Editing Rubber Soul (section)

==Title and artwork==
The album title was intended as a [[pun]] combining the falseness intrinsic to pop music and rubber-soled shoes.{{sfn|Bray|2014|p=269}} Lennon said the title was McCartney's idea and referred to "English soul".{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=193}} In a 1966 press conference, Starr said they called the album ''Rubber Soul'' to acknowledge that, in comparison to American soul artists, "we are white and haven't got what they've got", and he added that this was true of all the British acts who attempted to play soul music.{{sfn|Turner|2016|p=439}} McCartney recalled that he conceived the title after overhearing an American musician describing [[Mick Jagger]]'s singing style as "[[plastic soul]]".{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=193}}{{refn|group=nb|McCartney used a similar phrase – "Plastic soul, man, plastic soul"{{sfn|Bray|2014|pp=257–58}} – after the Beatles had completed the first take of "[[I'm Down]]", as released on the 1996 compilation ''[[Anthology 2]]''.{{sfn|MacDonald|1998|p=159}}}} In Phillip Norman's view, the title served as "a sly dig at their archrivals (and private best mates) the Rolling Stones", with the added implication that the Beatles' "variety" of soul music "at least was stamped out by a good strong northern [English] [[Wellington boot]]".{{sfn|Norman|2008|p=419}}

''Rubber Soul'' was the group's first album not to feature their name on the cover,{{sfn|Everett|2001|pp=335–36}}{{sfn|Du Noyer|2020|p=79}} an omission that reflected the level of control they had over their releases and the extent of their international fame.{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=49}}{{sfn|Harrington|2002|pp=112–13}}{{refn|group=nb|Although the front cover of ''Beatles for Sale'' carried no artist credit, the band's name formed part of the album title, which was rendered in minuscule type compared with standard LP artwork of the time.<ref>Spencer, Neil. "''Beatles For Sale'': Some Product". In: {{harvnb|''Mojo Special Limited Edition: The Early Years''|2002|p=132}}.</ref> The Beatles had first wanted an album cover free of any artist or title text with ''[[With the Beatles]]'' in 1963, but the idea was vetoed by EMI.<ref>Harris, John. "Snapper's Delight". In: {{harvnb|''Mojo Special Limited Edition: The Early Years''|2002|p=59}}.</ref>}} The cover photo of the Beatles was taken by photographer [[Robert Freeman (photographer)|Robert Freeman]] in the garden at Lennon's house.{{sfn|Womack|2007|p=125}} The idea for the "stretched" effect of the image came about by accident when Freeman was projecting the photo onto an LP-size piece of cardboard for the Beatles' benefit, and the board fell slightly backwards, elongating the projected image.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=197}}{{sfn|Frontani|2007|pp=116–17}}{{refn|group=nb|McCartney recalled the band's reaction: "That's it, ''Rubber So-o-oul'', hey hey! Can you do it like that?"{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=197}}}} Harrison said the effect was appropriate since it allowed the group to lose "the 'little innocents' tag, the naivety" and it was in keeping with their emergence as "fully fledged potheads".{{sfn|Frontani|2007|p=117}} Author [[Peter Doggett]] highlights the cover as an example of the Beatles, like Dylan and the Stones, "continu[ing] to test the limits of the portrait" in their LP designs.{{sfn|Doggett|2015|p=393}}

The distinctive lettering was created by illustrator [[Charles Front]],{{sfn|Morgan|Wardle|2015|p=182}} who recalled that his inspiration was the album's title: "If you tap into a [[rubber tree]] then you get a sort of globule, so I started thinking of creating a shape that represented that, starting narrow and filling out."<ref name="Bachelor/Guardian" /> The rounded letters used on the sleeve established a style that became ubiquitous in [[Psychedelic art|psychedelic designs]]{{sfn|Morgan|Wardle|2015|p=182}} and, according to journalist Lisa Bachelor, "a staple of poster art for the [[flower power]] generation".<ref name="Bachelor/Guardian">{{cite web |last=Bachelor |first=Lisa |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/jun/17/art.thebeatles |title=Iconic Beatles artwork under the hammer |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=17 June 2007 |access-date=23 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424181208/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/jun/17/art.thebeatles |archive-date=24 April 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>