HELP!

The first long playing record I ever bought and it was in Mono the year would have been around 1968. I paid $5.50 Aust.which is a considerable amount if you compare to todays prices. Singles were $1.00 so at 9 years old finances are not flash and with the release of the The Beatles ( double) at the time which was $11.00. I made the choice for Help.

Also released as a movie the album was released in August 1965 and of course went to number 1 with a bullet. The first single was Ticket to Ride which was followed by Help and both were released before the album and both of these singles also went to number 1 with a bullet as nearly all releases that this band recorded did.Only the songs from side 1 of the record were used in the film and the flip of the album contains 2 covers Act Naturally and Dizzy Miss Lizzy and this would be the last Beatle album with covers as every album hence would only contain compositions from the band only with the exception being Yellow Submarine where George Martin contributes with the 2nd side of the record.

Things get underway with the smash hit Help which to describe is one rocker but if you have never heard this song at sometime and you are aged 10 years or more you must not be living on Earth. The Night Before is up 2nd which is a Paul McCartney vehicle and really is quite a catchy tune with that hook at the end of the chorus.The next one is John Lennons turn with You've Got To Hide You Love Away, Dylan influenced is the claim that maybe but it really is John Lennon as he knows how. Now George is getting his 2nd song to be put on a Beatles album and that is I Need You and although we all still look at him like the poor cousin he really is a great songwriter but I suppose when you had the other two,Lennon/McCartney what could you do. George would really put his credentials down as a songwriter on the doulble The Beatles and the magnificent song Something off Abbey Road but back to I Need you and yes it is a great song and one you will definitely be rocking along with. George also contributes with the track You Like me to Much which is on side two of the record. Ticket to Ride is the seventh and the last song on the Side 1 and this is where we start to see the change starting in the bands music with a heavier style used and John Lennon does the lead vocals and this is one of the standouts on this album.

Side 2 has the two covers which are the first and last tracks. Act Naturally starts things off with Ringo singing lead to the song which was a big hit for the Bakersville Country Music star Buck Owens. Next up is another Lennon song and that being Its Only Love which although running at under 2 minutes is one great tune. On his 1981 comeback Gary US Bonds put his stamp on it as well and the song is quite a lovely up tempo ballad. The masterpiece written by Paul McCartney and by many regarded as his best composition is Yesterday with only Paul McCartney being present from the band and a String Quartet. It has been covered that many times by various artists from all genres of music and is considered one of the most played songs of all time in all its forms but for the reviewer Hey Jude beats it by a nose. There are three other tracks on this side of the album that I have not mentioned bar the Harrison composition but I've Just Seen a Face by John is my favourite. The album finishes with the last Beatles cover and that being the Rock romper Dizzy Miss Lizzy written by Larry Williams who's record company was hoping he would be the next Little Richard. Brian Epstein and Ringo were the driving force behind getting the song on the album and with John's vocals and George's lead guitar it is a great cover and a great finisher for the album. Also on the same day as Dizzy Miss Lizzy another cover Bad Boys was recorded which is another Larry Williams tune but would not appear on various releases till later.

With Help we start to see the very beginings of the change about to occur in the bands sound with Ticket To Ride, Yesterday and You've Got To Hide Your Love Away and even in Help there is a polish that was not there previously and with the next album to come Rubber Soul this would be more evident.

Essential Beatles Music and one album that to me is so special as it being my first LP and even if I say it myself it was a good way to cement my musical tastes for the rest of my life.