HELP!

Paul McCartney hit a low point on Help!. True, "Yesterday" is regarded by many as a classic, and "I'm Down" is a good tune which should've made the album. But his contributions to this album seem formulaic compared, for example, to "Every Little Thing" or "Can't Buy Me Love" from the prior year. And although the original songwriting here is about average for the first five Beatles albums, the strongest two songs here - - "Ticket to Ride" and "Help" - - were written by John Lennon.*

Help! was the soundtrack album of the Beatles' second film, and two conditions surrounding the album's composition may explain some of the disparity in the quality of the material produced by the group's two principal songwriters. First, I've read that the group was under more pressure than usual when writing the album; they continued to tour, while continuing to increasingly despise touring. More importantly, the impending release of the film established a deadline by which songs had to be completed. In a few cases, new compositions were required because not all of the songs submitted by the band were acceptable. Perhaps McCartney didn't respond as well to these pressures as did Lennon.** A related circumstance was that Lennon was in the midst of a difficult time, which he later referred to as "my fat Elvis period." Lennon might have handled such an experience partly though cathartic songwriting.

Help! was also the last merely good album the Beatles would release for several years. Among its songs is "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away," which was probably the clearest indication of the band's continued embrace of folk-rock music. With "Ticket to Ride," "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" would've fit perfectly on Rubber Soul, released just four months after Help!.

The best songs here are also on compilations like 1962-1966 ("The Red Album"), so even if you're only casually acquainted with the Beatles, you might already have them. For those interested in the band's pre-psychedelic music, I'd first recommend A Hard Day's Night, the band's prior soundtrack album, and Rubber Soul. After that, perhaps you need Help!.

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*Two songs on Help! were written by George Harrison, and there are two cover songs on Side Two. The remaining ten are credited to "Lennon-McCartney," and while these were apparently mostly the work of either Lennon or McCartney, "Help" is an example of a Lennon original with some meaningful input from McCartney. After the title song and "Ticket to Ride," the next best song is probably "You're Going to Lose That Girl," believed to have been written jointly by Lennon and McCartney.

**McCartney's "Wait," as strong a composition as any of his Help! songs, was written during this period but included on Rubber Soul instead.