Feb 15 - Jun 18, 1965 • Songs recorded during this session appear on Help! (UK - Mono)
Recording studio: EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road • London • UK
Previous session Apr 02, 1965 • Mixing "You're Going to Lose That Girl"
Article Apr 13, 1965 • Paul McCartney issues a message to support the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Article Apr 13, 1965 • The Beatles win their first-ever Grammy Awards
Session Apr 13, 1965 • Recording "Help!"
Interview Apr 13, 1965 • The Beatles interview for BBC Light Programme
Article Apr 14, 1965 • Filming “Help!” at Twickenham • Day 16
Next session Between April 14 and 17, 1965 • Recording "Help!"
AlbumSome of the songs worked on during this session were first released on the "Help! / I'm Down (US)" 7" Single
By The Beatles
On this day, The Beatles began recording the title song for their forthcoming film, “Help!” The decision to name the film “Help!” was made relatively late in its production.
On March 17, 1965, it was announced that the film would be titled “Eight Arms To Hold You.” One practical problem with the title was that John Lennon and Paul McCartney were expected to write a song to match it. Sometime in early April, the title was changed to “Help!“, and John, with assistance from Paul, quickly wrote the new title song, developing an earlier musical idea.
When the second movie was being prepared, under the imaginative working title ‘Beatles Two,’ the writers and I wanted to call it ‘Help.’ Unfortunately, we were informed by copyright lawyers that someone else had registered that title. Ringo, helpfully, offered ‘Eight Arms To Hold You’ (relating to the multi-armed statue in their script). Needless to say, there was not a huge amount of enthusiasm to write that song… Another desperate phone call to the lawyers resulted in the question – ‘Does your title have an exclamation mark in it?’ We answered, ‘if it helps, we can have one.’ Since the other title didn’t, we were in the clear.”
That afternoon, John and Paul borrowed the studio piano and started to work. By the next morning, they played the finished song to us and recorded it the next night…John, years later, often said that ‘Help!’ was a very personal and emotional song for him. All thanks to an exclamation mark!
Richard Lester – “Help!” film director – From Beatles Music History
We wrote it in my house. I had a little bit of a song which I’d played around at writing, called something like “Keep Your Hands Off My Babe.” Anyway, it was floating around for a long time, and when Paul came over we decided to sort of adapt it. We wrote ‘Help!’ after we’d been told of the film title. We never write to fit in with the story line. This one seemed to fit okay.
John Lennon – From Disc Weekly – July 31, 1965
The backing track featured John on acoustic guitar, Paul on bass, George Harrison on electric guitar and Ringo Starr on drums. Bass and drums were recorded onto track one of the four-track tape, while the guitars were recorded onto track two. Nine takes of the backing track were attempted, with Take 9 selected as the best.
Overdubs followed. Onto track three, John recorded the lead vocals, while Paul and George added backing vocals. All the vocals were then double-tracked onto track four, with Ringo also adding tambourine.
With all four tracks filled, reduction mixes were made to combine the two vocal tracks into one, freeing up track four for further overdubs. These reduction mixes were numbered Takes 10 to 12. Take 11 broke down after a false start, and Take 12 was chosen as the best.
George then recorded his lead guitar part onto the newly available track four of Take 12.
The session, which began at 7 p.m., ended at 11 p.m. The vocals would be re-recorded during a session at CTS Studios later that week. The completed track was mixed on April 18, a Sunday.
Recording • Take 1
Recording • Take 2
Recording • Take 3
Recording • Take 4
Recording • Take 5
Recording • Take 6
Recording • Take 7
Recording • Take 8
Recording • Take 9
Recording • SI onto take 9
Tape copying • Tape reduction take 9 into take 10
Tape copying • Tape reduction take 9 into take 11
Tape copying • Tape reduction take 9 into take 12
Recording • SI onto take 12
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions • Mark Lewisohn
The definitive guide for every Beatles recording sessions from 1962 to 1970. We owe a lot to Mark Lewisohn for the creation of those session pages, but you really have to buy this book to get all the details - the number of takes for each song, who contributed what, a description of the context and how each session went, various photographies... And an introductory interview with Paul McCartney!
The Beatles Recording Reference Manual - Volume 2 - Help! through Revolver (1965-1966)
The second book of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC)-nominated series, "The Beatles Recording Reference Manual: Volume 2: Help! through Revolver (1965-1966)" follows the evolution of the band from the end of Beatlemania with "Help!" through the introspection of "Rubber Soul" up to the sonic revolution of "Revolver". From the first take to the final remix, discover the making of the greatest recordings of all time.Through extensive, fully-documented research, these books fill an important gap left by all other Beatles books published to date and provide a unique view into the recordings of the world's most successful pop music act.
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