I don’t post many albums, but I wanted to go over this one. This will be the UK version of the album. The American version was a different album with the soundtrack music replacing some of the songs.
In my opinion, it was one of the most important albums the Beatles ever released. The album signaled a change with the Beatles. Rubber Soul is usually credited as the album that represented the Beatles transformation from pure a rock/pop band into something more. I’ve always seen Help! as the bridge from Beatlemania to the middle period of Rubber Soul and Revolver. With songs like You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away, The Night Before, I’ve Just Seen A Face, and Ticket to Ride it was apparent that a change was coming.
Was the album as good as Rubber Soul? No, but it cleared the way for the change that was coming. In 1963 the Beatles released She Loves You…4 years later they recorded A Day In The Life. That is only 4 years…it would be like building a go-cart and 4 years later building a rocket and going to the moon. There were steps in between though and Help! was one of them. What makes the Beatles so special is they didn’t repeat themselves. They progressed with every album into a different sound and feel. It wasn’t only drugs but social issues, fame, isolation, and superior songwriting skills.
You can tell pot had some influence on this album. Most of the songs were not as fast-paced with a beat group mentality. You still had some songs that were the Beatles that everyone knew at the time. Songs like You’re Going to Lose That Girl, and the two covers Act Naturally and Dizzy Miss Lizzy. I’ve always liked You’re Going to Lose That Girl with the call and response and Ringo did an excellent job on Act Naturally.
I think the most underrated song on the album is The Night Before. If any other band did this song…it would have been a single. Other songs that I like (that were not hits) are It’s Only Love (although Lennon hated it), I’ve Just Seen A Face, I Need You, and Another Girl.
I shouldn’t rate Beatle albums because it’s hard for me to be objective about them but I would give this 5 out of 5 stars. A fun movie also if you get a chance …watch it.
Track Listing
Help!
The Night Before
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
I Need You
Another Girl
You’re Going To Lose That Girl
Ticket To Ride
Act Naturally
It’s Only Love
You Like Me Too Much
Tell Me What You See
I’ve Just Seen A Face
Yesterday
Dizzy Miss Lizzy
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 
I got this in 1975. It was the US version, so I had to get up and lift the needle to skip the instrumental music. I loved it anyway…all 7 songs
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I know what you mean… I did like the intro to Help with the James Bond like theme…I wish they would have released the UK version to begin with to everyone.
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Yeah, that worked…it was kept for the 1962 – 1966 compilation when I got it in ’76
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That is about the time I got that greatest hits album…when I was 9 years old. I got the blue one later that year.
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It was a great compilation ❤️
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Yeah, yeah, yeah! When I saw your post pop up in my WordPress feed, I had to read it right away. “Help!” was the second Beatles album I got on vinyl. My first was this greatest hits compilation that apparently only came out in Germany:
https://www.discogs.com/release/3930230-The-Beatles-20-Golden-Hits/image/SW1hZ2U6NzY0MjgxMg==
What a great mid-stage album!
I totally agree the songwriting of The Beatles was starting to mature. You could see that even with the title track. While on the surface it’s a fairly typical earlier stage Beatles song, it was John’s desperate cry for help to deal with the insanity of Beatlemania.
Or, to call out another track, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” took John’s writing to a Bob Dylan-like tune. We already discussed the great “Ticket to Ride”. And, yes, “The Night Before” is another excellent tune. With “Dizzy, Miss Lizzy” you also have a nice reminder of what a great rock & roll band The Beatles were!
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Yes, I always thought it was a transition album…a stepping-stone in maturity for them. Oh so you HAD the real version in Germany right? Not the American one.
I’ve NEVER seen that compilation before! Wow….it’s a great one.
My first Beatles album was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hey_Jude_(Beatles_album)
back in 1975. That started my path down Beatles fandom. My cousin played me Meet The Beatles right before that and I was hooked.
The album had a mix of everything but sometimes gets overlooked because of the American version…I had that one also and it wasn’t what it should have been.
Oh…Dizzy Miss Lizzy…we played that one a lot. Fun song to play and you don’t have to be a great guitar player to copy that little lick. I even like the song “Tell Me What You See”…not their best but a good song.
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“Hey Jude” looks like a great intro to The Beatles as well. And, yes, while the electric and I never became friends, even I could play “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” and guess kind of pass the audition. And I played it, turning the volume on my tiny Fender home amp and torturing my poor parents. Adding distortion with a “Tube Screamer” and kind of going Deep Purple also was a lot of fun! 🙂
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Oh I had a tube screamer… loved that box!
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Mine was green – weird looking little box. But it sure as heck was fun to fool around with!
In general, I have to say we had pretty patient neighbors. The only complaint I ever recall receiving was one day while practicing the bass. I don’t recall I was playing particularly loud. But I guess bass frequencies can travel far. Plus, it’s safe to assume I wasn’t exactly playing like McCartney! 🙂
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The bass does carry and you can feel it sometimes more than hear it.
Who can play like McCartney lol.
This is the one I had…
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/ibanez-ts9-tube-screamer-effects-pedal/150284000000000?cntry=US&cur=USD&utm_content=150284000000000–Ibanez+TS9+Tube+Screamer+Effects+Pedal&source=3WWRWXGS&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0p2QBhDvARIsAACSOOM2gJWnZb1VljCs0P9WoA62DHo17wWdGnC1rmiRy54U0qL3TwbdXp8aAsw3EALw_wcB
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That’s exactly the one I had as well!😀
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Full out album meal deal review! I always liked The Night Before. Lots of hits on this one wow…
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Hey man… I went to see the rooftop concert at IMAX… pretty cool sound and cooler seeing them as big as a building lol.
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Thats awesome max.
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Truly vintage Beatles. It gets even better with age!
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I agree Bruce! I watched them last night at our IMAX theater…the concert on the roof they did in 1969.
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Only saw the movie once, sadly. I remember liking it a lot. Parlophone did the same with this album as they did with “A Hard Day’s Night,” added a few songs that weren’t in the movie to the “soundtrack” album.
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Yea on some American album releases I liked…like Meet The Beatles…but this one no…the UK version is much better.
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Nice album review. I’d love to have this album. I can’t complain too much about what I don’t have though, since I do own the cool movie box set version, which I wrote about in Hans’ album draft. It’s a hard to choose a favorite song on the album, but I like your choice of ‘The Night Before’ for most underrated.
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Thank you! I wish I had that movie box set. Guess what though…I feel like an idiot. I reviewed Help before in that draft…I forgot completely about it! Well at least this one is somewhat different and covers some other songs.
PS sorry about your Chiefs…I still can’t believe they lost that game!
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Haha, the album draft was a while back, and you’ve made a lot of posts since then. 🙂
Thanks re the Chiefs. It’s hard to believe they aren’t going to be in the game tomorrow. But that’ll make them hungry for next year.
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So many great songs on this album! I remember as a kid who just turned 11 when the film “Help!” came out, I was totally besotted with The Beatles, as were just about every other kid in my age cohort at the time.
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I saw it in the late seventies on local channel… I watch it every few years and the color just pops out at you. It is a fun movie and the locations were great.
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Their first great album, looking back & certainly the transitional step like you said. It’s astounding how far they went in those 3 years. Probably minimum of 4 all-time classics here , to me, at least
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Dave…I feel like an idiot…I covered this damn album in the draft. I just totally forgot and when I checked I looked right over it! Well I cover a little things anyway.
But yea…it opened the door to newer things.
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Nothing wrong with that… the Album Draft was two years back and you have new readers since then that wouldn’t have even seen that post. Trying your cut & paste method of comments today, btw
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Yea I appreciate it. I try not to repeat like that…I just completely missed it.
That is the only way I can do it and not get violent lol.
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So the comments glitch still seems to be there – c’mon WordPress!
I commented to I think Lisa a while back that those two “bobbies” seemed so young and so oblivious to who the Beatles were, I wondered if they were just really 100% professional or if they somehow had no clue where they were or who the noise makers were.
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They didn’t even know they were on the roof….they thought someone was recording inside the building with amplifiers pointing out…
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It’s about the time where you can see McCartney stepping forward and starting to share the limelight with Lennon. Lennon dominated the early stuff, and still has more leads here, but McCartney brought in Yesterday, The Night Before, and I’ve Just Seen A Face. And I Need You is Harrison’s first really good Beatles song I reckon?
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I do agree…McCartney stepped up on this one. This is around the time they started to spend more time apart and McCartney really grew hanging out with artists and such.
Yes Harrison took a step forward with I Need You and it would improve on Rubber Soul’s If I Needed Someone.
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Loved the film, pretty sure i saw it in Liverpool at a cinema that still exists as it was in 1966 – i visited the old area a few years back and Eight Days A Week was on. So excited at the chance of that being there!
My fave tracks are the ones in the movie, esp the night before, i need you, ticket to ride, help!, youve got to hide. When i eventually bought the album in the 80s i was a bit disappointed with the 2 covers – too much like early Beatles filler. Should have stuck a couple of non album singles or b sides on instead. One day i will list what i think the beatles albums should have looked like, including tracks made after they broke up onto never-existed albums. Self indulgent but they would make for a top quality only experience 🙂
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I’ll be looking foward to that! I think some songs like My Sweet Lord would have never gotten on a Beatles album…not because it wasn’t good…but because of John….also I could not see My Love getting on an album…but I could be totally wrong.
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One word titles in music always interest me for some reason. Perhaps the title Help was their plea then along with the drug use that they were losing the grip on their lives due to fan crazed fame. Too fast too soon.
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This is the first time I have seen anyone other than me point out what an incredibly amazing song The Night Before is. I also consider it among their best, most underrated songs. (The same goes for You’re Gonna Lose That Girl.) And the overall comments about Help! in this article are spot on. While Rubber Soul was better, Help! was, indeed, a “bridge” album between Beatlemania and the more mature work that would follow. Bravo to a well-thought-out article!
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Thank you so much! I first listened to The Night Before when I was a kid in the 70s and feel in love with it. With this album you could tell they were changing.
Thanks for commenting…I took a month off of posting and I’ll be back Sept 2…. it was the first break I’ve taken in 5 years of blogging…and I’m really missing it now.
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