First released: 1965, August 6

Original Vinyl Recording Remastered (2012)

Sheet music, guitar tabs, song books at Sheetmusicplus.com

Songs recording date and information:

1. Help! - Recorded 13th April 1965 in 12 takes (Takes 1-8 were the backing track). Final mix - take 12
2. The Night Before - Recorded 17th February 1965 in 2 takes. Final mix - take 2
3. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away - Recorded 18th February 1965 in 9 takes. The first Beatle track to have an outside musician brought in to play an extra instrument, Johnnie Scott on Flute. Final mix - take 9
4. I Need You - Recorded 15th February 1965 in 5 takes. Final mix - had overdubs added to take 5 on 16th February
5. Another Girl - Recorded 15th February 1965 in 1 take ... but ... Final mix - had overdubs added on 16th February
6. You're Going to Lose That Girl - Recorded 19th February 1965 in 2 takes (Takes 2 & 3 !). Final mix - take 3
7. Ticket to Ride - Recorded 15th February 1965 in 2 takes (take 1 was a false start). Final mix - take 2
8. Act Naturally - Recorded 17th June 1965 in 13 takes. 12 takes were perfecting the backing, take 13 added Ringo. Final mix - take 13
9. It's Only Love - Recorded 15th June 1965 in 6 takes. Final mix - take 6
10. You Like Me Too Much - Recorded 17th February 1965 in 8 takes. Final mix - take 8
11. Tell Me What You See - Recorded 18th February 1965 in 4 takes. Final mix - take 4
12. I've Just Seen a Face - Recorded 14th June 1965 in 6 takes. Final mix - take 6
13. Yesterday - Recorded 14th June 1965 in 2 takes. Final mix - take 2
14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy - Recorded 10th May 1965 in 7 takes. Final mix - take 7

The Beatles fifth official album release, and second film soundtrack.
Once again, side one contains the seven songs from the film, with side two having 6 tracks recorded during the same period. And yet again, the American version feautured ONLY the film songs with added film score, and the entire track selection were spread over four releases ( Beatles VI, Help, Rubber Soul and Yesterday And Today ).

In the U.K. "Help!" had advance orders of 250,000 and actually sold 270,000 units in it's first week. Eventually it sold almost One Million copies, with world-wide sales estimated at about 2,500,000.
Naturally it went straight to No.1 where it knocked "The Sound Of Music" off the top slot, but just two months later, it conceded the summit back to "The Sound Of Music".

Cover photography was by Robert Freeman, but no sleeve notes are present.
Any Boy Scout will probably tell you that the semaphore that The Beatles are indicating on the front cover is not H-E-L-P ! ... but spells N-U-J-V !! ... (more tricky to create a song from that title !)

One should also note that the "Takes" were not as counted on previous recordings, in that now the new recording techniques allowed a basic backing track to be laid down, with many overdubs, voices, and additional instrumentation added onto the initial "take".
Therefore we get lower take counts, but the sessions actually taking a lot longer !

It should also be noted that further tracks were recorded in these sessions :
"If You've Got Trouble" (1 take only) on 18th February 1965, which was left unreleased .... AND ....
"That Means A Lot" (6 takes) were recorded 20th Feb, and 30th March and also ignored for release.
"Wait" (4 takes) were recorded 17th June 1965 ... ignored for this release, but brought back out when one track short for the next album (see Rubber Soul )

The soundtrack album of the Beatles' second feature film, alias another fine collection of classic mid-1960s pop music. As with the album A Hard Day's Night , the songs on side one appeared in the film, those on side two did not. In the USA, Capitol Records' album of the same name featured just the seven film songs, George Martin and his Orchestra. It still sold more than a million there on advance orders alone.

Note. Semaphore experts quickly realised that the message spelt out by the four Beatles on the album cover did not make HELP but NUJV. Not quite such a catchy title...

- Mark Lewishon "The Beatles Recording Sessions"