Help! (Album)

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Help!
The Beatles' studio album

Publication
(s)

0August 6, 1965 ( UK ) ,
August 12, 1965 ( D ) ,
August 13, 1965 ( US )

Label (s) Parlophone / Capitol / EMI / Universal Music Group

Format (s)

LP , CD , MC , download

Genre (s)

Folk-rock , rock , pop-rock

Title (number)

14th

running time

33 min 20 s

occupation

Other musicians:

  • Sidney Sax: violin
  • Francisco Gabarro: cello

production

George Martin

Studio (s)

Abbey Road Studios

chronology
Beatles for Sale
(1964)

Germany:

The Beatles' Greatest
(1965)

Help! Rubber Soul
(1965)

Help! ( English Help! ) is the fifth studio album by the British group The Beatles , which was released on August 6, 1965 in Great Britain. In Germany, the album was released on August 12, 1965, here it was their ninth album, including the compilation albums . The first page of the album contains the soundtrack for the film of the same name, which was released in German-speaking countries under the title Hi-Hi-Hilfe! came into theaters. In the USA , a modified version of the album, which only contains film music, was released on August 13, 1965. The UK version of Help! was released in the US on July 21, 1987 on CD .

Emergence

The album Help! was released for the Beatles film of the same name. Overall, the album was musically and lyrically more mature than the previous albums, so the title Help! a more serious meaning than the film was able to show. John Lennon wrote Help! at a time when he was in a phase of self-discovery. Above all, Lennon observed a significant gain in weight, paired with a slight depression, he called it his "Fat Elvis " phase. Thus, the song can actually be understood as a cry for help.

The Beatles at Madrid Airport , July 1, 1965

During the recording of You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - apart from Andy White during the recording of Love Me Do - a strange musician was invited for the production for the first time , who played a flute solo on the song. In You've Got to Hide Your Love Away , John Lennon was again influenced by Bob Dylan .

The acoustic song I've Just Seen a Face was influenced by country music . Yesterday , another composition by Paul McCartney, became the most covered pop song of all time. In the song Yesterday none of the other Beatles was first involved in the recording, continues to be a first time in a recording of the Beatles strings - Arrangement used that of George Martin comes.

Paul McCartney said of the making of the songs: “We wrote the songs for the album mostly at John's home in Weybridge. For A Hard Day's Night , John had gone home alone and had done a lot after that, but at Help! we sat down and wrote together. "

George Harrison contributed his own compositions for the first time since the album With the Beatles from November 1963: I Need You and You Like Me Too Much .

On February 23, 1965, filming began in the Bahamas . As with the previous album, Help! Recorded quickly, as the deadline pressure was still great, eleven songs were recorded between February 15 and 20. Except for the song Help! the soundtrack was complete at the beginning of the filming, the theme song was completed on April 13, 1965.

The Beatles in August 1965 during a press conference

A total of 20 songs were recorded during the sessions, 14 of which were used for the album and seven of them for the soundtrack. Although the Beatles had the opportunity to fill the album completely with their own compositions, they waived this option in favor of two third-party compositions, the song Act Naturally sung by Ringo Starr and Dizzy Miss Lizzy . Up to and including the album Abbey Road , no third-party compositions were used for the following albums.

The last recordings were made on June 17, 1965, the mono mixes were made on February 18 and 20 and on June 18, the stereo mixes on February 23, May 10 and June 18, 1965.

The album Help! entered the UK charts at number one on August 11, 1965, where it remained for eleven weeks. It was the Beatles' fifth number one album in the UK. The album had over 250,000 pre-orders in the UK. In Germany it was the fourth album by the Beatles, which reached number one on the charts. The two single releases Ticket to Ride and Help! also reached number one in the British charts and became the seventh and eighth number one hit in Great Britain, in the US charts the two singles were the eighth and ninth number one hit. In Germany, the third single Yesterday / Act Naturally was released. All three singles were top ten hits in Germany.

The album was released in a mono and a stereo version. In Germany the album was only distributed in stereo mix.

The mono version of the song Help! Contains a different vocals by John Lennon and no tambourine accompaniment like the stereo version, the mono version of Ticket to Ride uses more reverb for mixing.

Other - unused - recorded versions of the songs Yes It Is ( B-side ), I'm Down (B-side), You've Got to Hide Your Love Away , Yesterday and It's Only Love can be found on the album Anthology 2 .

Cover design

Semaphore Hotel.svg
H
Semaphore Echo.svg
E.
Semaphore Lima.svg
L.
Semaphore Papa.svg
P
Semaphore November.svg
N
Semaphore Uniform.svg
U
Semaphore Juliet.svg
J
Semaphore Victor.svg
V

The group can be seen on the album cover as they represent a word in the winker alphabet . The album cover photographer, Robert Freeman , wrote that he had the idea to represent the letters HELP as symbols, but that was discarded because it didn't look good enough. The arm positions are thus improvised in order to obtain a more appealing composition. On the German and British album covers, the letters NUJV result from the position of the arms .

In Switzerland , the album Help! Was released through a book club . distributed with a completely different cover design: It shows the four Beatles in the Bahamas. The album (catalog number ODEON SMO 984 0008) was made in Germany and exported to Switzerland.

Track list

page 1

No. song author Lead vocals Length stereo Length mono
01 Help! Lennon / McCartney Lennon 2:20 2:23
02 The Night Before Lennon / McCartney McCartney 2:35 2:37
03 You've Got to Hide Your Love Away Lennon / McCartney Lennon 2:09 2:12
04th I need you Harrison Harrison 2:29 2:33
05 Another girl Lennon / McCartney McCartney 2:05 2:09
06th You're Going to Lose That Girl Lennon / McCartney Lennon 2:19 2:22
07th Ticket to Ride Lennon / McCartney Lennon 3:10 3:08

Page 2

No. song author Lead vocals Length stereo Length mono
08th Act Naturally Morrison / Russell Rigid 2:30 2:34
09 It's only love Lennon / McCartney Lennon 1:56 2:00
10 You Like Me Too Much Harrison Harrison 2:37 2:40
11 Tell Me What You See Lennon / McCartney Lennon and
McCartney
2:38 2:40
12 I've just seen a face Lennon / McCartney McCartney 2:05 2:09
13 Yesterday Lennon / McCartney McCartney 2:06 2:09
14th Dizzy Miss Lizzy Williams Lennon 2:58 3:03
The lengths of the songs are based on the 2009 CD versions.

Re-releases

  • In 1978 appeared France the album Help! (Catalog number: Pathé Marconi EMI - C 066 04.257) pressed on orange vinyl. In Japan appeared Help! (Catalog number: Odeon - EAS- EAS-70134) 1986 on red vinyl.
  • On February 26th, 1987 the album Help! as CD in Europe (USA: July 21, 1987), in a digital stereo mix made by George Martin in 1986. The mastering was next George Martin from the sound engineer of the Abbey Road Studios , Mike Jarrett, monitored. The CD is accompanied by an eight-page illustrated booklet.
  • On September 9, 2009, the album was released remastered in a stereo mix based on the mix published in 1987, on CD and as part of The Beatles Stereo Box Set . The remastered mono version became available as part of the box The Beatles in mono , also since September 9, 2009. In addition to the mono mix, the mono CD also contains the original stereo version from 1965. The stereo version of the CD, which was re-released in 2009, was remastered by Guy Massey and Steve Rooke, the mono version by Paul Hicks, Sean Magee, Guy Massey and Steve Rooke. While the cover design of the mono CD was based on the original LP version, the fold-out CD cardboard cover of the stereo version was redesigned by Drew Lorimer. The stereo CD also includes a 24-page booklet that contains photos of the Beatles, information on the album by Kevin Howlett and Mike Heatley and information on the recordings by Allan Rouse and Kevin Howlett. The CD contains documentation in QuickTime format, consisting of video clips and modified images from the studio sessions; Accompanied by played music tracks, outtakes or studio conversations from the album.
  • The remastered stereo vinyl long-playing record was released in November 2012 with the The Beatles Remastered Vinyl Box Set , the remastered mono-vinyl long-playing record in September 2014 with the box The Beatles In Mono .
  • The album was first published in download format on November 16, 2010 on iTunes , and from December 24, 2015, the album was also available from other providers and streaming services.

Recording dates

The recordings for the album took place between February 15 and June 17, 1965 exclusively in Abbey Road Studios (Studio 2) under the production direction of George Martin. The recording engineer was Norman Smith , and his assistants were Ken Scott, Jerry Boys, Malcolm Davies and Phil McDonald.

George Martin played the piano on the song You Like Me Too Much . In addition to George Martin, guest musicians played two songs. The flute solo on You've Got to Hide Your Love Away was played by Johnnie Scott. At Yesterday Paul McCartney's guitar playing was accompanied by two violinists , Toni Gilbert and Sidney Sax, as well as by Kenneth Essex, viola and Francisco Gabarro, cello .

No. song Recording dates Cast / guest musician Sound carrier (European first release)
01 Ticket to Ride Feb 15, 1965 Help!
02 Another girl Feb. 15-16, 1965
  • John Lennon: acoustic guitar , backing vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, lead guitar, vocals
  • George Harrison: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums
Help!
03 I need you Feb. 15-16, 1965
  • John Lennon: acoustic guitar, backing vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, backing vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar, vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums, cowbell
Help!
04th Yes It Is Feb 16, 1965
  • John Lennon: acoustic guitar, vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, backing vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine
Single B-side of Ticket to Ride
05 The Night Before Feb 17, 1965
  • John Lennon: electric piano , backing vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, lead guitar, vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine
Help!
06th You Like Me Too Much Feb 17, 1965
  • John Lennon: acoustic guitar, electric piano
  • Paul McCartney: bass, piano
  • George Harrison: lead guitar, vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine
  • George Martin : piano
Help!
07th You've Got to Hide Your Love Away Feb. 18, 1965
  • John Lennon: acoustic guitar, vocals
  • Paul McCartney: acoustic guitar
  • George Harrison: acoustic guitar
  • Ringo Starr: tambourine, maracas
  • Johnnie Scott: Flute
Help!
08th If you've got trouble Feb. 18, 1965
  • John Lennon: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, backing vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums, vocals
Anthology 2
09 Tell Me What You See Feb. 18, 1965
  • John Lennon: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, electric piano, Güiro , vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar
  • Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine, claves
Help!
10 You're Going to Lose That Girl Feb 19, 1965
  • John Lennon: acoustic guitar, vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, piano, backing vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums, bongos
Help!
11 That means a lot Feb 20, 1965
  • John Lennon: rhythm guitar, maracas, backing vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, piano, vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar, maracas, backing vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums
Anthology 2
12 Help! Apr 13, 1965
  • John Lennon: acoustic guitar, vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, backing vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine
Help!
13 Dizzy Miss Lizzy May 10, 1965
  • John Lennon: rhythm guitar, vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, electric piano
  • George Harrison: lead guitar
  • Ringo Starr: drums, cowbell
Help!
14th Bad boy May 10, 1965
  • John Lennon: rhythm guitar, vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, electric piano
  • George Harrison: lead guitar
  • Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine
A Collection of Beatles Oldies
15th I've just seen a face June 14, 1965
  • John Lennon: acoustic guitar
  • Paul McCartney: acoustic guitar, vocals
  • George Harrison: acoustic guitar
  • Ringo Starr: maracas, percussion
Help!
16 I'm down June 14, 1965
  • John Lennon: rhythm guitar, organ , backing vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums, bongos
Single B-side of Help!
17th Yesterday June 14-17, 1965
  • Paul McCartney: acoustic guitar, vocals
  • Toni Gilbert: violin
  • Sidney Sax: violin
  • Kenneth Essex: viola
  • Francisco Gabarro: cello
Help!
18th It's only love June 15, 1965
  • John Lennon: acoustic guitar, vocals
  • Paul McCartney: Bass
  • George Harrison: lead guitar
  • Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine
Help!
19th Act Naturally June 17, 1965
  • John Lennon: rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, organ, vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, backing vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar, vocals
  • Ringo Starr: drums, vocals
Help!
20th Wait June 17, 1965
  • John Lennon: rhythm guitar, vocals
  • Paul McCartney: bass, vocals
  • George Harrison: lead guitar
  • Ringo Starr: drums, tambourine, maracas
Rubber Soul

American publication

Help! (US version)
Soundtrack from The Beatles

Publication
(s)

August 13, 1965

Label (s) Capitol Records , Universal Music

Format (s)

LP , CD , download

Genre (s)

skirt

Title (number)

12

running time

28 min 43 s

occupation
  • Ken Thorne: Instrumental Songs

production

George Martin / Dave Dexter, Jr

Studio (s)

Abbey Road Studios

chronology
Beatles VI
(1965)
Help! (US version) Rubber Soul
(1965)

Emergence

On August 13, 1965, the US version of the album Help! , it was the tenth album by the Beatles and the seventh studio album released in the USA by Capitol Records ( Introducing… The Beatles was released by Vee-Jay Records and A Hard Day's Night was released by United Artists , The Beatles' Story is a documentary album ) and reached first place in the US charts, making it the sixth number one album. In January 1997, the album was certified multi-platinum in the US for three million copies sold. The British album Help! was released in the US on July 21, 1987.

In contrast to the British version, this album only contains music from the film of the same name, the seven songs from the first page of the British album Help! as well as the instrumentals From Me to You Fantasy , In the Tyrol , Another Hard Day's Night , The Bitter End / You Can't Do That and The Chase . The instrumental songs were not recorded by the Beatles or George Martin , but by Ken Thorne .

George Martin said, “I produced all of the songs for the film, but I wasn't asked to do the instrumentation - you offered the job to another guy. Dick Lester and I had n't gotten on very well at A Hard Day's Night , and the fact that I got an Oscar nomination for music directing probably didn't help either. "

Nevertheless, George Martin took instrumental songs from the album Help! and published it under the album title Help! in September 1965 in the USA (catalog number: United Artists UAL 3448 [Mono]; AUS 6448 [Stereo]) and in November 1965 with a different cover design in Great Britain (catalog number: Columbia 33SX 1775 [Mono]; Columbia Studio 2 Stereo TWO 102 [Stereo ]). In the US, the song Yesterday was released on the album under the working title Scramled Eggs .

The remaining seven songs from the original British album Help! have been released on the following US albums:

Help! was released in a mono and a stereo version.

Ticket to Ride was remixed for the stereoversion ofthe album, and the mono version wasconvertedinto a duophonic version ( fake stereo). The song Help! begins with the James Bond theme recorded by Ken Thorne. The mono version is the mixed down British stereo version of the Beatles songs, the stereo instrumental versions by Ken Thorne were also mixed down.

For the soundtrack album Help! a pop-up cover was made.

The US version of the album was released in August 1965 in Canada in mono and stereo, in the summer of 1965 in Mexico in mono and on October 25, 1970 in Japan in stereo.

Republication

The album Help! was first released on CD in April 2006 as part of the box The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 . The CD contains the mono and the stereo version of the album. In January 2014 Help! again re-released as part of the CD box The US Albums , also released separately. While the original submasters from Capitol Records and not the original masters from Abbey Road Studios were used in the boxes The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 , the albums in The US Albums Box were essentially remastered in September 2009 by the British Mono and stereo tapes used. The album has been available as a download from iTunes since January 17, 2014 .

Track list

page 1

No. song author Interpreter length
01 Help! (+ Ken Thorne's James Bond Theme ) Lennon / McCartney Lennon 2:39
02 The Night Before Lennon / McCartney McCartney 2:36
03 From Me to You Fantasy (Instrumental) Lennon / McCartney;
arr. of Thorne
Ken Thorne 2:08
04th You've Got to Hide Your Love Away Lennon / McCartney Lennon 2:12
05 I need you Harrison Harrison 2:31
06th In the Tyrol (instrumental) Thorne Ken Thorne 2:26

Page 2

No. song author Interpreter length
07th Another girl Lennon / McCartney McCartney 2:08
08th Another Hard Day's Night (Instrumental) Lennon / McCartney;
arr. of Thorne
Ken Thorne 2:31
09 Ticket to Ride Lennon / McCartney Lennon 3:07
10 Medley: The Bitter End / You Can't Do That
(Instrumental)
Thorne / Lennon / McCartney;
arr. of Thorne
Ken Thorne 2:26
11 You're Going to Lose That Girl Lennon / McCartney Lennon 2:19
12 The Chase (Instrumental) Thorne Ken Thorne 2:31

Chart positions of the albums

Listen to the label of the album Help! , 1965
album Release Date Best placement in the charts Label catalog no.
Type title UK United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany UK United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany UK United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany
Studio album Help! 0Aug 6, 1965 - Aug 12, 1965 1 nv 1 Parlophone
PMC 1255 (Mono)
PCS 3071 (Stereo)
- LISTEN TO Elektrola
SHZE 162 (Stereo)
Soundtrack Help! - Aug 13, 1965 - nv 1 nv - Capitol
MAS 2386 (mono)
SMAS 2386 (stereo)
-
Studio album
CD first release
Help! Apr 30, 1987 July 21, 1987  Apr 1987 61 - - Parlophone
CDP 7 46439 2
Capitol
CDP 7 46439 2
EMI
CDP 7 46439 2
Studio album
remastered CD re-release
Help! 0Sep 9 2009 0Sep 9 2009 0Sep 9 2009 29 - 96 Apple / EMI
3824152
Apple / Capitol
3824152
Apple / EMI
3824152

Different publications in other countries

  • In Italy the album (British version) was released under the title AIUTO! published in September 1965 in mono and stereo with its own cover design.
  • The album Help! Was released in several South American countries . (British version) under the title Socorro! The album was released in Ecuador in the summer of 1965 with its own cover design.
  • In Japan the album Help! (British version) published in stereo in a pop-up cover in September 1965. The record was also pressed on red vinyl.

Outcouplings

Singles

single Release Date Best placement in the charts Label catalog no.
A side / B side UK United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany UK United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany UK United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany
Ticket to Ride / Yes It Is 0Apr 9, 1965 Apr 14, 1965 Apr 29, 1965 01 01 /46 02 Parlophone R5265 Capitol 5407 Odeon O 22 950
Help! / I'm Down June 23, 1965 June 19, 1965 June 16, 1965 01 01 / - 02 Parlophone R5305 Capitol 5476 Odeon O 23 023
Yesterday / Act Naturally - 13 Sep 1965 - nv 01 /47 nv - Capitol 5498 -
Act Naturally / Yesterday - - Sep 14 1965 nv nv 06th - - Odeon O 23 031
Yesterday / I Should Have Known Better 0March 8 1976 - - 08th nv nv Parlophone R6013 - -

Extended Plays (EPs)

EP Release Date Best placement in the charts Label catalog no.
title Songs A-Side / B-Side UK United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany UK United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany UK United KingdomUnited Kingdom US United StatesUnited States DE GermanyGermany
The Beatles Forever Dizzy Miss Lizzy; You Like Me too Much / Bad Boy; Tell Me What You See - -  Sep 1965 nv nv - - - Odeon
41680
Yesterday Yesterday; Act Naturally / You Like Me Too Much; It's only love 04th Mar 1966 - - - nv nv Parlophone
GEP8948
- -

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Beatles: The Beatles Anthology . San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2000. ISBN 0-8118-2684-8 , pp. 171.
  2. ^ Mark Lewisohn : The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years . Hamlyn, 1988. ISBN 0-600-61207-4 , p. 55.
  3. ^ The Beatles: The Beatles Anthology . ISBN 3-550-07132-9 , p. 171.
  4. ^ Richie Unterberger: The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film. ISBN 0-87930-892-3 , p. 168
  5. Differences in the mixes of Beatles songs
  6. Cover of Help! ( Memento from August 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  7. Swiss book club cover from Help!
  8. Help! France - orange vinyl
  9. Help! Japan - Red vinyl
  10. Download the Beatles songs
  11. Streaming the Beatles songs
  12. Multi-platinum award
  13. ^ The Beatles: The Beatles Anthology . ISBN 3-550-07132-9 , p. 173
  14. American George Martin album Help!
  15. British George Martin album Help!
  16. Background story to the album Help!
  17. Mixing the songs
  18. Canadian version: Help!
  19. Mexican version: Help!
  20. Japanese version: Help!
  21. Italian version: AIUTO!
  22. Ecuador Version: Socorro!
  23. Japanese album version: Help!