An early ‘songwriting work tape’ has been released, showing how The Beatles‘ ‘Day Tripper’ came together.
The original song was recorded during the sessions for the Fab Four’s landmark 1965 album ‘Rubber Soul’. Both ‘Day Tripper’ and ‘We Can Work It Out’ were set to be released as a standalone double A-side single and were kept separate from the album.
Now, ahead of a new expanded Special Edition of ‘Rubber Soul’ being released on October 2, a new ‘Songwriting Work Tape’ of ‘Day Tripper’ has been released – offering a rare glimpse into the earliest stages of the song.
The song was first developed by John Lennon as a folk song, and later turned into the final version alongside Paul McCartney a month later. The newly released recording shows the two working on it together – and features audio of them laughing together and also noting the high level of sound being captured on tape.
The finished version was later completed during an eight-hour studio session.
Available now to listen to now, ‘Day Tripper (Songwriting Work Tape)’ will also be included in the forthcoming ‘Rubber Soul Special Edition’, which is newly mixed by producer Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell.
With the new version of the album. It will be presented in new stereo and Dolby Atmos mixes for the first time in over six decades, and come in a box-set alongside the original mono mix and the original Capitol US Album version.
Alongside the original tracklist – which features fan-favourites including ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)’, ‘Nowhere Man’, ‘Michelle’, and ‘In My Life’ – there will also be ‘We Can Work It Out’ and a selection of previously unreleased session recordings and home demos.
Variations of the reissue include the Special Edition Standard with 14 songs, the Special Edition Deluxe which has 30 tracks, and the Blu-ray Edition which includes 16 tracks and four videos. The most expansive variation is the Special Edition Super Deluxe, which comes as either a 5-LP box-set or a 4-CD box-set and includes 68 tracks. These include the new stereo mix of ‘Rubber Soul’, two discs of Sessions and Demos, the original mono master of the album, the original Capitol US version, and the 7” A-side single.
Other special features include a demo song, ‘Little Girl’, which was written and recorded by Lennon and has remained unreleased since it was first developed, and an 88-page hardbound book featuring a brand new written introduction by Paul McCartney, and a foreword compiled from Lennon’s own words.
Visit here to pre-order, and here for the tracklist.
In other Beatles news, the band are also going to be the subject of a four-film series by Sam Mendes, slated for a simultaneous release in April 2028, and it has also been confirmed that 3 Savile Row – an iconic London landmark long associated with the band – will open its doors to the public for the first time next year.
Paul McCartney dropped his new album ‘The Boys of Dungeon Lane‘ earlier this year, which is his first solo record since 2020’s ‘McCartney III’, and features his first duet with former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr. Around the time of the album’s release, McCartney sat down with NME to look forward and back on his extraordinary career and reveal if he has plans to retire.