentially a McCartney solo, wholly composed by the vocalist, even playing guitar on the track as well.  The song is also one of the most covered Beatles songs if not one of the most covered songs of all time.  The writing is amazing and I think it is unquestionably one of the greatest Beatles songs of all time.

On their album Rubber Soul, their sound changed.  Although there are still some up beat and happier songs like "Drive My Car," that hints of incorporating piano back into Rock and Roll.  There are also songs that are very different from what many Beatles fans would've remembered from their earlier years.  One of these songs is entitled "Norwegian Wood."  For the first time in Beatles history there is use of the sitar, a stringed instrument that many people in England and most likely the US had never heard before.  Although the songs' meaning isn't exactly clear cut, it definitely doesn't take away from the album.  One song called "In My Life" could be considered another one of the groups greatest songs of their career because it had the ability to show the numerous emotions that Rock and Roll singers and bands were allowed to show.  In other words, they didn't always have to be obsessed with girls or drugs. 

Regardless of their "transformation," of sorts, throughout the years, the band is still one of the best if not the best rock band of all time.  The change does not take away from them, but if anything adds a sense of diversity and uniqueness to the group, something that not a lot of bands during that time had.
-Brooks Gonzales