Beatles to release unheard Lennon demo 'Little Girl' on Rubber Soul reissue
A previously unheard John Lennon demo called “Little Girl” will be released on Oct. 2 as part of an expanded special edition of the Beatles’ Rubber Soul. Producer Giles Martin confirmed the find in an interview with Billboard.
Martin said the track turned up in the band’s vault during work on the reissue. It came from home demos recorded on reel-to-reel tape, the spool-based system used for informal recordings, and from the same batch of material as “Day Tripper.” An early version of the “Day Tripper”/“We Can Work It Out” single was found at the same time.
Do not expect another classic. Martin described “Little Girl” as “just a little ditty” and said listeners should not expect a song on the level of “Strawberry Fields” or “In My Life.”
He said there was never a plan to do more with it than place it among rarities, outtakes, alternative versions and studio chatter on the packages. It did not get the posthumous studio overhaul given to “Now and Then” in 2023 or to “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” for the Anthology series in the mid-1990s.
Rubber Soul was first released on Dec. 3, 1965. It was the group’s sixth album. The “Day Tripper”/“We Can Work It Out” single was issued at the same time as the original LP in 1965.
The new edition centres on a fresh stereo mix, a new balance of the separate recorded tracks for two speakers, by Martin and Sam Okell. It also carries the original mono mix, the single-channel sound heard in 1965, the Capitol US album version, and Dolby Atmos mixes, the surround-sound format that places instruments around the listener, according to The Beatles.
The set is expanded with never-before-released session recordings and demos, plus the contemporary “Day Tripper” and “We Can Work It Out” single. The collection spans 10 music formats plus a merch range, including a Special Edition Zoetrope pressing, a picture disc with printed animation that moves when spun under light. The Deluxe 2CD pairs the new mix with a 16-track disc of extras.
The reissue brings together all 14 new stereo mixes for the first time, according to The Beatles. It is available to pre-order now on multiple LP, CD and Blu-ray formats. ‘Michelle (Take 1)’ is out now.
Martin is the son of late Beatles producer George Martin. He worked with his father on the soundtrack for Love, the Cirque du Soleil Beatles show staged in 2006.
For fans, this means a small window into how Lennon caught ideas at home. The release keeps it there, too — a brief sketch left as a sketch.
