As a 10-year old American in 1965, I loved the songs on the Capital LP, but hated having to lift the needle to skip the instrumentals. Would have been better to put the 7 Beatles tracks on A and the instrumentals on B. I’m hoping Giles will do his magic soon on Help!, Rubber Soul, and Revolver.
He’s recently said he’d like to, but the software required to separate the elements of the bounced down multi tracks isn’t quite there yet for a well recorded studio album like the ones you mentioned. Looks like we’ll be waiting a while for those…
A fun fact I love about the U.S. "Help!" album is it was the first time sitars were featured on a Beatles' album. Everyone always says it's "Rubber Soul". No, it was the U.S. "Help!"
I do prefer the UK version. I can never understand why this album is so underrated. Any album that contains classics such Help! Ticket To Ride and You have to Hide Your Love Away and alongside Yesterday must be rated higher. Rubber Soul has always been regarded as a great album even though it was released a few months later in 1965. I feel the Help! album had an equal amount of brilliant songs.
I wouldn't say that either album is "better." They are really two separate albums with several tracks in common. In the UK, the album is treated as a Beatles' album; solid and programed with an unmatched, unique brand of energy. In the US, the album served as a kind of "travelogue" companion to the film. As a child in the US, I had seen the movie first and knew just how wonderful the instrumental songs were, and how much of a role they played in the film. In many cases, the incidental music set up the individual scenes for the story in the movie. Having the songs included on the album seemed completely normal to me, but yes, it did take out the Beatles' "bop" factor along the way every five minutes or so on the US album. This is where the US album cover comes in to play! It's a veritable picture program of the movie. I'd look it over time and again, usually while the instrumentals were on. That being said, with the UK album, there was never a dull moment. It was all Beatles' all the way through! When my group of Beatlemaniacs learned of the UK album, they were all trying to get their hands on copies by 1973 or so. Still not always an easy task back then, so it was the "thrill of the hunt" finding a copy.
Here in the States we were kept in the dark about UK releases for years and years. My gateway to UK occurred in the mid seventies whilst perusing a bargain bin of 8 tracks in a local discount store, Two Guys in East Brunswick NJ. There it was: a UK 8 Track of HELP! I was shocked. I had no frame of reference, but I figured out immediately that we were getting ripped off in the US. I purchased it (probably for $2.99). When I popped it into my car player I was stunned by the superior quality of the sound! On 8 track no less! Needless to say, that tape was a treasure for years and years. It’s long gone, but the memory of that revelation is with me forever.
The US version was a real memento of seeing the film at the Drive-in theater in the summer of '65. The mix of Beatles tunes and film score numbers tied each song to scenes in the film. The US album is MUCH more a total multimedia experience than the UK album I acquired later. The "James Bond" kick off to the song Help is still thrilling!
Another great video Andrew! Didn't know there were plans from Capitol to release a McCartney solo album... seems pretty crazy to think they ever considered it!
I have read that Brian Epstein was very unhappy with Capitol around this time. He wanted to downplay the fact that Yesterday was in essence a solo record and that’s why he wouldn’t even consider it for single release in the UK not wishing to upset ‘the boys’. Hence it was only an album track on UK Help! When The Beatles performed Yesterday on UK TV Paul played acoustic guitar with a taped orchestra backing. It was treated as a bit of a joke by George who introduced it as Paul auditioning for Opportunity Knocks ( 60s talent show) Once Paul finished John made comment along lines of Thanks Ringo, that was very like you! Capitol Records perhaps wanted to promote Paul along lines of Diana Ross & The Supremes rather than just The Supremes. Epstein and The Beatles would never have tolerated that.
I always wondered why George Martin wasn't used for the U.S. soundtrack instrumentals. Makes sense now you mentioned it. Superman 2 director Richard Donner was replaced by Dick Lester. Lester brought in Ken Thorne for the music instead of keeping John Williams.
I remember as a kid sooo much about this particular album because it was like the earth moved everytime there was a new beatles release.....and then the bitter disappointment that half this album was just orchestral movie background soundtrack and not them....the british release , when we could finally get it on cd in the 1990s is what the album SHOULD have been.
Oooh. Looking forward to your vid on the Austrian film locations. I've just listened to mono ticket to ride on my 2009 US Capital LPs CD collection and it sounds pretty good. but I understand that is not the same mix as on the original LPs. I think Ken Thorne did some of the music for Superman II after Lester replaces John Williams so he's obviously one of his good mates. If I see the George Martin orchestral arrangements LP of Help! I'll try and pick it up. Great work Andrew.
Another great video, Andrew. Thank you for your time and energy in putting these videos together. I received the Capitol HELP! album for Christmas, 1975. At first I wasn’t very happy with only seven tracks of Beatles songs, but over time, the instruments grew on me. I find the whole album quite enjoyable. In addition, the album package is wonderfully eye catching. When I became aware of the UK release, I thought the front and back covers were rather dull in comparison.
Just rewatched this episode. It’s interesting how much colorful and eye catching the Capitol version is. You would think the label would have included the color pics of the Beatles on the front cover instead of black and white. I continually enjoy rewatching these, Andrew.👍👍Thank you again.
One of my favorite pieces of trivia is that the Beatles didn't spell out HELP in semaphore, it was NUJV. The Capitol release switched Paul's position so he would appear to be pointing to the Capitol logo, so it's NUVJ in the US.
As an eleven year old I received the Capitol HELP! LP for Christmas ‘65. It stayed on my little record player for months. Loved every bit of it - including the instrumentals.
On the Beatles 1 Blu-ray, the music video for "Yesterday" is a taped live performance, introduced by George Harrison as a song from their new album Help! "...in England." I wonder how many people felt a bit cheated that it didn't end up on the US issue of Help!
Thanks again Andrew for another great video. The Help album holds many happy memories as it was the first Beatles album I had. After a lot of prompting from me and after my parents paying the princely sum of 52/6 I received it for my 12th Birthday in October 1965. My copy was in Mono and in those days our family didn’t have a modern record player so I had to take it to friends houses so I could listen . By early 1966 and after I bought Rubber soul my Dad finally got our old 1951 HMV Ernest Fisk model 78 RPM radiogram fitted with a Garrard 3 speed turntable I was ecstatic and my record collecting really got started.
I nearly forgot re the Capitol version of Help! I bought the Capitol version on CD a few years ago . I had never heard it before in full and was not impressed at all with the instrumental bits as in my opinion they just don’t fit in to a Beatles record and just sounds totally odd. The Beatles songs in the CD mix sound thin and bit cheap and nasty a bit like a KTel 20 Explosive Hits LP and if that is my opinion on the supposedly better sound of the CD I would be less impressed with the record. My current Stereo vinyl copy of Help! Is from around 1970/71 and remember I did notice a marked improvement over my original ( now long gone) Mono version and I think it is the same mix as on my 1987 CD release. My final word is that I’ll vote “1” for the early 1970’s Parlophone mix.
One of the first Beatles albums that I bought was the soundtrack version with the instrumental cues. It was on a cassette and I played it all the time driving back-and-forth to college. As I continued to develop my Beatles library, I got the UK version on CD. I loved having the extra songs but the American soundtrack release will always have a special place in my heart.
When 1962-1966 was released in the U.S., there was an insert with the track listing that claimed "From Me to You" and "A Hard Day's Night" (neither available on a Capitol LP at the time) were from the LP "Help!" - based on the similarly named instrumentals!
I find it interesting that "You Can't Do That" lent itself most easily for interpretation by Thorne, and it's used in a couple of variations throughout HELP! The track called "THE CHASE" is a minor masterpiece; the first part, the intro, and the main section ("The Chase"--where the Beatles are being chased on their sled) are used independent of one another. But as a whole piece, it's a KNOCKOUT. Would fit into any thriller even today. Again, this is a variation of "You Can't Do That". Something about the composition of that tune that makes it attractive to orchestrae...because Ken Thorne sometimes disguises it so well it takes to a tick to HEAR it. I even started playing a jazz version of it on my nylon string...sure enough, no matter what you play it on---it bloody WORKS. Probably play the thing on a KAZOO and it would come up aces (LOL)Cheers, you've sold me, I'm a subscriber now.
I had seen the movie and listened to the soundtrack album several times before I heard the original song, "You Can't Do That." When I did finally hear, it blew my mind and gave me a greater appreciation for the movie's music!
I bought my US copy when I was 11 back in 77 and I still have it. Although I always loved the Ken Thorne opening to Help, I haven't listened to my US copy since I discovered the real Help album which was the UK version in about 81 or so.
I think I found my first copy of the UK HELP! album at Beatlefest in the early 80s. Strange, though, how it was only 6 or 7 years between first seeing the UK reissues in record shops (and getting them), and the entire catalogue being released on CD for the first time, yet it seemed like forever.
My very first Beatles LP was the Capitol pressing. I learned how to use a turntable with this, as I was not keen on the instrumentals. I was fortunate, however, to gain a friend when I was in junior high school, whose parents had an early pressing of the Parlophone version. In short, I played the Capitol version to death as a kid, but won’t touch Capitol versions today (the exception being Beatlemania! With the Beatles » which I bought as a 12 year old and still love even today (although it’s terribly worn down). Thanks for this!
I grew up listening to the Spanish version of Help in mono (It's the one I bought in 1984 when I was 15 years old) and the American album is exotic to me.
Verfolge dich schon etwas länger und ich habe jetzt erst realisiert, dass du aus Österreich kommst. Wie immer ein tolles, hochqualitatives Video! Schöne Grüße aus Vorarlberg!
I remember spotting this record in my local store (here in Guadalajara, released by EMI Capitol de Mexico) and turning it away because it wasn’t a fully Beatles album. It was the 80s and I was a teenager starving for everything about the band that I just discovered and loved.
Well,Craig!!If the Capiphone project can get approval,How about a Ken Thorne 28 minute inst.soundtrack,featuring virtually all of the music he did,and featuredin the film?!!!?Two vocals only, are added.Help and Ticket To Ride,both in mono and stereo,in each edition!!First time EVER on CD!!!!(the full run of the Ken Thorne music,specifically)
@@DavidCKendall I never said anything about your preference,but I like the instrumentals on the soundtrack to include a whole Ken Thorne Help soundtrack disc for the Capiphone project!!All the tracks he did were great,that's for sure.Add a lot of pizazz to the film,too!
@@ronmartin4212 Wow, Ron... sorry dude... my mistake. I didn't know you were being sincere. It's the way I read it. The voice in my head thought this was a backhanded insult to Ken Thorne, because George Martin wasn't chosen to do the music. I also don't have any idea what the Capiphone project is. So I plea ignorance on both counts. I'll remove my other comments. Please flesh out the Capiphone idea for me. I like the idea of all the movie songs, and all of the Ken Thorne music. If it turned into a two record set, al the better!
In 1965, when we were living in Europe, the kids of another American family living there had the U.S. version of the album, and we listened to it over and over when I was at their place. I asked my dad to get us a copy when he went on a business trip to London...and was thoroughly dismayed when he came back with the Parlophone version, which "wasn't the same thing!" When we returned home on vacation the next summer, I insisted on buying a copy of the _"real"_ soundtrack album, which was my go-to for a few years, until I got old enough to understand why they were different. Since then, of course, I have listened to the U.K. version exclusively. But I have to admit I can see why I liked the U.S. one -- as someone who had snuck in to see the movie (which was only for 12 year olds and up where I lived) and loved it, the U.S. release felt much more like a "soundtrack" album, in every way from the instrumentals to the double-fold jacket with the movie poster reproduction on the front and color stills inside the gatefold.
Great vid! I'm pleased to say I an early 70s 2 box stereo, still with a flipback sleeve. I shall stick with that then. Any chance of a vid about the releases done via Shell petrol? Very unusual!!
Thanks for sharing this video Andrew! The US Help! Is definitely a mixed bag. Although this is the one I first owned, I don’t have as much fondness for the instrumentals as I do on A Hard Day’s Night. Maybe less so now because I am more aware of the conflict between George Martin and Richard Lester. Still it has a great cover. I have both stereo and mono and they sound okay but I prefer the original UK mixes. Thanks again!
Help is part of my parents' record collection, and after you explained the price of its release at the time I now understand why they didn't buy a copy when it was first released (both were in college in 1965). After a quick search I now know their copy is a 1971 reissue. Also, my dad has the Goldfinger album and A Hard Day's Night.
The fake-out opening of "Help" was widely played on radio in the NYC area where I grew up in the 1970s-80s. I was fooled a couple of times, and quite pleased whenever it came up thereafter. The two coolest British things I knew were having a summit on my clock-radio.
I had the US version in 1973 when I was 13, so I retain a sentimental attachment to that, even the instrumental bits. But I always wondered what the heck Dave Dexter did to the mixes. Now I know a lot better. Also, it seems that there's a story that Dick Lester fancied himself a jazz pianist, and George Martin thought otherwise, which is why he was replaced. It's possible Lester tried to muscle in on the music and Martin pushed back. Thorne probably kept his mouth shut and was grateful for the jobs.
I just picked up a 1965 mono for $5 at a record shop. Looking forward to trying it out. I have a stereo cassette version that I loved...when cars had cassette decks!
I really like both versions of "HELP!" The U.K. release has probably one of the best songs from The Beatles - "Yesterday", And the U.S.A. release has these very interesting instrumental mixes, and it is very underrated, but i like the U.K. version more, because in my opinion, it is more balanced in general.
I've had the Capital stereo mix on vinyl since the 1970s. In 2009, I got the Parlophone stereo remix on CD which, to my ears, has the best resolution of any Beatles' album, CD or vinyl, that I've heard to date. Having once owned the Capital Rubber Soul on vinyl, it was strange hearing Paul's I've Just Seen A Face on the Parlophone Help!
I’ve got a Japanese pressing of the UK Help! with Apple labels, the catalog number being EAS-80554 and being in stereo. Because it’s a Japanese pressing, it went through a bit of an “Apple-ization”. It still has some Parlophone details, those being the equipment box and 33RPM symbol on the back.
I only recently heard the US Help! album when I got the CD set of the US albums as a gift. I'd long been intrigued to hear the instrumental tracks, but never to the point where I felt I had to buy it. Since I grew up with the UK version, I have to say the US version remains a bit of a novelty to me. The strange (to me) intro to Help! was a bit of a surprise. The rest I can take or leave. Fascinating stuff, Andrew. Thanks again!
I never did buy the US version (in the states) but I did buy a 1976 Japanese Odeon press (which basically carried over the U.K. cover art and track sequencing) The main difference was the obi strip and the Apple labels - also, it used U.K. YEX stampers. I always thought that was the best stereo version of "Help!" I've personally heard (granted, I haven't heard many). I didn't hear the James Bondish preface to "Help!" until I bought the Red Album a couple years later. Thanks for the video, Andy!
I bought my first, first pressing uk sgt pepper record today. I am so so soo happy. Also I love your videos so much and I have watched all your videos so many times😂, have a great day!!! And thank you for hearting my comment earlier! 💙
The Help! soundtrack album was a favorite record of mine when I was a kid and had no phonograph of my own and very few records. I bought the stereo EAS 70's Japanese pressing years later and while it's far away from the last word in sound quality, it's not bad for that album. I made a needle-drop on CD-R from the Japan album but substituted the Beatles songs with tracks from the 80's Dutch Help! album. I also did a mono version using double Y connectors to fold the instrumental tacks then used real UK mono cuts for the Beatles songs and it all fit on 1 CD-R. Sounds much better than what Capitol gave us. Thanks for the video Andrew!
It's just a matter of taste. I grew up with the (mono) US version, and I never cared for the instrumentals then. I remember when cassette tapes came in and I could make my own mixes: I immediately made a tape of just the Beatles tracks from Help! But in later years, I've come to enjoy those instrumental tracks, partly because they remind me of the movie, which I've always liked. So in that sense the soundtrack album is doing its job, in helping me relive the movie.
As always: informative, yet not overwhelming. I grew up with the US version (seeing as I'm American) and never liked the instrumentals, thought of them as in unwelcome intrusion in fact. The instrumentals in "Hard Day's Night" never bothered me much, they seemed cool enough in their way. But now, I listen to neither US version as the UK versions are clearly superior.
Another great video! I totally agree with you that the best thing about the US Help! album is the cover. I remember buying the US version in the 70s principally for the gatefold sleeve which I think was great. Listening to the Stereo album back then was a bit frustrating to be honest as I didn’t care too much for the Ken Thorne music. I think The Beatles didn’t care for it either as George Martin was back for Yellow Submarine and his music was put on side B of the album. I’ve often wondered if through loyalty to George Martin they kept finding reasons to cancel or decline working on the scheduled 3rd film with Dick Lester in 66 & 67 before going with the Yellow Submarine film project instead. A trip to the Austrian locations for Help! Is a great idea 💡
Hello Andrew enjoy your site Very much! Would it be possible for you to do a review of the 80's Themed Capitol releases. I grew up with these in Canada before the Catalogue was released on CD Never to include the Themed releases.
As a kid...hated the every other song thing...songs were great but the incidental soundtrack music I did like at all... But when my kids got into it I looked at it with fresh ears...each of the sound track tracks are just as cool as the songs....jazzed up older songs with Indian instruments and orchestra...such a cool addition to the catalog...take the time to enjoy it especially after seeing the film and hearing where the music is used...great stuff
my parents bought the capitol soundtrack live at the time. i loved the film (i was 5 years old), and loved the album, including the instrumentals. so while im sure i would hear it differently now if i had never heard it, i have to say i love this album, a LOT. i do agree, however, that the cover itself was fantabulous, really helped me to relive the movie. and i do think that one song was muddy, even I noticed that mix as a little kid.
Growing up in Canada, the UK albums weren't yet available when I was filling my record collection so I knew only the US/Canadian Capitol version. I've never had a problem with the tacked on intro to the title song, though I do prefer it without. It's true about the popularity of soundtrack albums here and my parents had a wide variety of them, including that same Mary Poppins one as well as several others. Even the obscure soundtrack to a film called Windjammer that I apparently would sing along with as a toddler (at the top of my lungs, according to my mum). It does explain why the Sound Of Music won the Grammy over Help! that year. I don't mind the second side of incidental music but I'll admit I've rarely listened to side B since the day I bought the album. I do recall it feeling a little jarring when I first listened to the UK version and all the extra songs that appeared on various Capitol albums.
I already had the UK stereo Help! album at the time, so when I got hold of the US (stereophonic) Help! on my first ever trip abroad (to Sweden) in 1980, so I considered it a bonus. It is the only time I have ever seen the US version anywhere, so I certainly don't regret buying it. Therefore, I nurture a personal affection for it. Remember, it was a very different time. I was still years away from having the slightest chance of actually seeing the film then, and it had been years since I first learned about the film! So, this soundtrack album provided that much needed feel and atmosphere from it. The rest was up to the imagination while looking at the gatefold pictures. I could tell it had to be a somewhat weird and eccentric film, which of course it was. The only album ever with both Wagner and sitars on it. The non-beatle tracks only piqued my curiosity. A perfect disc to explore for a 14 year old nerd.
In 1965 I was 13 as my 15 year old brother and 13 year old neighborhood friend were in a band trying to learn a few cuts from this LP. We didn't care about the soundtrack arrangement as it added ambience to ones recollections of the film while listening to the LP spin on the turntable. We loved the LP and were NEVER aware of the issues between Capitol and EMI (hell we didn't even know EMI existed much less know they were the parent company!). We were kids in love with The Beatles music.
I wonder how George Martin's instrumental of Ticket To Ride, wound up on Dark Side Of The Moon. It's faintly heard on the end of Eclipse during the heartbeat.
Loved the video as usual! I like the Uk album the most (of course). But, I usually play the mono LP, instead of the stereo! I like my early Beatles in mono, it just feels more… right. I’ve got 4 out of 5 variations of the Norwegian press if help. The one I don’t have, is the ultra rare, valuable 1967 press. We’ll see when I get that… (By the way, the four other variations that I own, are: Gold label mono (same type of label as original uk please please me!), gold label stereo, silver mono (same style as the gold label, only this time it’s in silver instead) and silver stereo.) They came with imported uk covers. Keep up the wonderful work as usual! :)
When I was a lad possibly 1969 there was something that looked like a box set of Help ,i don't remember much about the details of the packaging except one that there was a pic of a scene in the movie where they are in or outside that Indian restaraunt ,its possible that the main color was that brownish hue that was used on the BBC recordings 1.I don't remember if it was an album or maybe even a movie reel ,Anyone ever seen it?
Great video, Andrew. Having the mono US album when I was a kid and much later the UK versions, I enjoy these U.S. and U.K. comparisons. One odd thing I recall long ago seeing the movie numerous times here in the US on tv that stood out to me. The Beatles performing Help at the beginning of the movie was a slightly different version of the song than that released on the mono single and stereo LP. About the time the movie was released on dvd, apparently the stereo lp version was substituted in. Do you or any other of your many readers here recall this? I found this version back then a fascinating listen being noticeably different. Cheers to you.
@@Neil-Aspinall I know you did. Right after Hard Days Night, Beatles for Sale had a bunch of covers, Help had contributions from George and there were 2 covers, then George and Ringo contributed to Rubber Soul, George had 3 on Revolver, etc., and so on, so yes, Hard Days Night was the only album solely credited to Lennon & McCartney.
Now this is a subject that turns into quite a bit of storytelling from my personal perspective 😉 I happen to have an American brother in law, who brought a copy of US Help! to our family home (sadly no longer existent) one day in 1978; it was kinda "lent forever". I was 5 years old then, but, under the influence of several elder siblings, was a belated beatlemaniac toddler even then. I was even able to sing along although not knowing any English (yet)! I already knew the European Help!, so this very different affair still boasting the same name and a bit of the same photography immediately caught my intense attention. I was totally fascinated with the gatefold, the film stills, the Help!/I'm Down 45 rpm group shot on the backside, and the US discography. I wasn't aware of the latter's distinctness before, and I thought, now that's strange, has With The Beatles changed or morphed or whatever to Meet The Beatles, and Beatles' Greatest to the Early Beatles the same? How could that have happened, especially when we have both discs in the house? Well you know, the stuff that boggles 5 year olds. My BIL could have easily explained it to me, but I don't remember him doing so. So it wasn't until I regularly went to record shops in my hometown, as I did from age 7 or 8 on, just to file through Beatle LPs and be fascinated and slip into a Beatle fantasy Pepperland, that I figured things out. Anyway, I was aware of the existence of the Help! movie, it was shown on German TV the year before (1977 when I was 4), which surely helped the 5 year old me to accept and embrace the existence of a different, more directly film based LP version. And yes, it was a bit funny to have Beatle music and incidental music on the same platter, and mixed and jumbled to boot. Not that I had kept in mind any of the orchestral or Indian stuff from the previous year's screening. I noticed that From Me To You Fantasy was similarly titled, and You Can't Do That even the same. However back then I somehow couldn't make out the musical similarity, that wasn't until many years later - but the sole thought of it having accompanied some supposedly dramatic part in the movie, was a good enough exciting idea to me. Nor was I ever upset that it wasn't George Martin but some American named Ken Thorne. As a kid I didn't notice, and later on I was too accustomed to be upset about anything (listening to music has a lot to do with psychology 😉). Being aware already of Love You To, Within You Without You and The Inner Light, I was very intrigued by Another Hard Day's Night, alias A Hard Day's Night, Can't Buy Me Love and I Should Have Known Better put together to an Indian style medley. That felt very rocking to me, and still does today, as technically shoddy as it is! In The Tyrol was another rather funny thing, because I'd been to Tyrol (one part Austrian Bundesland, the other Italian region of autonomy) several times as a child so the title struck me. And of course I well remembered a part of the film playing in a skiing resort and the Beatles disguised as a marching band. Me old father, RIP, was able to inform me that the classical bit was from the Wagner opus Tannhäuser, so I knew even then 🎻🎻 One day the package of the record - but not the record itself - got lost somehow and no one knew where it had gone. As it sometimes happens in a chockablock full of children household like ours of old. So I took some lying around unoccupied paper inner record sleeve and tried myself out as a cover artist 😄 With Beatle faces both Beatlemania and long-haired and bearded, song titles, composer credits, wee bits of discography with my own handdrawn tiny cover pictures, even a fantasy compilation album titled Hey Bulldog (as I said above, I built my own fantasy Pepperland), plus some fun with words drawn all over the thing. Decades later, in 2004, when the US Beatle albums were first released on CD and worldwide in the form of box sets, I was able to listen back to the album for the first time in 20 something years (some other day, the record had eventually disappeared, too). It was only then that I realised how strangely shoddy and thin (considering it's American) the album sounded, particularly on Ticket To Ride, and Another Girl misses the very beginning split second, so it's not For I have got but ...or I have got. The Americans had a peculiar policy of adding hall or reverb to Beatle stuff over there. Maybe the original sound was deemed too European, what do I know... Anyway, in 2009 or 10, not sure, after I'd long since left my home town, one day I stumbled across a copy of it in a second hand store. I had just then newly switched back from CD to vinyl, and it was a Canadian copy, with Beatlemania With The Beatles, Twist And Shout and Long Tall Sally in the backside discography instead of Meet The Beatles, Second Album and The Early Beatles. The price tag said 20 €...which was a real steal, the guy obviously didn't really know what he was offering, and so it found its new and worthy home on my record shelf 😃 And then yet some years later, as if it had waited in hiding for a lifetime for the right moment to come, during a visit to my childhood home, I found in some corner that very paper sleeve with drawings that used to house that old US Help! copy of ours after the package went missing. Needless to say that ever since it's been back where it belongs, namely in the gatefold slot of that album copy I've bought back. Which, by the way, is a Capitol purple label, whereas the old one was a Apple. It is in stereo, in which form it seems to come off at least a wee bit better than how it's described in the clip. So what can I say? Well, what would you say with a back story like that? Despite its sonic shortcomings, to me this album has always been and will always be FUN in capital (Capitol...?) letters. Cheers!
I love the US versions of 'Help!' and "A Hard Day's Night." It's great to hear some of the instrumentals from the films alongside the classic Beatles tunes. I grew up with the UK versions so hearing the US versions when I was a bit older was a treat.
Great job! A lot of giggles on this end! But as someone else mentioned it was the first time sitar’s were featured on a Beatles Lp...and I really love those tracks. But as to the story of Dexter’s reasonings again, it flabbergasts me. The US market did it to the Stones albums too. I hope you get around to doing US cassettes of these particular Lp’s. Sometimes there was more life to them in the bass end or the vocals. The mid 80’s Capitol cassettes. Again I grew up with these US versions and I still find them very tolerable! But you’re right that English fans were given more bang for their buck.
Thanks for another great vid, Andrew--and you even got a bit more personal, this time! No idea you resided in Oesterreich! Anyway, I grew up with the US version (stereo--mono was unknown in record stores by then), and I always appreciated the instrumentals for what they were--Wagner (Lohengrin) and kind of Indian and orchestral parodies of Beatle songs--the fun was in identifying the variation in melody and chords for them--but as soon as I was aware of the UK, full 14 Beatle track version, I got one as an import. Btw, I have developed a bit of a preference for the late 70's Electrola, which I owe to you from your German themed vids this year. Zum wohl zu Ihnen!
I'm lucky enough to have been 'brought up' on the British version. My sister brought it back with her when she visited Europe during her summer vacation. I still balk at Capitol's cover-art, though!
I own the Capital Help! on vinyl and the 2009 CD on Parlophone. The 2009 mix on CD is amazingly good, with the best resolution I've yet heard on a Beatles CD. In addition, you get the "official" Help! with the original tracks. To digress, for a bit of sonic flash, listen to the guitar riffs on "Words of Love" on Capital's Beatles Six. On a high resolution system, such as I have, the sound of the guitars is absolutely piercing. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I find it exciting on my vinyl copy of the album. You've heard how the Beatles and George Martin were irked at the way Capital did things. But, at the Beatles concert in Shea Stadium (August 15, 1965), John Lennon, before the group launched into Dizzy Miss Lizzie, announced that the song was on Beatles Six, thus giving a plug to a Beatles product that he and the group perported not to favor.
First off, your vids are manna from Heaven! Okay, pulled my US mono original for a listen. Immediate vocals...it was like John was three feet away! Instrumentals/incidental pieces made me mourn the loss of true film scores. I suppose I'd forgotten "Ticket to Ride" was on there, and upon hearing it got a shock...it is a RADICALLY different take...everything about it was different, it was almost like a demo or rehearsal! Any ideas?
I grew up with the US Help, it was one of my first Beatles albums. I quickly grew to love the instrumental tracks. Now I hear one of the songs and it sounds weird without the instrumental bracketing.
You teach me things I didn't know, which is hard to do. I agree that the USA Help LP leaves much to be desired as far as the mixes are concerned, but I love listening to the soundtrack instrumentals. I'm funny that way.
As always, an entertaining look at an alternate presentation of a Beatles album. It's not my first choice for hearing the Help songs, but it's the way that millions first heard (and owned) these songs. If you're looking to continue delving deeper into collectible Capitol releases for a future video, you may want to consider the "For Jukeboxes Only" 45s that Capitol (through CEMA) released in the mid 90s. It was their last hurrah for Beatles 45s and presented 31 discs on colored vinyl. Besides pressing up many of the familiar 45s from the 60s, they also came up with new singles that paired up deeper album songs that went together well. These 45s are quite collectible now, especially since some were pressed in very limited numbers. (There's a handful of solo Beatles releases too, in addition to the 31 Beatles singles.)
Got a question. The “collection of oldies” album also has Help! There’s a copy of it in mono at one of my record stores still in shrink wrap. Still has the uK import sticker. Since it’s a mono copy I’m assuming it would be the same as the original Uk mono release of Help!? Thanks. Never had interest in the oldies album but after picking up the capital Help! Soundtrack the other day in mono, I’d like to see if the oldies version would be better. I couldn’t find any info on which version of Help! Is used for the oldies collection
You mentioned that the Beatles pictures on the front cover were rearranged and in black & white. What you may not have known was that they were standing and holding their arms in nautical letters that spelled HELP on the UK release. In America we got HEPL.
You're Going To Lose That Girl is one of the best call and response songs ever written. Never talked about.
It's always been my favorite off that album & it should have been a single
@@projectpat006 Yes. The song does call for heavy AM-top-40 rotation.
Yes always loved that song- really well produced as well with a thick sound
John's last attempt at writing a Shirelles tune.
Love the song. Help in any rendering is one of my favorite Beatles albums.
"How do I know that? - I bought his record collection" :-)
As a 10-year old American in 1965, I loved the songs on the Capital LP, but hated having to lift the needle to skip the instrumentals. Would have been better to put the 7 Beatles tracks on A and the instrumentals on B. I’m hoping Giles will do his magic soon on Help!, Rubber Soul, and Revolver.
He’s recently said he’d like to, but the software required to separate the elements of the bounced down multi tracks isn’t quite there yet for a well recorded studio album like the ones you mentioned. Looks like we’ll be waiting a while for those…
@@pellucid so the original pre-bounced down tapes no longer exist? Darn!
I agree 100% - I hope they remix the old stuff.
Go and get you the original UK albums!
@@Aqualong53 have them, but I’m still hoping for remastering by Giles
A fun fact I love about the U.S. "Help!" album is it was the first time sitars were featured on a Beatles' album. Everyone always says it's "Rubber Soul". No, it was the U.S. "Help!"
"Doesn't the Eastern flavor come rather expensive?" - George
Except for the fact that a Beatle was not playing it. So it’s a technicality.
In what song do they use sitar?
No. The sitar was first used in the song Norwegian Wood on Rubber Soul!
U.S. "Help!" was released first. It's simply a fact.
I do prefer the UK version. I can never understand why this album is so underrated. Any album that contains classics such Help! Ticket To Ride and You have to Hide Your Love Away and alongside Yesterday must be rated higher. Rubber Soul has always been regarded as a great album even though it was released a few months later in 1965. I feel the Help! album had an equal amount of brilliant songs.
I think the best songs on Help! are as good or maybe even better than the best on Rubber Soul.
Are we not going to talk about how much of a flex it is that Andrew bought Richard Lester's vinyl collection?
Ken Thorne is a link between the Beatles and The Monkees. Thorne did the score music for The Monkees' movie Head.
I wouldn't say that either album is "better." They are really two separate albums with several tracks in common. In the UK, the album is treated as a Beatles' album; solid and programed with an unmatched, unique brand of energy. In the US, the album served as a kind of "travelogue" companion to the film. As a child in the US, I had seen the movie first and knew just how wonderful the instrumental songs were, and how much of a role they played in the film. In many cases, the incidental music set up the individual scenes for the story in the movie. Having the songs included on the album seemed completely normal to me, but yes, it did take out the Beatles' "bop" factor along the way every five minutes or so on the US album. This is where the US album cover comes in to play! It's a veritable picture program of the movie. I'd look it over time and again, usually while the instrumentals were on. That being said, with the UK album, there was never a dull moment. It was all Beatles' all the way through! When my group of Beatlemaniacs learned of the UK album, they were all trying to get their hands on copies by 1973 or so. Still not always an easy task back then, so it was the "thrill of the hunt" finding a copy.
Here in the States we were kept in the dark about UK releases for years and years. My gateway to UK occurred in the mid seventies whilst perusing a bargain bin of 8 tracks in a local discount store, Two Guys in East Brunswick NJ. There it was: a UK 8 Track of HELP! I was shocked. I had no frame of reference, but I figured out immediately that we were getting ripped off in the US. I purchased it (probably for $2.99). When I popped it into my car player I was stunned by the superior quality of the sound! On 8 track no less! Needless to say, that tape was a treasure for years and years. It’s long gone, but the memory of that revelation is with me forever.
Thanks for the memory, Ed.
The US version was a real memento of seeing the film at the Drive-in theater in the summer of '65. The mix of Beatles tunes and film score numbers tied each song to scenes in the film. The US album is MUCH more a total multimedia experience than the UK album I acquired later. The "James Bond" kick off to the song Help is still thrilling!
Another great video Andrew! Didn't know there were plans from Capitol to release a McCartney solo album... seems pretty crazy to think they ever considered it!
I have read that Brian Epstein was very unhappy with Capitol around this time. He wanted to downplay the fact that Yesterday was in essence a solo record and that’s why he wouldn’t even consider it for single release in the UK not wishing to upset ‘the boys’. Hence it was only an album track on UK Help! When The Beatles performed Yesterday on UK TV Paul played acoustic guitar with a taped orchestra backing. It was treated as a bit of a joke by George who introduced it as Paul auditioning for Opportunity Knocks ( 60s talent show) Once Paul finished John made comment along lines of Thanks Ringo, that was very like you! Capitol Records perhaps wanted to promote Paul along lines of Diana Ross & The Supremes rather than just The Supremes. Epstein and The Beatles would never have tolerated that.
Right. It's like they wanted to break up the band too soon.
I love it. Then again, I love soundtrack albums anyway.
I look forward to your (yet to be made) Beatles video at the Obertauern ...What an exciting idea!
I never skipped over the instrumentals , they reminded me how great the movie was
I always wondered why George Martin wasn't used for the U.S. soundtrack instrumentals. Makes sense now you mentioned it. Superman 2 director Richard Donner was replaced by Dick Lester. Lester brought in Ken Thorne for the music instead of keeping John Williams.
And Richard Lester also directed Help. Thus we are all connected in the great circle of life
I remember as a kid sooo much about this particular album because it was like the earth moved everytime there was a new beatles release.....and then the bitter disappointment that half this album was just orchestral movie background soundtrack and not them....the british release , when we could finally get it on cd in the 1990s is what the album SHOULD have been.
I agree with Dave Morgan. We needed an album of Beatles music. Not a song and film music to back it up. (But I do own the original album, still.)
Oooh. Looking forward to your vid on the Austrian film locations. I've just listened to mono ticket to ride on my 2009 US Capital LPs CD collection and it sounds pretty good. but I understand that is not the same mix as on the original LPs.
I think Ken Thorne did some of the music for Superman II after Lester replaces John Williams so he's obviously one of his good mates. If I see the George Martin orchestral arrangements LP of Help! I'll try and pick it up.
Great work Andrew.
Big fan of Lester's Superman II and III scores too! :D
Another great video, Andrew. Thank you for your time and energy in putting these videos together.
I received the Capitol HELP! album for Christmas, 1975. At first I wasn’t very happy with only seven tracks of Beatles songs, but over time, the instruments grew on me. I find the whole album quite enjoyable. In addition, the album package is wonderfully eye catching. When I became aware of the UK release, I thought the front and back covers were rather dull in comparison.
Was the record inside an Apple or orange capitol ?
@@johnwszeborowski1395 My copy featured the Apple label.
Just rewatched this episode. It’s interesting how much colorful and eye catching the Capitol version is. You would think the label would have included the color pics of the Beatles on the front cover instead of black and white.
I continually enjoy rewatching these, Andrew.👍👍Thank you again.
One of my favorite pieces of trivia is that the Beatles didn't spell out HELP in semaphore, it was NUJV. The Capitol release switched Paul's position so he would appear to be pointing to the Capitol logo, so it's NUVJ in the US.
As an eleven year old I received the Capitol HELP! LP for Christmas ‘65. It stayed on my little record player for months. Loved every bit of it - including the instrumentals.
On the Beatles 1 Blu-ray, the music video for "Yesterday" is a taped live performance, introduced by George Harrison as a song from their new album Help! "...in England." I wonder how many people felt a bit cheated that it didn't end up on the US issue of Help!
At the time, no one had a clue what the moron Dave Dexter was doing to their albums over here.
Thanks again Andrew for another great video. The Help album holds many happy memories as it was the first Beatles album I had. After a lot of prompting from me and after my parents paying the princely sum of 52/6 I received it for my 12th Birthday in October 1965.
My copy was in Mono and in those days our family didn’t have a modern record player so I had to take it to friends houses so I could listen . By early 1966 and after I bought Rubber soul my Dad finally got our old 1951 HMV Ernest Fisk model 78 RPM radiogram fitted with a Garrard 3 speed turntable I was ecstatic and my record collecting really got started.
Thanks for the memories, Phil.
I nearly forgot re the Capitol version of Help! I bought the Capitol version on CD a few years ago . I had never heard it before in full and was not impressed at all with the instrumental bits as in my opinion they just don’t fit in to a Beatles record and just sounds totally odd. The Beatles songs in the CD mix sound thin and bit cheap and nasty a bit like a KTel 20 Explosive Hits LP and if that is my opinion on the supposedly better sound of the CD I would be less impressed with the record.
My current Stereo vinyl copy of Help! Is from around 1970/71 and remember I did notice a marked improvement over my original ( now long gone) Mono version and I think it is the same mix as on my 1987 CD release.
My final word is that I’ll vote “1” for the early 1970’s Parlophone mix.
3:32 dude just pause this and observe how freaking cool the beatles are
One of the first Beatles albums that I bought was the soundtrack version with the instrumental cues. It was on a cassette and I played it all the time driving back-and-forth to college. As I continued to develop my Beatles library, I got the UK version on CD. I loved having the extra songs but the American soundtrack release will always have a special place in my heart.
Same here
Thank you Andrew. Another great video. Keep em coming. Longer, longer, more facts, more facts. More interesting topics. Peace.
Will do Craig!
When 1962-1966 was released in the U.S., there was an insert with the track listing that claimed "From Me to You" and "A Hard Day's Night" (neither available on a Capitol LP at the time) were from the LP "Help!" - based on the similarly named instrumentals!
I find it interesting that "You Can't Do That" lent itself most easily for interpretation by Thorne, and it's used in a couple of variations throughout HELP!
The track called "THE CHASE" is a minor masterpiece; the first part, the intro, and the main section ("The Chase"--where the Beatles are being chased on their sled) are used independent of one another. But as a whole piece, it's a KNOCKOUT. Would fit into any thriller even today. Again, this is a variation of "You Can't Do That". Something about the composition of that tune that makes it attractive to orchestrae...because Ken Thorne sometimes disguises it so well it takes to a tick to HEAR it. I even started playing a jazz version of it on my nylon string...sure enough, no matter what you play it on---it bloody WORKS. Probably play the thing on a KAZOO and it would come up aces (LOL)Cheers, you've sold me, I'm a subscriber now.
Thanks and welcome aboard!
I had seen the movie and listened to the soundtrack album several times before I heard the original song, "You Can't Do That." When I did finally hear, it blew my mind and gave me a greater appreciation for the movie's music!
I bought my US copy when I was 11 back in 77 and I still have it. Although I always loved the Ken Thorne opening to Help, I haven't listened to my US copy since I discovered the real Help album which was the UK version in about 81 or so.
Same here - even though I love "In The Tyrol" which closed out side one. I had no idea it was part of Wagner's Wedding March.
@@farrellmcnulty909 in the thyrol is great
@@farrellmcnulty909 tyrol I meant
Yeah I have both but grew up with the u s soundtrack I like it best
I think I found my first copy of the UK HELP! album at Beatlefest in the early 80s. Strange, though, how it was only 6 or 7 years between first seeing the UK reissues in record shops (and getting them), and the entire catalogue being released on CD for the first time, yet it seemed like forever.
My very first Beatles LP was the Capitol pressing. I learned how to use a turntable with this, as I was not keen on the instrumentals. I was fortunate, however, to gain a friend when I was in junior high school, whose parents had an early pressing of the Parlophone version. In short, I played the Capitol version to death as a kid, but won’t touch Capitol versions today (the exception being Beatlemania! With the Beatles » which I bought as a 12 year old and still love even today (although it’s terribly worn down). Thanks for this!
I grew up listening to the Spanish version of Help in mono (It's the one I bought in 1984 when I was 15 years old) and the American album is exotic to me.
Verfolge dich schon etwas länger und ich habe jetzt erst realisiert, dass du aus Österreich kommst.
Wie immer ein tolles, hochqualitatives Video!
Schöne Grüße aus Vorarlberg!
Danke fürs zuschauen!
I remember spotting this record in my local store (here in Guadalajara, released by EMI Capitol de Mexico) and turning it away because it wasn’t a fully Beatles album. It was the 80s and I was a teenager starving for everything about the band that I just discovered and loved.
Fantastic video as always! I'm curious to know where does that light blue text of Help come from? It's in the background
Thanks James. That cover is from the 1970's German pressing.
@@Parlogram Thanks!
I'm from the UK, and not gonna lie I prefer most of the US albums this being one of them, I love the instrumentals!
Well,Craig!!If the Capiphone project can get approval,How about a Ken Thorne 28 minute inst.soundtrack,featuring virtually all of the music he did,and featuredin the film?!!!?Two vocals only, are added.Help and Ticket To Ride,both in mono and stereo,in each edition!!First time EVER on CD!!!!(the full run of the Ken Thorne music,specifically)
@@DavidCKendall huh?!?!?!!
@@DavidCKendall who's being snippy?!!!!!?
@@DavidCKendall I never said anything about your preference,but I like the instrumentals on the soundtrack to include a whole Ken Thorne Help soundtrack disc for the Capiphone project!!All the tracks he did were great,that's for sure.Add a lot of pizazz to the film,too!
@@ronmartin4212 Wow, Ron... sorry dude... my mistake. I didn't know you were being sincere. It's the way I read it. The voice in my head thought this was a backhanded insult to Ken Thorne, because George Martin wasn't chosen to do the music. I also don't have any idea what the Capiphone project is. So I plea ignorance on both counts. I'll remove my other comments. Please flesh out the Capiphone idea for me. I like the idea of all the movie songs, and all of the Ken Thorne music. If it turned into a two record set, al the better!
Great video! You should do a video about the history of the Beatles shell help album!
I enjoy both versions of the album. I listen to one or the other depending on my mood.
In 1965, when we were living in Europe, the kids of another American family living there had the U.S. version of the album, and we listened to it over and over when I was at their place. I asked my dad to get us a copy when he went on a business trip to London...and was thoroughly dismayed when he came back with the Parlophone version, which "wasn't the same thing!" When we returned home on vacation the next summer, I insisted on buying a copy of the _"real"_ soundtrack album, which was my go-to for a few years, until I got old enough to understand why they were different. Since then, of course, I have listened to the U.K. version exclusively. But I have to admit I can see why I liked the U.S. one -- as someone who had snuck in to see the movie (which was only for 12 year olds and up where I lived) and loved it, the U.S. release felt much more like a "soundtrack" album, in every way from the instrumentals to the double-fold jacket with the movie poster reproduction on the front and color stills inside the gatefold.
Great vid! I'm pleased to say I an early 70s 2 box stereo, still with a flipback sleeve. I shall stick with that then. Any chance of a vid about the releases done via Shell petrol? Very unusual!!
Thanks for sharing this video Andrew! The US Help! Is definitely a mixed bag. Although this is the one I first owned, I don’t have as much fondness for the instrumentals as I do on A Hard Day’s Night. Maybe less so now because I am more aware of the conflict between George Martin and Richard Lester. Still it has a great cover. I have both stereo and mono and they sound okay but I prefer the original UK mixes. Thanks again!
Help is part of my parents' record collection, and after you explained the price of its release at the time I now understand why they didn't buy a copy when it was first released (both were in college in 1965). After a quick search I now know their copy is a 1971 reissue. Also, my dad has the Goldfinger album and A Hard Day's Night.
The fake-out opening of "Help" was widely played on radio in the NYC area where I grew up in the 1970s-80s. I was fooled a couple of times, and quite pleased whenever it came up thereafter. The two coolest British things I knew were having a summit on my clock-radio.
my grandparents let me take some of their old records that they don't play and it was really interesting to find this in there
Great information as always. Thank you.
Thanks for watching, Chris.
Sooty mate. Lockdown is back no holiday to the slopes this winter.
I had the US version in 1973 when I was 13, so I retain a sentimental attachment to that, even the instrumental bits. But I always wondered what the heck Dave Dexter did to the mixes. Now I know a lot better.
Also, it seems that there's a story that Dick Lester fancied himself a jazz pianist, and George Martin thought otherwise, which is why he was replaced. It's possible Lester tried to muscle in on the music and Martin pushed back. Thorne probably kept his mouth shut and was grateful for the jobs.
"how do I know that ? I bought Lester's record collection !" Amazing !
I just picked up a 1965 mono for $5 at a record shop. Looking forward to trying it out. I have a stereo cassette version that I loved...when cars had cassette decks!
I really like both versions of "HELP!" The U.K. release has probably one of the best songs from The Beatles - "Yesterday", And the U.S.A. release has these very interesting instrumental mixes, and it is very underrated, but i like the U.K. version more, because in my opinion, it is more balanced in general.
I love this album. It was actually the first (only) Capitol Beatles record I bought, until very recently.
My favorite Beatles album. No doubt.
I've had the Capital stereo mix on vinyl since the 1970s. In 2009, I got the Parlophone stereo remix on CD which, to my ears, has the best resolution of any Beatles' album, CD or vinyl, that I've heard to date. Having once owned the Capital Rubber Soul on vinyl, it was strange hearing Paul's I've Just Seen A Face on the Parlophone Help!
That stuff on VJ had some secret special voo doo on it
I’ve got a Japanese pressing of the UK Help! with Apple labels, the catalog number being EAS-80554 and being in stereo. Because it’s a Japanese pressing, it went through a bit of an “Apple-ization”. It still has some Parlophone details, those being the equipment box and 33RPM symbol on the back.
Are the 1970s Japanese pressing good? I’d like to get a “Help!” album from the 1970s before George Martin’s CD mix of the 1980s
Great stuff Andrew! Some other stuff I never knew. Kudos!!!
Thanks, Tyrone!
“How do I know that? I bought his record collection.” I’m putting that into my Discord status next year!😊
I only recently heard the US Help! album when I got the CD set of the US albums as a gift. I'd long been intrigued to hear the instrumental tracks, but never to the point where I felt I had to buy it. Since I grew up with the UK version, I have to say the US version remains a bit of a novelty to me. The strange (to me) intro to Help! was a bit of a surprise. The rest I can take or leave.
Fascinating stuff, Andrew. Thanks again!
Thanks for watching, Colin!
I never did buy the US version (in the states) but I did buy a 1976 Japanese Odeon press (which basically carried over the U.K. cover art and track sequencing) The main difference was the obi strip and the Apple labels - also, it used U.K. YEX stampers. I always thought that was the best stereo version of "Help!" I've personally heard (granted, I haven't heard many). I didn't hear the James Bondish preface to "Help!" until I bought the Red Album a couple years later. Thanks for the video, Andy!
I bought my first, first pressing uk sgt pepper record today. I am so so soo happy. Also I love your videos so much and I have watched all your videos so many times😂, have a great day!!! And thank you for hearting my comment earlier! 💙
Congratulations and thanks for watching!
The Help! soundtrack album was a favorite record of mine when I was a kid and had no phonograph of my own and very few records. I bought the stereo EAS 70's Japanese pressing years later and while it's far away from the last word in sound quality, it's not bad for that album. I made a needle-drop on CD-R from the Japan album but substituted the Beatles songs with tracks from the 80's Dutch Help! album. I also did a mono version using double Y connectors to fold the instrumental tacks then used real UK mono cuts for the Beatles songs and it all fit on 1 CD-R. Sounds much better than what Capitol gave us. Thanks for the video Andrew!
Thanks for watching, John!
It's just a matter of taste. I grew up with the (mono) US version, and I never cared for the instrumentals then. I remember when cassette tapes came in and I could make my own mixes: I immediately made a tape of just the Beatles tracks from Help! But in later years, I've come to enjoy those instrumental tracks, partly because they remind me of the movie, which I've always liked. So in that sense the soundtrack album is doing its job, in helping me relive the movie.
Do a video on the mess that is the "A Hard Day's Night" US soundtrack
As always: informative, yet not overwhelming. I grew up with the US version (seeing as I'm American) and never liked the instrumentals, thought of them as in unwelcome intrusion in fact. The instrumentals in "Hard Day's Night" never bothered me much, they seemed cool enough in their way. But now, I listen to neither US version as the UK versions are clearly superior.
Another great video! I totally agree with you that the best thing about the US Help! album is the cover. I remember buying the US version in the 70s principally for the gatefold sleeve which I think was great. Listening to the Stereo album back then was a bit frustrating to be honest as I didn’t care too much for the Ken Thorne music. I think The Beatles didn’t care for it either as George Martin was back for Yellow Submarine and his music was put on side B of the album. I’ve often wondered if through loyalty to George Martin they kept finding reasons to cancel or decline working on the scheduled 3rd film with Dick Lester in 66 & 67 before going with the Yellow Submarine film project instead. A trip to the Austrian locations for Help! Is a great idea 💡
Hello Andrew enjoy your site Very much! Would it be possible for you to do a review of the 80's Themed Capitol releases. I grew up with these in Canada before the Catalogue was released on CD Never to include the Themed releases.
Great suggestion, Jim.
As a kid...hated the every other song thing...songs were great but the incidental soundtrack music I did like at all...
But when my kids got into it I looked at it with fresh ears...each of the sound track tracks are just as cool as the songs....jazzed up older songs with Indian instruments and orchestra...such a cool addition to the catalog...take the time to enjoy it especially after seeing the film and hearing where the music is used...great stuff
my parents bought the capitol soundtrack live at the time. i loved the film (i was 5 years old), and loved the album, including the instrumentals. so while im sure i would hear it differently now if i had never heard it, i have to say i love this album, a LOT. i do agree, however, that the cover itself was fantabulous, really helped me to relive the movie. and i do think that one song was muddy, even I noticed that mix as a little kid.
@mercurywoodrose ..... what song is the muddy one... 'Hide Your Love?'..
Growing up in Canada, the UK albums weren't yet available when I was filling my record collection so I knew only the US/Canadian Capitol version. I've never had a problem with the tacked on intro to the title song, though I do prefer it without. It's true about the popularity of soundtrack albums here and my parents had a wide variety of them, including that same Mary Poppins one as well as several others. Even the obscure soundtrack to a film called Windjammer that I apparently would sing along with as a toddler (at the top of my lungs, according to my mum). It does explain why the Sound Of Music won the Grammy over Help! that year. I don't mind the second side of incidental music but I'll admit I've rarely listened to side B since the day I bought the album. I do recall it feeling a little jarring when I first listened to the UK version and all the extra songs that appeared on various Capitol albums.
Love every song on this album! The middle period or 64-66 my fav from The Beatles.
Loving the videos on US releases lately! I would love to see a video about the Tollie and Swan single releases.
Thanks as always.
Absolutely love it the tunes are great ..
I already had the UK stereo Help! album at the time, so when I got hold of the US (stereophonic) Help! on my first ever trip abroad (to Sweden) in 1980, so I considered it a bonus. It is the only time I have ever seen the US version anywhere, so I certainly don't regret buying it. Therefore, I nurture a personal affection for it. Remember, it was a very different time. I was still years away from having the slightest chance of actually seeing the film then, and it had been years since I first learned about the film! So, this soundtrack album provided that much needed feel and atmosphere from it. The rest was up to the imagination while looking at the gatefold pictures. I could tell it had to be a somewhat weird and eccentric film, which of course it was. The only album ever with both Wagner and sitars on it. The non-beatle tracks only piqued my curiosity. A perfect disc to explore for a 14 year old nerd.
In 1965 I was 13 as my 15 year old brother and 13 year old neighborhood friend were in a band trying to learn a few cuts from this LP. We didn't care about the soundtrack arrangement as it added ambience to ones recollections of the film while listening to the LP spin on the turntable. We loved the LP and were NEVER aware of the issues between Capitol and EMI (hell we didn't even know EMI existed much less know they were the parent company!). We were kids in love with The Beatles music.
Great times, James!
One word......brilliant!
I wonder how George Martin's instrumental of Ticket To Ride, wound up on Dark Side Of The Moon. It's faintly heard on the end of Eclipse during the heartbeat.
Loved the video as usual! I like the Uk album the most (of course). But, I usually play the mono LP, instead of the stereo! I like my early Beatles in mono, it just feels more… right. I’ve got 4 out of 5 variations of the Norwegian press if help. The one I don’t have, is the ultra rare, valuable 1967 press. We’ll see when I get that… (By the way, the four other variations that I own, are: Gold label mono (same type of label as original uk please please me!), gold label stereo, silver mono (same style as the gold label, only this time it’s in silver instead) and silver stereo.) They came with imported uk covers.
Keep up the wonderful work as usual! :)
Cheers Olav!
When I was a lad possibly 1969 there was something that looked like a box set of Help ,i don't remember much about the details of the packaging except one that there was a pic of a scene in the movie where they are in or outside that Indian restaraunt ,its possible that the main color was that brownish hue that was used on the BBC recordings 1.I don't remember if it was an album or maybe even a movie reel ,Anyone ever seen it?
Love it ! Love the instrumentals used in the movie.
Great video, Andrew. Having the mono US album when I was a kid and much later the UK versions, I enjoy these U.S. and U.K. comparisons. One odd thing I recall long ago seeing the movie numerous times here in the US on tv that stood out to me. The Beatles performing Help at the beginning of the movie was a slightly different version of the song than that released on the mono single and stereo LP. About the time the movie was released on dvd, apparently the stereo lp version was substituted in. Do you or any other of your many readers here recall this? I found this version back then a fascinating listen being noticeably different. Cheers to you.
Cheers, Bob!
Super Fab channel Andy! Is it true that A Hard Days Night is the ONLY original album credited wholly to Lennon and McCartney?
Yes. Harrison started writing stronger material and Ringo added a verse to "What Goes On" in Rubber Soul.
@@farrellmcnulty909 I meant no cover songs also?
@@Neil-Aspinall I know you did. Right after Hard Days Night, Beatles for Sale had a bunch of covers, Help had contributions from George and there were 2 covers, then George and Ringo contributed to Rubber Soul, George had 3 on Revolver, etc., and so on, so yes, Hard Days Night was the only album solely credited to Lennon & McCartney.
Now this is a subject that turns into quite a bit of storytelling from my personal perspective 😉 I happen to have an American brother in law, who brought a copy of US Help! to our family home (sadly no longer existent) one day in 1978; it was kinda "lent forever". I was 5 years old then, but, under the influence of several elder siblings, was a belated beatlemaniac toddler even then. I was even able to sing along although not knowing any English (yet)! I already knew the European Help!, so this very different affair still boasting the same name and a bit of the same photography immediately caught my intense attention. I was totally fascinated with the gatefold, the film stills, the Help!/I'm Down 45 rpm group shot on the backside, and the US discography. I wasn't aware of the latter's distinctness before, and I thought, now that's strange, has With The Beatles changed or morphed or whatever to Meet The Beatles, and Beatles' Greatest to the Early Beatles the same? How could that have happened, especially when we have both discs in the house? Well you know, the stuff that boggles 5 year olds. My BIL could have easily explained it to me, but I don't remember him doing so. So it wasn't until I regularly went to record shops in my hometown, as I did from age 7 or 8 on, just to file through Beatle LPs and be fascinated and slip into a Beatle fantasy Pepperland, that I figured things out.
Anyway, I was aware of the existence of the Help! movie, it was shown on German TV the year before (1977 when I was 4), which surely helped the 5 year old me to accept and embrace the existence of a different, more directly film based LP version.
And yes, it was a bit funny to have Beatle music and incidental music on the same platter, and mixed and jumbled to boot. Not that I had kept in mind any of the orchestral or Indian stuff from the previous year's screening. I noticed that From Me To You Fantasy was similarly titled, and You Can't Do That even the same. However back then I somehow couldn't make out the musical similarity, that wasn't until many years later - but the sole thought of it having accompanied some supposedly dramatic part in the movie, was a good enough exciting idea to me. Nor was I ever upset that it wasn't George Martin but some American named Ken Thorne. As a kid I didn't notice, and later on I was too accustomed to be upset about anything (listening to music has a lot to do with psychology 😉).
Being aware already of Love You To, Within You Without You and The Inner Light, I was very intrigued by Another Hard Day's Night, alias A Hard Day's Night, Can't Buy Me Love and I Should Have Known Better put together to an Indian style medley. That felt very rocking to me, and still does today, as technically shoddy as it is!
In The Tyrol was another rather funny thing, because I'd been to Tyrol (one part Austrian Bundesland, the other Italian region of autonomy) several times as a child so the title struck me. And of course I well remembered a part of the film playing in a skiing resort and the Beatles disguised as a marching band. Me old father, RIP, was able to inform me that the classical bit was from the Wagner opus Tannhäuser, so I knew even then 🎻🎻
One day the package of the record - but not the record itself - got lost somehow and no one knew where it had gone. As it sometimes happens in a chockablock full of children household like ours of old. So I took some lying around unoccupied paper inner record sleeve and tried myself out as a cover artist 😄 With Beatle faces both Beatlemania and long-haired and bearded, song titles, composer credits, wee bits of discography with my own handdrawn tiny cover pictures, even a fantasy compilation album titled Hey Bulldog (as I said above, I built my own fantasy Pepperland), plus some fun with words drawn all over the thing.
Decades later, in 2004, when the US Beatle albums were first released on CD and worldwide in the form of box sets, I was able to listen back to the album for the first time in 20 something years (some other day, the record had eventually disappeared, too). It was only then that I realised how strangely shoddy and thin (considering it's American) the album sounded, particularly on Ticket To Ride, and Another Girl misses the very beginning split second, so it's not For I have got but ...or I have got.
The Americans had a peculiar policy of adding hall or reverb to Beatle stuff over there. Maybe the original sound was deemed too European, what do I know...
Anyway, in 2009 or 10, not sure, after I'd long since left my home town, one day I stumbled across a copy of it in a second hand store. I had just then newly switched back from CD to vinyl, and it was a Canadian copy, with Beatlemania With The Beatles, Twist And Shout and Long Tall Sally in the backside discography instead of Meet The Beatles, Second Album and The Early Beatles. The price tag said 20 €...which was a real steal, the guy obviously didn't really know what he was offering, and so it found its new and worthy home on my record shelf 😃
And then yet some years later, as if it had waited in hiding for a lifetime for the right moment to come, during a visit to my childhood home, I found in some corner that very paper sleeve with drawings that used to house that old US Help! copy of ours after the package went missing. Needless to say that ever since it's been back where it belongs, namely in the gatefold slot of that album copy I've bought back. Which, by the way, is a Capitol purple label, whereas the old one was a Apple. It is in stereo, in which form it seems to come off at least a wee bit better than how it's described in the clip.
So what can I say? Well, what would you say with a back story like that? Despite its sonic shortcomings, to me this album has always been and will always be FUN in capital (Capitol...?) letters. Cheers!
Great story, Max. Thanks for sharing it.
I love the US versions of 'Help!' and "A Hard Day's Night." It's great to hear some of the instrumentals from the films alongside the classic Beatles tunes. I grew up with the UK versions so hearing the US versions when I was a bit older was a treat.
Great job! A lot of giggles on this end! But as someone else mentioned it was the first time sitar’s were featured on a Beatles Lp...and I really love those tracks. But as to the story of Dexter’s reasonings again, it flabbergasts me. The US market did it to the Stones albums too. I hope you get around to doing US cassettes of these particular Lp’s. Sometimes there was more life to them in the bass end or the vocals. The mid 80’s Capitol cassettes.
Again I grew up with these US versions and I still find them very tolerable! But you’re right that English fans were given more bang for their buck.
*Effing Love it! I grew up with album and I love the soundtrack stuff mixed in with the Beatles' songs! Great!
Thanks for another great vid, Andrew--and you even got a bit more personal, this time! No idea you resided in Oesterreich! Anyway, I grew up with the US version (stereo--mono was unknown in record stores by then), and I always appreciated the instrumentals for what they were--Wagner (Lohengrin) and kind of Indian and orchestral parodies of Beatle songs--the fun was in identifying the variation in melody and chords for them--but as soon as I was aware of the UK, full 14 Beatle track version, I got one as an import. Btw, I have developed a bit of a preference for the late 70's Electrola, which I owe to you from your German themed vids this year. Zum wohl zu Ihnen!
Vielen Dank!
Great video!!
Thanks Robert!
I'm lucky enough to have been 'brought up' on the British version. My sister brought it back with her when she visited Europe during her summer vacation. I still balk at Capitol's cover-art, though!
I own the Capital Help! on vinyl and the 2009 CD on Parlophone. The 2009 mix on CD is amazingly good, with the best resolution I've yet heard on a Beatles CD. In addition, you get the "official" Help! with the original tracks. To digress, for a bit of sonic flash, listen to the guitar riffs on "Words of Love" on Capital's Beatles Six. On a high resolution system, such as I have, the sound of the guitars is absolutely piercing. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I find it exciting on my vinyl copy of the album. You've heard how the Beatles and George Martin were irked at the way Capital did things. But, at the Beatles concert in Shea Stadium (August 15, 1965), John Lennon, before the group launched into Dizzy Miss Lizzie, announced that the song was on Beatles Six, thus giving a plug to a Beatles product that he and the group perported not to favor.
First off, your vids are manna from Heaven!
Okay, pulled my US mono original for a listen. Immediate vocals...it was like John was three feet away! Instrumentals/incidental pieces made me mourn the loss of true film scores.
I suppose I'd forgotten "Ticket to Ride" was on there, and upon hearing it got a shock...it is a RADICALLY different take...everything about it was different, it was almost like a demo or rehearsal!
Any ideas?
I grew up with the US Help, it was one of my first Beatles albums. I quickly grew to love the instrumental tracks. Now I hear one of the songs and it sounds weird without the instrumental bracketing.
You teach me things I didn't know, which is hard to do. I agree that the USA Help LP leaves much to be desired as far as the mixes are concerned, but I love listening to the soundtrack instrumentals. I'm funny that way.
I like the 1995 re-issue of HELP, and I'd love to hear that George Martin album that you showed. I liked his instrumental cuts on A Hard Days Night.
This synopsis is pure genius.
As always, an entertaining look at an alternate presentation of a Beatles album. It's not my first choice for hearing the Help songs, but it's the way that millions first heard (and owned) these songs. If you're looking to continue delving deeper into collectible Capitol releases for a future video, you may want to consider the "For Jukeboxes Only" 45s that Capitol (through CEMA) released in the mid 90s. It was their last hurrah for Beatles 45s and presented 31 discs on colored vinyl. Besides pressing up many of the familiar 45s from the 60s, they also came up with new singles that paired up deeper album songs that went together well. These 45s are quite collectible now, especially since some were pressed in very limited numbers. (There's a handful of solo Beatles releases too, in addition to the 31 Beatles singles.)
Got a question. The “collection of oldies” album also has Help! There’s a copy of it in mono at one of my record stores still in shrink wrap. Still has the uK import sticker. Since it’s a mono copy I’m assuming it would be the same as the original Uk mono release of Help!?
Thanks. Never had interest in the oldies album but after picking up the capital Help! Soundtrack the other day in mono, I’d like to see if the oldies version would be better. I couldn’t find any info on which version of Help! Is used for the oldies collection
You mentioned that the Beatles pictures on the front cover were rearranged and in black & white. What you may not have known was that they were standing and holding their arms in nautical letters that spelled HELP on the UK release. In America we got HEPL.
The 1976 brazilian pressing of the Help! album (not the soundtrack) has the "James Bond" intro.
Trying to remember, did Capitol use that same Duophonic mix of Ticket to Ride for their version of the 1962-66 Red Album? If so, that's crazy.
being honest I love the way the album looks that front cover honestly looks amazing