Help! is the title of a 1965 film starring the Beatles and also featuring Leo McKern. It is also the soundtrack album from the film, as well as the title song from that album. The album cover features the group spelling out a word in semaphore; the British Parlophone release featured the word 'NUJV', whilst the slightly re-arranged US release on Capitol Records appeared to feature the word 'NVUJ'.
The actress Eleanor Bron (the girl in the movie, Ahme) gave McCartney the name for Eleanor Rigby.
Produced by George Martin for EMI Records, the album (in its original British form) contains seven songs that appeared in the movie and seven that did not, including one of the most successful songs in history, the archetypal Paul McCartney ballad "Yesterday".
Even without the presence of the legendary "Yesterday", many critics consider the album Help! worthy of high praise. The album shows The Beatles, but mainly John Lennon, under the influence of Bob Dylan and folk music. The title track reveals Lennon's confusion and cynicism hidden under a maze of rhythms; "Ticket To Ride", a number one single, is widely recognised as the first grunge song due to its descending chords and disabled vocal; "It's Only Love" features another tugging vocal by Lennon.
McCartney adds "Yesterday" as well as "Another Girl", a fast moving congo beat pop song; "The Night Before", a standard rock & roll song, and "I've Just Seen A Face", a rollicking Dylanesque folk song often overlooked by Beatle fans.
George Harrison contributes the low-key "I Need You" and the headstrong "You Like Me Too Much".
This album seems to be the turning point for the Beatles, coming off of Beatlemania and entering a more focused stage. A year after this album was released, the Beatles played their last live concert in San Francisco in order to spend more time in the studio.
The film's original working title was "Eight Arms to Hold You". The plot of the movie revolves around a ring which Ringo cannot take off.
The Beatles said that the film was inspired by the Marx Brothers classic Duck Soup.
The single "Help!" was also covered by Bananarama.
Songs marked with an * appear in the movie:
- "Help!" (Lennon-McCartney) * Beatles help.ogg
- "The Night Before" (Lennon-McCartney) *
- "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away " (Lennon-McCartney) * Beatles hide your love away.ogg
- "I Need You" (Harrison) *
- "Another Girl" (Lennon-McCartney) *
- "You're Going to Lose That Girl" (Lennon-McCartney) *
- "Ticket to Ride" (Lennon-McCartney) *
- "Act Naturally" (Morrison/Russell)
- "It's Only Love" (Lennon-McCartney)
- "You Like Me Too Much" (Harrison)
- "Tell Me What You See" (Lennon-McCartney)
- "I've Just Seen a Face" (Lennon-McCartney)
- "Yesterday" (Lennon-McCartney) Beatles yesterday.ogg
- "Dizzy Miss Lizzie" (Williams)
American release
The US version of the album includes the songs in the film plus selections from the orchestral score composed by Ken Thorne , including an adaptation of Monty Norman's "James Bond Theme".
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