A newly released Beatles demo, Day Tripper (Songwriting Work Tape), from the upcoming expanded special edition of The Beatles’ 1965 album Rubber Soul, offers a rare glimpse into the early stages of the song’s creation.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney are captured working on the song at Lennon’s home in Surrey, highlighting their unique dynamic, as they can also be heard laughing while they’re chipping away at the track.
Intriguingly, despite having the chords, lyrics, and most of the key harmonies, the demo shows that the iconic riff that came to define the song only came later.
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The final version of Day Tripper was eventually finished during an eight-hour studio session, but this Songwriting Work Tape gives listeners a direct window into the workings of the duo that wrote some of the most enduring songs of all time.
The iconic riff was later laid down by George Harrison, though Lennon maintained he wrote it, along with the vast majority of the song.
First released on December 3, 1965, Rubber Soul marked a turning point in The Beatles’ career, as it arrived at the end of a year that included many career and artistic milestones.
Despite the time constraints that came with back-to-back touring, the Fab Four leveraged several new instruments – including George Harrison’s 1965 Rickenbacker 360-12, Lennon’s matching Sonic Blue 1961 Fender Stratocasters, and McCartney’s Rickenbacker 4001S bass – to write timeless classics like Norwegian Wood, Michelle, In My Life, and Nowhere Man.
The Rubber Soul sessions also spawned We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper – the latter of which drew upon the influence of American soul music. In the UK, the double A single became the seventh highest-selling single of the 1960s and the Christmas number one of 1965.
Rubber Soul Special Edition, newly mixed by producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell, opens the studio doors on the making of the iconic album.
It brings together 24 early session recordings – including 20 previously unreleased takes and three previously unreleased home demos – alongside a new stereo mix, original mono mix, original Capitol US album version and the contemporary Day Tripper / We Can Work It Out single.
The extended album will be released on October 2 and is available to pre-order now.
