#43 The Beatles- Help!
- agalvin19
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Help! spells an underrated gem in the Beatles catalogue…
(Parlophone)

Released: 6th August 1965
Producer: George Martin
Topped the chart:
8th August 1965 (for 9 weeks)
9 weeks total
Help! is a strange album for The Beatles. Not in the way that I Am the Walrus is strange, more that it doesn’t quite fit into their three-act story. By spring 1965 when the bulk of Help! was recorded, the band were in the process of shedding their teeny-bopper image, “smoking marijuana for breakfast” (as per Lennon) with three of them experienced with LSD, but they weren’t quite at the point of looking to expand minds as they would on Rubber Soul and Revolver over the next twelve months.
Reflected in the music, Help! is the forgotten transitional record that pushes forward from the moderate songwriting leaps of Beatles for Sale but rarely reaches the love afforded to the middle and latter period of the Beatles catalogue. Does it deserve to be overlooked?
While it’s certainly let down by a patchier second half, and it doesn’t help that it’s linked to an even patchier movie, when Help! punches through, it more than leaves a mark.
While not shouting it from the rooftops, there is some real innovation under the bonnet here, both in terms of the sounds they were using and the songwriting. Case in point is lead single Ticket to Ride, overfamiliar to most ears these days but at the time genuinely revolutionary. There’s a hint of The Byrds in that central riff, but with a whole new feel that separates it from the American sound of the time, aided by something a little more illicit: pot and LSD. It’s the first Beatles single to stretch over three minutes, powered by a muddy bass heavy drone that may have been missed on tinny 60s record speakers. In headphones, that slow sludge feels stoned, with an ambivalent narrator representing the incoming mood of the counterculture. It’s also backed by one of Ringo’s finest drum patterns ever which doesn’t hurt, a pop hit (pun intended) like no other at the time.
The album’s other two most famous tracks innovate in their own way. Help! is the first Lennon-McCartney song to have a little wiggle room for its subject matter- it could be a straight love song with someone seeking, well, help, from their partner in a difficult time, but it doesn’t outright say that’s who it is directed to; Lennon could be singing it to a friend or even professional supporting him. It also, famously, rings the changes for Lennon’s songwriting: further inspired by Dylan, Lennon stated in 1980 that this was the first time he wrote “objectively” rather than “subjectively.” There’s a desperation and honesty to his lyrics and his vocals, amazing that it was written to order once the title of the band’s second film was agreed. It’s also a cracking song, packed with Greek chorus countermelody, Harrison’s descending lead guitar line before each verse and the bass punches towards the end of the chorus.
Then there’s Yesterday, the other innovation from the other side of the Lennon-McCartney partnership. Yes, it’s the most covered song in history and yes, everyone’s a bit sick of it, but it’s really worth trying to listen with fresh ears. Not only does McCartney capture a sadness and longing beyond his years, but the overdubbing that the band had started to experiment with more pays off handsomely with the addition of that string quartet. The arrangement created by McCartney and producer George Martin never overdoes it, and there’s plenty of room for the melody and the vocals to ring out in the lonely night. It’s a shame that so many gloopy cover versions have dulled its power.
Just like A Hard Day’s Night, the songs chosen for the film on the first half soundtracks are consistently superb. On the positive side, You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away is Lennon improving on I’m A Loser’s Dylanisms in its acoustic magnificence, a confessional song but, as with Help!, the subject is unclear- is it about his own under-publicised marriage? Is it about manager Brian Epstein’s sexuality? Both or neither? Harrison produces his best song to date with I Need You, making full use of what would soon be known as a wah-wah pedal more effectively than Ticket’s B-side Yes It Is. It’s also got a sweet lyric a world away from the misery of Don’t Bother Me, Harrison’s maligned first songwriting effort. McCartney’s songs on this side are less celebrated but are quietly brilliant pop songs: The Night Before makes full use of electric piano for a fun bop about a girl gone cold, and Another Girl is packed with delicious harmonies.
However, unlike A Hard Day’s Night, the songs on the non-soundtrack side are spotty rather than essential. While Yesterday is nestled here, preceded by their most overtly country-tinged song I’ve Just Seen A Face (featuring a rather wonderful finger picked intro courtesy of Harrison), many of the other songs here are reasonably fun, if throwaway. It’s Only Love was hated by Lennon and feels like a drearier version of the next record’s superior Girl; Tell Me What You See is utterly forgettable when compared to the other two aforementioned McCartneys on this side, and we also get our final proper Beatles covers in the shape of Act Naturally (a humorously flimsy Buck Owens country romp delivered deadpan by Ringo) and Dizzy Miss Lizzy (another spirited rock n roll screamer sung by Lennon, completely ruined by an irritating guitar riff repeated around 7 million times in two minutes).
Overlooked it might be, but Help! represents another step forward for the band, injecting some energy into the darker songwriting territory of Beatles for Sale. It’s a light and delicious vol-au-vent before we dive into the rich haute cuisine of the Beatles in their imperial phase…
Score: 7 /10
Tracklisting:
SIDE A
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
SIDE B
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 Lizzy
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