The Beatles Help!
and Yesterday

The Beatles’ fifth album, Help!, was released on August 6, 1965. It featured 2 covers and 12 original songs, including two songs by George Harrison, and Paul McCartney’s most famous song “Yesterday”. The first seven songs were from the soundtrack to the Beatles’ second movie, Help!

Track Listing

1) Help! (Lennon/McCartney)
2) The Night Before (Lennon/McCartney)
3) You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away (Lennon/McCartney)
4) I Need You (Harrison)
5) Another Girl (Lennon/McCartney)
6) You’re Going to Lose that Girl (Lennon/McCartney)
7) Ticket to Ride (Lennon/McCartney)
8) Act Naturally (Morrison/Russell)
9) It’s Only Love (Lennon/McCartney)
10) You Like Me Too Much (Harrison)
11) Tell Me What You See (Lennon/McCartney)
12) I’ve Just Seen A Face (Lennon/McCartney)
13) Yesterday (Lennon/McCartney)
14) Dizzy Miss Lizzie (Williams)

Singles:
Ticket to Ride/Yes It Is (released April 9, 1965)
(“Yes It Is” available on The Beatles Past Masters, Volume One)

Help!/I’m Down (released July 23, 1965)
(“I’m Down” available on The Beatles Past Masters, Volume One)

EPs:
Yesterday: Act Naturally/You Like Me Too Much/Yesterday/It’s Only Love (released March 4, 1966)
(available on The Beatles Compact Disc EP Collection)

Remastered:

Help! (Remastered)
(released September 2009)

Beatles Remastered Stereo Box Set

Beatles Remastered Mono Box Set

HELP!: iTunes Digital Download (released November 2010)

Beatles iTunes Digital Box Set

 

The Beatles album Help! contained what was to become one of the most popular Beatles songs of all time: “Yesterday.”

It was quite a departure from previous Beatles’ music in that Paul was the only Beatle to play on the record, and it was the first Beatles record to incorporate classical instrumentation, suggested by George Martin.

The song became the first Beatles record to cross over to theadult market. As a result, “Yesterday” became one of the most recorded songs in history.

 

The Beatles receive the MBE

The Beatles had been moving at an extremely fast pace professionally since 1962.

Brian Epstein had paved the way for their worldwide success in less than two years. Part of his strategy was to keep the Beatles producing as much as possible. As a result, the Beatles released 13 original albums (in the UK) in a span of 8 years.

Nowadays, the average group releases about two albums in six years. Even though the Beatles only recorded together for 8 years, they had enough music that could have taken them 36 years to record at today’s industry pace.

And not only did they have a vast quantity of original material, each album was full of quality, hit songs.

Most albums traditionally have one or two hit songs, and the rest are ignored. But almost every song on every Beatles album deserves recognition.

The reason for this is they had three talented songwriting members, and four talented singers.

Very few bands have more than one songwriter and one main singer. All four Beatles were multi-talented and that contributed to their megastar success.

By the end of 1964, the Beatles success with albums, movies, concerts and merchandising had brought enormous wealth to Britain, and of course had ignited a cultural revolution.

In recognition of this fact, the Beatles became the first rock group to receive the Member of the British Empire (MBE) awards.

On October 26, 1965, all four Beatles attended a ceremony at Buckingham Palace to receive these coveted awards, usually reserved for military heroes. John was the only one not thrilled by the idea of receiving this award.

In November 1969, John Lennon returned his MBE to the Queen with a letter that stated: “I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam, and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts.”

Fun Fact: In January 2009, Lennon’s MBE was discovered in storage in a royal vault.

 

The Beatles play Shea Stadium

During the summer of 1965, the Beatles were touring the U.S. again. They played their historic show at Shea Stadium on August 15, 1965. This was the largest outdoor concert ever with 56,000 people in attendance.

The show was organized by promoter Sid Bernstein, who had previously booked the Beatles at Carnegie Hall in 1964.

The Beatles also returned to Shea Stadium the following year and played a concert on August 23, 1966.

The Beatles at Shea Stadium 50-minute documentary concert film was first aired on the BBC on May 1, 1966. The film was aired in the United States on ABC on January 10, 1967. However, since then, the film has never been commercially released to the public.

FUN FACT: In 2008, Shea Stadium closed. Paul McCartney joined Billy Joel onstage on July 18, 2008 during the “Last Play at Shea” farewell concert. A DVD of the show was released in 2011 called “The Last Play at Shea.”

 

The Beatles meet Elvis Presley

On August 27, 1965, the Beatles meet Elvis Presley at Presley’s Bel Air home in Los Angeles, California. They spend three hours there and jam with the King.

Unfortunately, no cameras or recorders were allowed at the meeting.

Read an exclusive excerpt from the book “Elvis: Behind The Legend” which recounts the legendary meeting by the people who were there including The Beatles and friends of Elvis Presley.

 

The Beatles movie, Help!

After the success of the Beatles first movie, A Hard Day’s Night, the Beatles starred in another movie, this time in color, called Help!

This film actually had a fictional plot that still showcased the Beatles’ musical talents and charm. However, the plot did not have the same excitement as A Hard Day’s Night and received harsh criticism.

This film was the second out of three to fulfill their movie contract deal made by the Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, two years earlier.

Another difference between this film and A Hard Day’s Night was that the Beatles were under the influence of marijuana while filming Help!

 

Continue to the sixth Beatles album, Rubber Soul