worst Beatles LP ? Help

[EdinSc]

We in America had only the option of the Capitol version of Help! -- Which is half George Martin instrumentals. It really was a rip off.

[bobzilla]

Which is half George Martin instrumentals. It really was a rip off.

*Ken Thorne instrumentals.

My favorite trivia question to ask people who tell me that they're big Beatles fans is "Which Beatles album on Capitol Records has George Martin instrumentals?"

The answer is none. A Hard Day's Night has Martin instrumentals, but it's on United Artists. Help is on Capitol but has Ken Thorne instrumentals. And Yellow Submarine has Marin instrumentals but is on Apple.

[harrylime]

Well they were on Capitol, just not in the form that would first come to mind...




And to add to the confusion about the instrumentals on Help!, George Martin did record his rendition, just for a separate release. Which was then released by UA in the US:

[Mr Bump]

Yeah, that trivia question could get you into lots of arguments

[bobzilla]

How about...

*Originally released Beatles Capitol album


(You know you're with the right group when you get out-pedanted by bigger pedants.)

[Ziggy C]

A whole 'nuther discussion would be the difference between Capitol Records in Canada vs Capitol Records in the US.

In Canada, Capitol eagerly released Beatles music from 1963 onward. This is why A Hard Day's Night appears on the Canadian Capitol Records.
In the US, Capitol was a bit more reluctant. Hence the VeeJay release, Introducing The Beatles. And the UA release of A Hard Day's Night.

Capitol in the US didn't get their hands on AHDN until many many reissues later.

The George Martin instrumentals question is best played on trivia night. Hold it close and spring it at the very end of the game. If it stumps the room, then everyone has to buy you a drink. Probably should take an Uber that night.

[Ziggy C]

Deleted duplicate post (Sorry. Sobriety got the best of me.)

So, I'll utilize the space...

The Help! songs that were featured in the movie; I love all of them. They stimulate a great feeling of nostalgia which goes above and beyond how "tired" the band was at the time. Even on their worst days, The Beatles created music which surpassed that of most of their contemporaries. Another Girl. Sure it's a bit of fluff, but of the best cotton candy around. I Need You...George still honing his craft. But it reverberates in an awesomely homesick way for me.
The Night Before. In my opinion every bit as good of a song as the title track.

It's the dang instrumental stuff that's the buzz kill for the US release.

The UK release I didn't hear until much later in life. Still getting used to it. I couldn't recite by rote the songlist. But the tunes, whether ending up on Beatles VI or Rubber Soul or Yesterday and Today are still, to me anyway, reminiscent of that particular era, and transport me back to that time.

Music is weird that way, right?

[cdrtrade]

I must have overlooked this thread.

Help is actually the second Beatles album I ever got. I asked for it because I had heard the title song in the cartoon. But I have to say I was very let down by the rest of the songs. The only other one I liked was the night before but I already had that on rock and roll music. I didn't mind you're gonna lose that girl, but most of the rest just left me unmoved. I particularly didn't like i need you, youve got to hide your love away, act naturally, tell me what you see, i've just seen a face and yesterday. Yesterday just sounded like old lady music to me.

Mind you I was a kid at the time. Since then, I've learnt to appreciate it more when I did Abracadabra. But the energy levels are low and the production is pretty pedestrian. I think they were tired at that point, and you can also hear it in their last radio programme, where they are completely upstaged by their guests the Hollies. Marijuana gave them a shot in the arm I guess, and after that they stopped caring about live shows and threw themselves in to the art of recording with spectacular results. So Help for me represents the end of Phase 1 and the Fab Four. Most artist's careers would have ended at that point, but they somehow turned it all around. It is quite astounding really what they achieved later.

That’s surprising to hear. It took me decades to realize there were any duds in the Beatles catalog outside of Goodnight. And I’m a mild Beatlemaniac.
I can’t judge their albums. It’s all one big picture and Help is part of it. No better or worse than the others. Again, side 2 of Help and Beatles For Sale still don’t register with me having had only the Capitol albums until 1978 or whenever the blue box first came out.

[Nine-0-Nine]

...some really boring songs, stand up Tell me what you see, The night before...

I personally wouldn't mind at all if there were more "boring" songs like those two.

[Roller74]

I think my problem with the night before is its position on the album, help is such a strong song, same situation as I saw her standing there/misery, a strong song followed by that rather uninteresting keyboard into, the song itself is average, guess I just don't like the electronic piano sound which is all over help