The Beatles song Rick Rubin couldn’t live without: “Imprinted what a great song is”
Rick Rubin is one of the most versatile musical minds on the planet. Although he lacks technical ability when it comes to writing or recording music, his open-minded approach to music has made him one of the most famous producers on the planet. No matter what genre you’re talking about, there is an album out there with Rubin’s stamp on it.
Rubin has a very relaxed approach when it comes to making music; he believes in constantly keeping his mind open to creativity, and when an idea presents itself, he can latch onto it, however, he doesn’t force an idea. This isn’t to everyone’s taste, for instance, Corey Taylor didn’t like working with him because his laid-back attitude didn’t align with Taylor’s. “Yeah, he kicked it on the couch,” said Taylor, “Stroked his beard and nodded and then he was out.”
While this way of working might not be to everybody’s taste, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to people that this is the way that Rubin works. His love of music was a natural thing; he was always open-minded when listening to songs, but he didn’t have the means available to find new music on his own. As such, songs came and went, and Rubin latched on to whatever appealed to him. His work in music is a reflection of how he fell in love with the art form in the first place.
For instance, when Rick Rubin first discovered punk music, he felt somewhat isolated listening to it, as nobody around him was interested in it. “I was the only punk rocker in my school,” said Rubin, “There were no other punk rockers, and there was no internet, so I couldn’t meet like-minded people through social media. I was the lone punk rocker… for the longest time. Yes, it was a little sad!”
While a lot of the music that Rubin liked presented itself to him naturally, there was one band he found himself constantly surrounded by and unable to escape. While he was growing up, his household was continually listening to The Beatles, and as such, like most music lovers, Rubin has an inescapable specific affinity for them. It shouldn’t be surprising that when talking about music he loved, Rubin cited this intense period of having The Beatles thrust upon him and how eye-opening it was for a would-be producer.
One of the tracks he picks out as his favourite was one of the band’s later offerings, ‘Across The Universe’. “From three years old to seven years old, The Beatles were everywhere, and everywhere in my home,” said Rubin when talking about how important the song is to him, “It somehow imprinted what a great song is on a very deep level before I knew I was looking for what that was.”
The song was released in 1970 on the band’s Let It Be album. John Lennon said that the idea for the track came to him when he was lying in bed with his wife. He said she must have said something to him, and the words stayed with him to the point that he had to go downstairs and commit them to sound. Who would have thought this moment would resonate so many years later and inspire years of music as a result?
