How a Rolling Stones insult inspired one of The Beatles' biggest albums

23 October 2025, 13:38 | Updated: 23 October 2025, 13:41

How a diss aimed at Mick Jagger and co gave The Beatles (and David Bowie) a witty spin on soul.

The Beatles and The Rolling Stones crossed paths several times over the 1960s.

They had their collaborations and more cantankerous moments during the decade, from John Lennon and Paul McCartney writing 'I Wanna Be Your Man' for the Stones to John's annoyance over Their Satanic Majesties Request "borrowing" from The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

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But it also turns out that one of The Beatles' very best albums had a title that owed something to the Rolling Stones.

More specifically, it was an insult directed at the Stones that led to the Fab Four calling their sixth album Rubber Soul.

"It was Paul's title," John Lennon said in 1970. "It was like 'Yer Blues', I suppose, meaning English soul. 'Rubber Soul'. Just a pun."

The Making of Rubber Soul

Quoted in Anthology, Paul said: "I think the title Rubber Soul came from a comment an old blues guys had said of Jagger.

"I've heard some out-takes of us doing 'I'm Down' and at the front of it I'm chatting on about Mick. I'm saying how I'd just read about an old bloke in the States who said, 'Mick Jagger, man. Well you know they're good – but it's plastic soul'.

"So 'plastic soul' was the germ of the Rubber Soul idea."

Indeed, if you listen to the first take of 'I'm Down' on Anthology 2, over the end you can hear Macca saying :"Plastic soul, man. Plastic soul."

I'm Down (Take 1)

The phrase "plastic soul" has lived on in rock 'n' roll history, with genre hopper (and John Lennon duet partner) David Bowie sometimes being insulted as such when he dipped his toes into Black music, and on one occasion seemingly embracing the label.

In his memorable 1976 interview with Playboy, Bowie first described his Ziggy Stardust era as "plastic" before using the whole "plastic soul" phrase to describe the Blue-eyed Brit/Philly soul mashup of Young Americans.

"What I did with my Ziggy Stardust was package a totally credible, plastic rock 'n' roll singer – much better than The Monkees could ever fabricate," Bowie said,

"I mean, my plastic rock-'n'-roller was much more plastic than anybody's. And that was what was needed at the time. And it still is. Most people still want their idols and gods to be shallow, like cheap toys."

He added of his later work: "Let's be honest; my rhythm and blues are thoroughly plastic.

"Young Americans, the album 'Fame' is from, is, I would say, the definitive plastic soul record. It's the squashed remains of ethnic music as it survives in the age of Muzak rock, written and sung by a white limey."

He used the same phrase, in a slightly less self-deprecating way, in conversation with the NME.

"If anything maybe I've helped establish that Rock and Roll is a pose," Bowie said. "My statement is very pointed – except it's very ambiguous. My statement is 'rock and roll is walking all over everybody'.

"I tried to do a little stretch of how it feels musically in this country, which is sort of the relentless plastic soul basically. That's what the last album was."