|
The Beatles 5th album was released in 1965 and was the soundtrack to their latest movie, Help! Much like A Hard Days Night, the A side (tracks 1-7) were in the movie while 7-14 were extra songs for the B side. This is the first album George contributed more than 1 song two as he comes in with a whopping two. A modest start but a sign of things to come. This would also be the last album they’d have any cover songs on. This is what I think of as the last of the “pop” albums they did, as their next album would herald a new beginning in their songwriting ability and overall general increase in song quality.
The Album
1) Help!
The title track, of course. This is probably the second most popular song on the album and it’s a great rocking song which was actually a John Lennon cry for help. It was all his insecurities being written about and the lyrics are great. Of course, the music moves the song and the music on this one is great and Harrison’s arpeggiated run between the chorus and verse is still great.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
2) The Night Before
This is a standard Paul McCartney song. There’s not much too notable about it. George has a pretty understated solo on the song and John provides the electric piano part.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 2
3) You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
This would be John Lennon writing a Bob Dylan song. It’s a great laid-back melodic song and one of my personal favorite Lennon songs. It’s great from start to finish, the acoustic feel, the great pleading lyrics and the flute part at the end is a great addition to the song.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 5
4) I Need You
George’s only song in the Help movie is all right. It’s not too memorable in the Harrison canon and its notable for the use of an actual guitar effect. It has a volume pedal on it! Other than that, it seems like George was trying to copy the overall style of a Lennon/McCartney song and he’s much better writing in his style.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 1
5) Another Girl
This is not a well known Beatles song but its very important to me and my life. This is the song that motivated me to start playing guitar. I don’t know what it was that motivated me to do it, but it did. I don’t like it as much as I did, but I can’t overlook its importance to me, so there.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 2
6) You’re Going To Lose That Girl
A very catchy song that isn’t as famous as it should be I think. Great melody, great backing vocals, great guitar parts and I love this song. My oldies station used to play this one a lot and I’ve never heard it on any other station.
Yeah Count: 2
Love Count: 0
7) Ticket To Ride
I don’t really need to write anything about this. The great thing about this is the guitar sound. It’s so clean. They tune their guitars down about a 1/4th of a step (I don’t know if they tuned it down or just slowed the tape down) and it fits the song. Paul actually plays the lead guitar parts and he does well at it, though George would play all the guitar parts on stage.
Yeah Count: 5
Love Count: 0
8) Act Naturally
One of only two covers on the album and it’s Ringo’s turn to sing. A definitely up paced coutnry tune and George tunes down to a drop-D tuning to get the low sound on the guitar and he does a great job with the fills and solo. Standard Ringo-sung song.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
9) It’s Only Love
One of two songs on the album that is under 2 minutes long. This is a great song in my opinion. A bunch of stuff is going on during the song (about 3-4 guitar parts playing) which give it a full sound and some great Lennon lyrics on it. Probably my pick for the hidden gem on the album if not for another song on here.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 4
10) You Like Me Too Much
The second George Harrison number on the album and not up to par with his later work. It’s mainly a piano driven song with some simple lyrics thrown on.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
11) Tell Me What You See
Another dull number on the album. It’s a Paul song and total throw-away material.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
12) I’ve Just Seen a Face
This song isn’t a throw-away though. It’s such a splendid song! It’s a song unlike any the Beatles have written before and Paul does a pretty good job of creating an early Simon and Garfunkel type of song. It’s sung in almost one continuous line (which I always love) and the guitar playing bass line is another thing that makes this song special. Hidden gem of the record that everyone Beatles fan should listen too.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
13) Yesterday
Well, this is probably Paul’s most famous song and was one of the most played songs in radio history for a while. The song came to him in a dream and he woke up and figured out the chords and all and he thought it was someone else’s song. He wrote some lyrics to it (Scrambled Eggs was the working title) and then wrote Yesterday and a legend was born.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 1
14) Dizzy Miss Lizzie
Ahh, the good ol’ “end the album with an up-tempo cover,” routine. This would be the 4th and last time the Beatles would use that formula and this is an up-tempo cover with John singing it. Decent enough cover to end the album.
Yeah Count: 0
Love Count: 0
The Liner Notes
8 pages on this one. The front page is the album cover. The second page (inside cover) has the song listing with who sang the song and who played what. Pages 3-6 are pictures of each individual Beatle. Page 7 is the CD info and page 8 is the track listing with writer credits.
The Sound
This was recorded WAY back in 1964 using analog tapes and only 4 track tapes to boot. It sounds really good for its age. Nowhere near the standards of today, but the Beatles sounding like this is better than anything released now, in my totally unbiased opinion!
The Final Review
Some easy classics and hidden gems make this a clear winner. Any album with Help, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, Ticket To Ride, and Yesterday in one place is an easy choice and throw in classics like I’ve Just Seen a Face, You’re Gonna Lose That Girl and It’s Only Love and you have one great album.
9th out of 13.
Final Rating:
8.5
Final Yeah Count: 7
Final Love Count: 15
Cumulative Yeah Count: 154
Cumalative Love Count: 224
|
