In the studio
Help! was recorded over 12 non-consecutive days in February, April and June 1965, with a number of additional editing and mixing sessions. Work on the album started just before shooting began on the film.
The Beatles began recording Help! on 15 February 1965, in Studio Two at EMI Studios on Abbey Road, London. They worked on the songs Ticket To Ride, Another Girl and I Need You. In June they completed six songs for the soundtrack; the majority of non-soundtrack songs were recorded in June once filming was complete.
Help! involved a new method of recording for The Beatles. Instead of a number of takes being made by the group, from which the best was selected for further work, they began to record the rhythm track first, later adding a series of unnumbered overdubs of vocals and extra instruments. This meant that while it could be claimed that a finished song was recorded in just one or two takes, it often involved numerous hours of work on the various elements.
The Beatles also began taping their studio rehearsals as they worked on songs, and on occasion used these as the basis for a final song. This flexibility meant the group were able to use the most apt recording techniques for the songs, rather than having to record proper takes each time, although it did typically mean the songs required more studio work to complete.
Furthermore, the song Help! was The Beatles' first to involve a reduction mix, by which the four-track tape was 'bounced down' to a subsequent copy, with two vocal tracks combined, to free up a spare track for a guitar overdub. Reduction mixes played a key role in The Beatles' increasingly elaborate studio work, prior to the availability of eight-track recording in summer 1968.
The Beatles also began to explore different sounds on Help!, with Ringo Starr in particular bringing in a range of percussive instruments. Paul McCartney overdubbed lead guitar onto three of the songs; George Harrison utilised a volume/tone guitar pedal onto three others; and electric piano and acoustic 12-string guitars were used elsewhere.
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away was the first Beatles recording since Love Me Do to feature a session musician. Johnnie Scott was paid a standard £6 fee for his tenor and alto flute parts, which were recorded on 18 February 1965. The tenor flute part was taped while The Beatles recorded the backing track, and the alto part was overdubbed afterwards.
They told me roughly what they wanted, ¾ time, and the best way of fulfilling their needs was to play both tenor flute and alto flute, the second as an overdub. As I recall, all four of them were there and Ringo was full of marital joys; he'd just come back from his honeymoon.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
Of all the Help! sessions, perhaps none was as significant as 14 June 1965, the day The Beatles recorded three Paul McCartney songs: I've Just Seen A Face, I'm Down, and Yesterday. The latter was the first Beatles recording to feature just one member of the group, with McCartney's vocals and acoustic guitar augmented by a string quartet. This was the first time The Beatles had recorded with a string arrangement, although they would continue to work with the instruments right up until their final releases.
Yesterday was a breakthrough: it was recorded by just Paul and a group of other musicians. No other Beatle was on that recording and no other Beatle heard the song until we played it back. John listened to it, and there's a particular bit where the cello moves into a bluesy note which he thought was terrific, so it was applauded.
Anthology
A number of non-album tracks were also recorded during the Help! sessions. The first was Yes It Is, which became the b-side of the Ticket To Ride single in April 1965. It was recorded on 16 February, with the harmony vocals being overdubbed onto the rhythm track on the same day. The Beatles recorded another b-side in June 1965: I'm Down, which was released on the Help! single.
A version of Larry Williams' Bad Boy was taped on 10 May, during the session that the group also recorded Williams' Dizzy Miss Lizzy. The song was issued on the US album Beatles VI in June 1965, and on the UK compilation A Collection Of Beatles Oldies in December 1966.
Wait was taped in four takes on 17 June 1965, the last recording session for the album. The Beatles evidently didn't think it good enough for inclusion on Help!, but revived it towards the end of the year when they needed more material for Rubber Soul.
Two songs recorded for Help! remained unreleased in the 1960s. If You've Got Trouble was recorded on 18 February 1965 as Ringo Starr's solo vocal spot on the LP. One of Lennon-McCartney's least successful compositions, it was shelved in favour of Act Naturally, and remained unreleased until Anthology 2 in 1996.
That Means A Lot was written by Lennon and McCartney for Help!, but was given instead to American singer PJ Proby. The Beatles attempted to record the song on 20 February and 30 March 1965, though neither version was considered suitable for release. The 20 February version was released on Anthology 2.
Related articles:
- I Should Have Known Better
- US LP release: Something New
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy
- Tell Me Why
- I'll Cry Instead
'Help' is a very "overlooked" Beatles album because its half Beatlemania and half "new" Beatles. While there are some great old-style Beatles songs on it, Beatlemania ends on this album...and 'Rubber Soul' begins. You get the best of both worlds on 'Help'. Also, McCartney emerges as a strong song writer on this album for the first time...equal with Lennon. Previously, Lennon was the dominant singer/songwriter. This is probably why the next few years produced some of their finest music. Can't forget Harrison. He also emerges as a strong song writer on 'Help' and continues on throughout his Beatle career.
'Help', 'The Night Before', 'You're Gonna Lose That Girl', Yesterday' ' Another Girl'...good Beatlemania-style songs.
Then, the "new" Beatles emerge with "I've Just Seen A Face", 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away', 'It's Only Love', 'Ticket To Ride'...ushering the "Rubber Soul/Revolver" period...and a great Harrison tune, 'I Need You'.
Yesterday, a beatlemania-style song? I actually think that Mccartney does not really arrive as songwriter until Revolver, with the exception of Yesterday. It is interesting that he becomes so prolific and dominating in 1967 but all of the songs that really give the beatles depth and soul belong to John although Paul contributes a lot to John songs. Probably more than John contributed to Paul's. The masterpieces of 67 include: Strawberry Fields, Mr. Kite,Lucy in the sky w/ Diamonds, Day in the life, I am the Walrus, All you need is love. The only 67 Paul song that is of this caliber is Penny Lane. If you take John's contribution off of Pepper and George's Within you and Without you it is a rather light weight record. Don't get me wrong, I love Paul but John really gets depicted badly in Emmerick's book. After reading it, you would think that old Geoff fancied Paul.
Emmerick has worked for Paul on 3 albums after the breakup. He is not a source of objectivity.
Neither of you guys seems to know what you are talking about. 1) The idea that the Beatles wrote "Beatlemania" songs until a certain point and then suddenly changed it with Rubber Soul/Revolver is nonsense. The hallmark of Lennon-McCartney songwriting was they insisted on writing something new and different from any previous song, exploring new musical territory. Beatlemania was not a song writing genre, but something the press made up to describe fan reaction. Beatlemania "ended" when they decided to stop touring, period. Not only were they tired of it, but reproducing their increasing complex songs (like Rain/Paperback Writer) on stage was difficult and frustrating.
2) Lennon and McCartney were in fact largely equal co-writers on many of the early songs (From Me To You, She Loves You, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, This Boy, etc.), with McCartney early on revealing a special talent for creating memorable melodies (something Lennon tended to struggle with, especially in later years.) Lennon was a great lyricist and straight rock and roller, and it should be pointed out their first two albums featured lots of rock and roll covers, plus a few great original compositions. Writing-wise, I Saw Her Standing There was largely Paul, as was Love Me Do. All My Loving was all Paul. By A Hard Day's Night some truly timeless standouts were being written by Paul (And I Love Her, Can't Buy Me Love, Things We Said Today.) The songs A Hard Day's Night and I'm Happy Just To Dance With You were co-written, while You Can't Do That was a classic Lennon rocker (and a personal favorite of mine.) McCartney likewise made considerable contributions to Help. Even excluding Paul's unmatched Yesterday, McCartney songs like The Night Before are quite notable, as well as his distinctive co-writing on Ticket To Ride (including the unique drum syncopations which were all Paul.)
So, the ridiculous notion that McCartney didn't come into his own as a songwriter until Revolver or later is simply misguided fantasy with no basis in fact. Even sillier is the assertion Lennon wrote any/all songs of substance in 1967. Nonsense. Hello Goodbye, yep, B side to Walrus A, went to No. 1 while Walrus tanked (guess the public knew best on that one.) Then there was Fool On The Hill, a remarkably beautiful song Paul composed while at the same time co-writing A Little Help From My Friends with Lennon. Then of course was Sgt. Pepper, a classic rocker featuring one of McCartney's best vocals ever (plus his lead on guitar.) Not to mention there would be no Day in the Life had not McCartney provided the incredibly symphonic musical depth for the song's middle. Then again, Lennon later dissed much of his own work on Pepper, saying how dissatisfied he was with it and would like to do it over. I don't happen to agree, I think Lennon's Pepper contributions were oustanding. Lennon though could get fairly petty not only about Paul's work but everything Beatles, which apparently still translates over to some fans who never weary of this silly pissing match...
You prefer Hello Goodbye to I am the Walrus? Enough said, no reason to continue having this conversation.
I prefer reading comments by people who actually know something and don't just make stuff up while ignoring facts (like calling Ringo "clumsy.") Early on McCartney and Lennon were equal songwriters. That's why they were a songwriting "team." Though different in applied talents, one was not more dominant then the other.
OK, can I request that you all play nicely? There's room for opinions without it getting personal, so let's try to keep this a pleasant place to discuss the songs.
George once said that Ringo's fills sounded like someone falling down the stairs.
WOW! I never thought an observing commentary on the "Help" album could bring such anger from a McCartneyologist. While it's true that McCartney made Lennon a better songwriter, the same can be said for Lennon for McCartney. However, what I said was a personal opinion that I think the "Help" album was the Beatles saying goodbye to Beatlemania and introducing themselves to the "Rubber Soul" era. Half of "Help" was Beatlemania, the other half was more mature, laid back, more acoustic and McCartney offered us more. I have to take the word of McCartney that he and Lennon wrote eyeball to eyeball (as Lennon also said), but that whoever was the primary writer...sang the song. No doubt also that if the Beatles were made up of only Lennon's songs, then we'd be bored quickly...vice versa with only McCartney's songs, if they had no influence on one another. So come on Thomas, lighten up and open up to other opinions...but thanks for the critique and you have some valid points.
This is their second weakest album (their first is their worst in my book). Don't get me wrong, 'weak' for the Beatles is still fantastic. But their are only 5 standout tunes on this album. The rest are good, but not fantastic. The sound is very muddy, not crisp at all compared to their other albums. It works on "You've got to.." but not on the rest.And the performances are less enthusiastic than any other album, except for possible Let it Be.
To me, there is a lot of "filler" songs on this album. Mostly McCartney tunes. But they (the songs) blend in well and follow along quite well. I came across a German pressing lp at a flea market (rummage sale) here in Pensacola, Florida last year. the cover was torn but the vinyl was in great shape. I wish I would have bought it!
Thomas lets be fair, You make a comment like '' Obviously You all don't know what Your talking about '' People have certain opinions and I respect that, You seem pretty McCartney biased from the long piece You wrote. I guess Im more Lennon biased as He's my idol and I get that aswell. McCartney is a genius musician that there is no doubt, But I feel in the early days leading up to Revolver, Lennon was the main man he was the one who wrote the better songs, He had the drive which spurred the Beatles on, Look at A Hard Day's Night for example its basically a Lennon solo album, He was so creative in those early Beatle's days and yes Lennon was more the rocker of the two and he wrote the more edgier/zingy Beatles tracks but he also had that sensitive side to Him look at Julia, Across The Universe for example, The thing with McCartney was he was too mainstream he wanted to release safe tracks that He knew would be accepted, Lennon was the opposite he was writing songs and searching for a new direction and in the process laying down the foundations for music as We know it now. Both equally brilliant in there own right, Alone they were good, Together they were Stellar! Its just John is My favourite...
By the way HelloGoodbye is a great track, I Am The Walrus is frighteningly brilliant...
I noticed on the US cover that George is standing on the H for Harrison, John on the L for Lennon, and by his first name Paul on the P, but none for ringo, especially because he doesn't have any of the titles letters in his stage name. Sounds silly, but i like to think that.
I agree with whoever said that there are five great songs on this album. If you took Help, Hide Your Love Away, Ticket to Ride, I've Just Seen a Face and Yesterday they match up with anything the Beatles ever did. The problem is there are too many fillers after that, although most are pretty decent. I can't stand You Like Me Too Much though, the lyrics are juvenile, and Tell Me What You See and Dizzy Miss Lizzy are average at best. As for the Lennon/McCartney debate, this was really the start of Lennon's peak, he was just incredible in '65, whereas I don't think Paul peaked until about '68 with his fantastic contributions to the White Album and also Hey Jude. Although maybe he peaked on Revolver, but I've always liked his White Album songs better.