Guido Merkins
Footballguy
#8 Help!
The thinking, generally, is that sometime around 1965, the Beatles stopped being the “lovable mop headed” Beatles and started to be taken more seriously. I’m not saying I agree with that as I clearly think they were revolutionary the entire time. I wasn’t around then, so I don’t know that I can comment on what people’s attitudes were then, but in general, the album that is seen as the Beatles beginning that transformation is 1965’s Help.
The Beatles followed the same formula as their first movie soundtrack and they put the movie songs on the 1st side of the LP and the other songs that were written in those sessions onto the 2nd side of the LP.
As with the other albums pre Revolver, the Beatles were under tremendous pressure to come up with an albums worth of songs, and they did it. In fact, 12 of the 14 songs were originals with only two covers, Act Naturally by Ringo and Dizzy Miss Lizzy by John, which is one of his weaker album closers up until now, IMO. Not bad, but not in the same stratosphere as Twist and Shout or Money. Ringo’s voice works well with Country and Western, so I like the cover of Act Naturally by Buck Owens very much. Plus, it’s kind of cool that they were poking fun a bit at Ringo’s positive reviews from A Hard Day’s Night. Ringo often said he wasn’t acting in his big scene in that movie, he just “felt like ####.” Anyway, it’s a good vehicle for Ringo’s voice and it fits with his personality.
The rest of the album is filled with strong songs, especially from John who I think was peaking during this period. A legit cry for Help in the title track with great guitars and great harmonies. The Dylan inspired You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away with John baring his soul. Ticket To Ride with thunderous drums and fuzzed lead guitar (Paul) with that great thing at the end which is almost a different song (“my baby don’t care…..”). As for Paul, he found time to write a little song which is only the most recorded song in the history of music in Yesterday. Paul with the great vocal and acoustic guitar and George Martin putting some tasteful strings to give it that final master stroke. Brilliant piece of music. I also very much like I’ve Just Seen A Face, another Paul song which is very folkish. Great acoustic guitars and harmonies.
As far as ones under the radar, You’re Gonna Lose That Girl is almost like a more mature version of She Loves You, you know, if you don’t treat that girl right, I’m gonna take her from you. I just love the atmosphere of it. Love the vocals. Love the harmonies. Love everything about it. I also like I Need You by George. George’s songwriting is improving and this is his best up until now. He got a hold of an early wah-wah pedal and he uses it for the song. I also love Another Girl with Paul playing lead guitar. Paul has a distinct style, you could almost say he has the same style every time he plays lead with the Beatles and for some songs it works well, this is an example.
There really isn’t much bad to say about this album. It’s a classic. I’m not sure there are any bad songs on it. They are clearly starting to use more musical textures, like the electric piano on Tell Me What You See and the string quartet on Yesterday. I can find something good to say about every song on the album. Only the brilliance that comes after it makes it look not as good as it might otherwise. For almost any other artist, this is their masterpiece. The fact that the Beatles topped it several times in the next 5 years of their career is nothing short of astonishing.
Note: other than Maggie Mae during Let It Be, this is the last time the Beatles release an album with cover songs on it. And them standing on the front cover holding up their hands was supposed to spell “Help”, but it didn’t look right, so it ended up being “NUVJ”, not a catchy name for a film or for an album
Track Listing
Next.....kind of already blew the surprise
The thinking, generally, is that sometime around 1965, the Beatles stopped being the “lovable mop headed” Beatles and started to be taken more seriously. I’m not saying I agree with that as I clearly think they were revolutionary the entire time. I wasn’t around then, so I don’t know that I can comment on what people’s attitudes were then, but in general, the album that is seen as the Beatles beginning that transformation is 1965’s Help.
The Beatles followed the same formula as their first movie soundtrack and they put the movie songs on the 1st side of the LP and the other songs that were written in those sessions onto the 2nd side of the LP.
As with the other albums pre Revolver, the Beatles were under tremendous pressure to come up with an albums worth of songs, and they did it. In fact, 12 of the 14 songs were originals with only two covers, Act Naturally by Ringo and Dizzy Miss Lizzy by John, which is one of his weaker album closers up until now, IMO. Not bad, but not in the same stratosphere as Twist and Shout or Money. Ringo’s voice works well with Country and Western, so I like the cover of Act Naturally by Buck Owens very much. Plus, it’s kind of cool that they were poking fun a bit at Ringo’s positive reviews from A Hard Day’s Night. Ringo often said he wasn’t acting in his big scene in that movie, he just “felt like ####.” Anyway, it’s a good vehicle for Ringo’s voice and it fits with his personality.
The rest of the album is filled with strong songs, especially from John who I think was peaking during this period. A legit cry for Help in the title track with great guitars and great harmonies. The Dylan inspired You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away with John baring his soul. Ticket To Ride with thunderous drums and fuzzed lead guitar (Paul) with that great thing at the end which is almost a different song (“my baby don’t care…..”). As for Paul, he found time to write a little song which is only the most recorded song in the history of music in Yesterday. Paul with the great vocal and acoustic guitar and George Martin putting some tasteful strings to give it that final master stroke. Brilliant piece of music. I also very much like I’ve Just Seen A Face, another Paul song which is very folkish. Great acoustic guitars and harmonies.
As far as ones under the radar, You’re Gonna Lose That Girl is almost like a more mature version of She Loves You, you know, if you don’t treat that girl right, I’m gonna take her from you. I just love the atmosphere of it. Love the vocals. Love the harmonies. Love everything about it. I also like I Need You by George. George’s songwriting is improving and this is his best up until now. He got a hold of an early wah-wah pedal and he uses it for the song. I also love Another Girl with Paul playing lead guitar. Paul has a distinct style, you could almost say he has the same style every time he plays lead with the Beatles and for some songs it works well, this is an example.
There really isn’t much bad to say about this album. It’s a classic. I’m not sure there are any bad songs on it. They are clearly starting to use more musical textures, like the electric piano on Tell Me What You See and the string quartet on Yesterday. I can find something good to say about every song on the album. Only the brilliance that comes after it makes it look not as good as it might otherwise. For almost any other artist, this is their masterpiece. The fact that the Beatles topped it several times in the next 5 years of their career is nothing short of astonishing.
Note: other than Maggie Mae during Let It Be, this is the last time the Beatles release an album with cover songs on it. And them standing on the front cover holding up their hands was supposed to spell “Help”, but it didn’t look right, so it ended up being “NUVJ”, not a catchy name for a film or for an album
Track Listing
- Help - John
- The Night Before - Paul
- You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away - John
- I Need You - George
- Another Girl - Paul
- You’re Gonna Lose That Girl - John
- Ticket To Ride - John
- Act Naturally - Ringo
- It’s Only Love - John
- You Like Me Too Much - George
- Tell Me What You See - Paul
- I’ve Just Seen A Face - Paul
- Yesterday _ Paul
- Dizzy Miss Lizzy - John
Next.....kind of already blew the surprise
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