A$# 031 Beatles | Help!

Help!, released on August 6, 1965, was a transitional album for the Fab Four.

It contained the soundtrack songs for their second movie. It had John’s first directly confessional song (Help!). It had Paul’s sublime masterpiece song (Yesterday). It was the last album to feature any cover songs, and it had only two (Act Naturally and Dizzy Miss Lizzie); such was the strength of their songwriting. It was the first album with two songs by George (I Need You and You Like Me Too Much). It showed some definite Dylan influences (You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, I’ve Just Seen A Face). It was the last of the “early” Beatles albums (before the psychedelic transformation that would start with Rubber Soul) – yet it’s clearly evident that they had already progressed lightyears since Love Me Do, in just three short years.

In the recording sessions between February 15 and June 17, the Beatles displayed a remarkable degree of versatility and creativity. As Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn chronicled:

1965 ushered in a new phase of the Beatles’ career, away from concert and other public performances and towards a more serious application in the recording studio. At the same time, the group and George Martin adopted new recording techniques. One was to rehearse songs with a tape machine running, spooling back to record properly over the rehearsed material. Another was to make finished, releasable recordings in just one or two takes, an impressively economical operation which frequently belied the work involved.

Take one example of that – Monday, June 14. That's a date that may not be as immediately obvious to Beatles fans as, say, November 4, 1963 (the Royal Command Performance) or February 9, 1964 (their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show). In my opinion, June 14 is a special day in Beatles recording history, and a great demonstration of the astonishing genius of, in particular, one Paul McCartney. For it was on this day that three very different songs were committed to tape: the folkie I’ve Just Seen A Face (six takes), the strident rocker I’m Down (which did not appear on the Help! album, but was the b-side to the Help! single) (seven takes) and the celebrated Yesterday (two takes).

The resulting album has a wonderful array of songs. What are my faves? Well, in addition to the best known tracks - Help!, Ticket To Ride, Yesterday and You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away - I’ve always liked this quartet of songs: I Need You (George), Act Naturally (a cover that’s perfect for Ringo), It’s Only Love (John, even though he later slagged this song) and I’ve Just Seen A Face (Paul).

Here’s the track listing of the British version, which is what you get on CD.

1. Help!
2. The Night Before
3. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
4. I Need You
5. Another Girl
6. You're Going To Lose That Girl
7. Ticket To Ride
8. Act Naturally
9. It's Only Love
10. You Like Me Too Much
11. Tell Me What You See
12. I've Just Seen A Face
13. Yesterday
14. Dizzy Miss Lizzie