Album Essentials: The Beatles "Help!"
By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor
The Beatles story is a legend, a living legend, a legend that will live after lots of other living legends have died. Umm, oh wait, that's the Rutles. The Beatles were a pop group from Liverpool, England. Formed in the early 1960s, they would eventually take over the hearts, minds, and souls of an entire generation, and then some. You know, The Beatles!!
Anyway, back to the story at hand. By 1965 The Beatles had released four albums (though the American market would stretch that to eight), each on a significant progression from the previous. The primal urgency of 1963's 'Please Please Me' gave way to a more self-assured sound on 'With The Beatles,' released a mere 8 months later. By the summer of 1964, they were a worldwide phenomenon, and had made their first film, 'A Hard Days Night,' which would also serve as the band’s third LP. On that album, everything came into focus. All songs were self-penned, no covers, and it remains one of their finest, and most solid, albums of their catalog. Another album, 'Beatles For Sale' was on the streets by years' end. It was as much a step forward as it was a step backwards, with six of the fourteen tracks being early rock and roll favorites of the band. That being said, the new Lennon/McCartney songs on the album showed their creative spark was in constant forward motion.
All of which lands us in 1965 and the band's fifth album, and soundtrack to a second film, 'Help!,' and much like the film, the album itself was in full color sonically. When the album was issued in America, it was chopped drastically so as to include incidental music from the film, whereas the original UK LP was a huge step forward. It is, however, interesting to note that the U.S. version of the album contained the first use of a sitar on a Beatles album, granted, as part of the film score, but still worth noting, considering how large that instrument would loom in Beatles lore.
The writing of Lennon and McCartney was quite simply, brilliant throughout. 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away,' 'Ticket To Ride,' 'I've Just Seen A Face,' 'You're Gonna Lose That Girl,’ and, of course the title song, are all first class Beatles songs. Add to that two ace George songs, 'I Need You' and 'You Like Me Too Much' and a full throttle version of Larry Williams' 'Dizzy Miss Lizzy' ends the album with somewhat of a nod to their roots, from which they were moving on.
From start to end, it stands as one of the band's most solid all around albums. For decades many people have linked 'Rubber Soul' and 'Revolver' as hand in hand albums, in many ways it's actually 'Help!' and 'Rubber Soul' which link up perfectly. The jangling guitars, folk rock inspiration, and more sophisticated arrangements on both lead the way. It’s no surprise then, that the U.S. version of 'Rubber Soul' nabbed a few of the songs from the UK 'Help!' seamlessly. The McCartney signature of 'Yesterday' is also here as is Ringo's take on Buck Owens 'Act Naturally' adding country rock to the Fabs’ repertoire very early on.
'Help!' is truly an essential album, and not simply a great Beatles album. It may be taken for granted as historical, but we must pause to note once again the speed at which The Beatles (and most other bands of the 1960s) operated. It was incredible, insane, and inspirational. The recording of the 'Help!' album began in February of 1965, and was on the streets by early August with 'Rubber Soul' just around the corner, released in December of the same year, and 'Revolver' on shelves eight months later. And remember, we're not talking about rushed 'product' of some generic nature, we're talking about THE BEATLES, and landmark recorded works.
The Beatles may still be omnipresent in 2024, but one thing we can't afford is to take their existence for granted. They were, and remain, a once in a lifetime event, one that changed not only the world of music, but the world in general. Never before, and never again.