9 Reasons Why Capitol Finally “Got It Right” With the Beatles’ American ‘Help!’ LP
No loyal Beatles fan will ever defend the actions of Capitol Records, the company who mutilated the band’s carefully constructed creations to market bizarre albums with fewer songs and random track placements. Designed to make money, Capitol’s renditions of the Beatles’ LPs bore little resemblance to the originals and made no attempt to preserve the group’s artistic decisions. Thus, speaking well of Capitol is, in many circles, tantamount to heresy.
But once — just once — I believe that Capitol “got it right.” In 1965, when they released their Help! movie soundtrack, Capitol hit it out of the American ballpark. This beautifully packaged, pared-down collection of Beatles songs is a superb LP. And here are nine reasons why.
1) The Capitol LP is a true film soundtrack
If you want to hear the songs from the movie Help!, this is the place to go. There are no songs on the Capitol LP that weren’t in the movie, and the instrumentals by Ken Thorne are indeed the “exclusive instrumental music” (as the album cover proclaims) heard in the film. (They’re actually segments of Thorne’s instrumental music selected by music producer, Dave Dexter.)
According to George Martin (who scored the instrumentals for A Hard Day’s Night), Dick Lester and he did not “get on” well, so Martin and his orchestra had “nothing to do” with the Help! soundtrack. Instead, Thorne was invited to compose the instrumentals for the movie, including the 16-second “James Bond” intro to the opening track “Help!” which Americans knew as part of the song. (Even when the “Red Album” was issued in 1973, American pressings still contained the James Bond intro to “Help!” This was not removed until the 1993 reissue.)
One must remember that in 1965, instrumentals were not considered odd or second-rate musical fillers. In fact, instrumentals were quite popular. Songs like “Green Onions,” “Walk Don’t Run,” and “Theme from A Summer Place” had all been huge hits. Instrumentals were considered chic and classy. Therefore, including them on a film soundtrack was very appropriate, especially since the segments created by Thorne (and titled by Dave Dexter) were an integral part of the movie.
The Capitol LP accurately depicts the film song’s bill of fare (excluding the “1812 Overture,” “Ode to Joy,” and “Barber of Seville”). It is an unembellished, classic film soundtrack.
2) All of the Beatles’ songs on the Capitol LP are award-winning and popular Beatles compositions
Entire articles have been written about each of the songs on this album. An attempt to summarize their myriad strengths in one paragraph would be fruitless. The fans and critics have voiced their opinions on the value of these songs much louder and more forcefully than I could do alone. Here is what they had to say:
- “Help!” went to #1 on the charts in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Netherlands, and Canada
- “The Night Before” was selected by Elvis Costello as #49 in Rolling Stone magazine’s “Top 100 Best Beatles Songs of All Time”
- “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” clocked in at #31 in Rolling Stone’s “Top 100 Best Beatles Songs of All Time”
- “I Need You” by George Harrison was selected by Spignesi and Lewis as #47 in the 100 Best Beatles Songs. Hal Erickson observed that it “broke the Lennon/McCartney stranglehold,” establishing Harrison not only as a gifted guitarist but as a talented composer
- “Another Girl” was rated #94 in Spignesi and Lewis’s 100 Best Beatles Songs.
- “Ticket to Ride” went to #1 on the charts in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Norway, and Netherlands
- “You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” won the #27 slot on Rolling Stone’s “Top 100 Best Beatles Songs of All Time”
Clearly, each song on the Capitol’s LP is a masterpiece. There isn’t a frail offering in the bunch.
3) The album cover is a work of art
One can hardly argue with a high-quality gatefold cover on which a dramatic “Help!” logo zooms out, demanding urgent attention. Inside the cover, fans find eight fantastic stills from the movie (and one additional shot on the back cover). Four of these are expensive, color photos. And all are arranged into a tasteful collage that John’s art college would have applauded.
On the cover, the Beatles stand supposedly spelling “Help!” in semaphore. Of course, devoted fans realize that the lads are actually spelling “NVUJ.” Why? Robert Freeman, their inspired photographer, felt that the arrangement was much more aesthetically pleasing than the actual semaphore arrangement. Every inch of the album cover was to be artistically placed.
Complete with liner notes, a list of the film’s actors, and a brief summary of the plot, the album cover entices Beatles’ music fans to become Beatles’ film fans. Billing itself as a “souvenir album,” the Capitol LP achieves its goal. It is a high-dollar program, of sorts — a collectible from 1965’s biggest Beatles’ event.
4) No cover songs are used to “fill” the LP. Every song is either a Lennon/McCartney or a Harrison composition
The Beatles loved singing cover songs. But at this point in their career, John, Paul, and George were quite capable of penning superb originals. When fans purchased Capitol’s Help! LP, they got seven unique, new songs by the master composers known as the Beatles. Nothing was added to make the album hit a “14-song standard.”
5) There’s a definite “theme” to the song selection, other than the theme of “soundtrack songs.” Each number on the Capitol LP is about a troubled relationship
Just as the songs on Beatles for Sale were bound together by a country-and-western theme, the songs on Capitol’s Help! soundtrack revolve around disintegrating relationships. From the first cry for “Help!” to the last dire warning that “You’re going to lose that girl!” the album speaks to real-world couples, not imaginary lovers. The people in these songs are genuine; one begs his lover to “treat me like you did the night before.” Another laments the fact that he must “hide his love away” and live his life “feeling two-foot small.” Another wonders why the one he loves is “goin’ away” and why “she don’t care.” And one final voice rages, threatening, “This time you better stop!” or he will get “another girl.”
From the grooves of these tracks come the shouts and doubts of couples who have long passed the June-croon-spoon stage of Please Please Me. Help! focuses on lovers struggling to keep their romances together. Love, on the Capitol Help! LP, has become real work in the real world.
6) Clever… very, very clever
From the first notes on the album (that James Bond theme song intro) to the photographs snapped in the Alps and Bahamian tropics, fans were invited to “play along” in a classic James Bond spoof. The 1960s generation so familiar with Dr. No, From Russia with Love, and Goldfinger smiled wryly at the ruse. For example, witty espionage-esque questions were posed inside the gatefold sleeve: “Will John live to sleep in his pit again?” “Will Paul ever get back to his electric organ?” And so on…
This gentle mockery of the Bond genre was stage-setting. It gave potential movie-goers “clues” to the film’s plot. Even the placement of Paul’s hand on the front cover served as a “clue.” (Paul is shrewdly pointing to Capitol logo!) Hidden meanings lurked everywhere.
7) The roots of George Harrison’s interest in Eastern music were planted here on this album
Because of the film’s plot, Ken Thorne composed many of his instrumentals with an Indian flair. He used the exotic sound to portray “the sunny climes, east of Suez.” On Side 2, for example, “Another Hard Day’s Night” was built around Indian instruments and counter-melodies. Hearing this number, George Harrison was captivated by the striking effect and began asking endless questions about the use of the sitar. The rest was history.
8) Many later Beatles trends have their beginning on this LP
Study the photos inside the gatefold sleeve, and you’ll glimpse the Beatles of Let it Be and The White Album. You’ll also get a foretaste of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Then listen to “Ticket to Ride,” and you’ll hear the forerunner of “Revolution.” Looking at this LP in retrospect, we’re taken aback with how apt it was in capturing the Beatles to come. Chicken or the egg? That is the question this LP generates, of course.
9) This version of Help! is still very much a John Lennon-based LP
EMI’s version of the Help! LP offered five Lennon originals, four McCartney originals and one McCartney solo song (“Yesterday”), and two Harrison originals. (There was a cover song performed by Ringo and one by John.) John and Paul claimed an equal number of songs on this LP… but Paul edged out in front a bit by being featured as a solo artist with “Yesterday.” For the first time since the Beatles began working together, John was slightly upstaged. And that trend, once established, never reversed itself. On each successive LP, Paul grew in strength, and John’s leadership diminished.
On Capitol’s Help! LP, however, John Lennon is still very much in command of his group. He has full credit for four of the seven songs on the album, while Paul claims only “The Night Before” and “Another Girl.” (George’s only song on the Capitol version of Help! is “I Need You,” as he tells us at the end of the movie in a rare voice-over.)
Capitol’s version of Help! was John’s swan song. It was the last time he was the “leader of the band.” As Capitol’s Help! LP, played out in its final grooves, the coup that John Lennon had always anticipated came to pass. John lost (some say “relinquished”) his preeminent role. But for one final time, on Capitol’s version of Help! LP, The Beatles were John Lennon’s group. It was an epochal moment.
The EMI version of Help! is stunning. It offers “It’s Only Love” and “Yesterday.” It gives us the joyful sound of Ringo singing, “Act Naturally.” And it offers George Harrison fans not one but two Harrisongs! The EMI album is replete with good things.
However, it would be almost pointless to compare it to the Capitol offering. The two Help! LPs are drastically dissimilar creations. They share seven songs in common, but everything else is different. And never were these two creations intended to meet the same goals or fulfill the same expectations. Capitol set out to make a movie soundtrack. EMI set out to release The Beatles’ fifth album.
Commending Capitol for the strength of its creation, therefore, is in no way a condemnation of EMI’s brilliant work. It is merely a bowler-tip to a job well done. We rarely turn to Capitol with a “thank you” and a smile. This time, I think we can do.
