Beatles Help! (American) CD

HELP was the last Beatles album to feature a cover version (Larry Williams's "Dizzy Miss Lizzie"), and is considered a turning point in the quality of their songwriting. Like the previous album's "Im a Loser," "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" was Lennon's nod to the influence of Bob Dylan. McCartney's gift for melody was obvious in "I've Just Seen A Face." And Harrison's songwriting contributions grew to two tracks.

Instrumentally, "Ticket To Ride"'s off-beat rhythm was Ringo's masterpiece, while the string quartet in the huge hit "Yesterday" was unusual for a rock band at that time; it was the start of a stellar series of McCartney ballads with strings ("Eleanor Rigby," "She's Leaving Home").

One week after Parlophone Records in the U.K. released the Beatles' fifth British album, Help!, a 14-track LP containing seven songs performed by the group in the motion picture of the same name, and seven other new recordings, Capitol Records in the U.S. released what it billed as the original motion picture soundtrack to the film, containing the seven movie songs, but deleting the other tracks in favor of excerpts from the instrumental score composed and adapted by Ken Thorne. Since the beginning of the Beatles' recording career, their releases at home in England had differed markedly from the records that came out in America, not only early on when Capitol, like Parlophone (a subsidiary of the major label EMI), declined its options on Beatles discs, leading to their being licensed to such companies as Swan and Vee Jay, but also after Capitol assumed responsibility for U.S. versions as of the single "I Want to Hold Your Hand" at the start of 1964. Standard record company practice differed in the two countries. In Britain, songs issued on singles were usually not repeated on LPs; in America, they frequently were. British LPs tended to have 14 songs; American ones only 11 or 12. As a result, Capitol reconfigured and retitled Beatles releases for the U.S.; where Parlophone put out Please Please Me (1963), With the Beatles (1963), A Hard Day's Night (1964), and Beatles for Sale (1964) prior to Help!, Capitol, using much the same material, squeezed out Meet the Beatles! (1964), The Beatles' Second Album (1964), Something New (1964), Beatles '65 (1964), The Early Beatles (1965), and Beatles VI (1965). (It's even more complicated than this, of course, but space does not permit a more complete discussion.)

Still, the rearranging of Help! for U.S. release was a special case, a different concept altogether from the British version. Capitol executive Dave Dexter, Jr. earned a producer's credit for mixing the material up, and the changes were apparent right at the start. The album began not with a Beatles performance, but with a version of "The James Bond Theme," reinforcing the idea that the movie was a spoof of the James Bond films. The theme was given a slight Indian flavor, also presaging a major element in the film. Then the track segued into the Beatles' title track. The lively Paul McCartney-sung "The Night Before" was followed by another score cue, "From Me to You Fantasy," a Thorne arrangement of the Beatles' "From Me to You" combined with some ominous instrumental music and more Indian instruments. The Beatles' "You've Got to Hide Your Live Away" and "I Need You" came next, and then the instrumental "In the Tyrol," which borrowed from Richard Wagner's overture to the third act of Lohengrin. "Another Girl" was followed by "Another Hard Da

Deluxe Edition

Personnel: Paul McCartney (vocals, guitar, piano, bass guitar); John Lennon (vocals, guitar, electric piano, tambourine); George Harrison (vocals, guitar); Ringo Starr (vocals, drums, tambourine).

Unknown Contributor Roles: John Lennon; Paul McCartney; Ringo Starr; George Harrison.

The Beatles: John Lennon (vocals, guitar, electric piano); Paul McCartney (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass); George Harrison (vocals, guitar); Ringo Starr (vocals, drums).

Additional personnel: GeorgeEntertainment Weekly (10/12/01, p.34) - Ranked #33 in EW's "100 Best Movie Soundtracks" - "...A mind-blowing slew of verging-on-adulthood Fab gems..."
Mojo (Publisher) (6/02, p.65) - Included in Mojo's "100 Coolest Movie Soundtracks" - "...Pop music this good has rarely been written for the movies."
Paste (magazine) (p.59) - "It set the stage for one of the most groundbreaking and innovative periods in The Beatles' career, not to mention pop music in general."