The Beatles Help UK vs USA - Which is Better | Vinyl Rewind
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- Опубліковано 17 чер 2024
- Which version of Help! by The Beatles is better? The UK 14 track record or the 12 track soundtrack LP? Go to www.manscaped.com and get 20% off + free shipping with the code: VINYLREWIND
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0:00 Intro
1:17 The Backstory
2:49 The Look
7:53 The Music
10:30 The Verdict
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The James Bond Intro is the best part, lol
The US version gives me what I want, a soundtrack album. The UK version also gives me what I want, an imported Beatles album 😊
or simply: a Beatles album
@@FenceThis No, TWO Beatles albums :)
I'm surprised there hasn't been a Rolling Stones episode of UK vs USA (Aftermath, Between the Buttons or Out of Our Heads seem like perfect albums to contrast and compare).
I agree.
@@davidgreenberg5517 a
Excellent idea.
UK for Beatles and US for Stones. The American Out of Our Heads is so good
I prefer the UK " Between The Buttons "
The only thing I like about the US Help version is the opening James Bond like theme right before the start of the Help song!
Another thing to consider when it comes to the US versions is the phenomenal popularity of soundtrack albums in those days. When the Beatles first came along, the Billboard album charts were dominated by soundtracks, so it made financial sense to release soundtracks from the Beatles movies. Of course, the Beatles wound up being the main catalyst behind the popularity of the rock album, which resulted in the charts having fewer and fewer soundtrack albums over the next several years.
That’s actually really cool information
So thats why the beatles made 5 of them
This series is what brought me to your channel, thank you for bringing it back!
Agreed.
Literally the best sponsorship ad. I’m a female and you have convinced me to buy Manscaped just because of this! 🤣
Beatles always started and ended their albums with uptempo songs, hence Dizzy Miss Lizzy being the last. The only exemption was Good Night, but I guess after Revolution 9, you needed that 'come down' track. The other cool thing about the US version of Help! is the intro James Bond-like theme ahead of Help! Its something I got used to, and I like that lead-in.
I bought the us album when it first came out ...was very confused by back cover when riding (it seemed like they were saying only instrumental versions of many songs) i was manly interested in the songs from the movie being not quite 10 yrs old yet haha...and did for the rest of my life associate the james bond theme with HELP!
I think it’s tough to pick a “winner” here since the two albums are different things. The U.S. album is a soundtrack and the U.K. is a combo job. I think both albums are equals and stand on their respective merits.
No contest. The instrumental cuts on the U.S. album made it tough to enjoy (time to get up and move the needle AGAIN).
Love the U.K. album. Thanks for your great videos. Very insighful and entertaining.
So true, I only have the us record and I hate having to skip the instrumentals!!
In my life I love them all. Useless rivalry between US and UK albums ain't on my radar anymore. We've got what we've got. And they're beautiful as they are.
My first song that I heard and movie that I saw was Help. I was about a year old when my parents’ friend gave us a DVD of the movie and I loved it right away. We watched the film so many times because I loved it so much. Then my dad fired up a CD with Help and Revolver on it. And we listened to that so many times. Then when I was 6, I hadn’t heard the album nor seen the film in a while. So we watched the movie and listened to the album so many times. And then my dad took me to a record store. Where I found the American release. I was very excited when I saw that because I saw it had all the soundtrack stuff. We listened to it and I loved it so much. Ever since I was a baby, this album has been an amazing part of my childhood.
This is really excellent. Thanks so much. Learned quite a bit about the UK Help! LP. I bought the Canadian Capitol Help! album in 1965 (without seeing the film !) and always enjoyed the Ken Thorne music. I just used my imagination when I listened. Flutes, sitars, strings. I listened to my Lp so many times in the 1960s that I can't listen to Help! without the James Bond intro.
And they shuffled the Beatles so that Paul pointed at the capitol logo? Odd that capitol went to the extra expense of a gatefold and still managed to make it look cheaper than the UK cover.
I'm not surprised. They floated the idea of a comp of all Paul Beatles songs.
Proof that he died in 1966
a very capitol thing to do. something about this us album in particular is so tacky and cheap looking to me despite it being a gatefold. sometimes less is just more.
I can't believe I just found this channel. It took me too long! Anyway, fellow Beatles fans-- the ending of the movie Help, when the boys sing through the Barber of Seville overture... Does that get stuck in your head as much as it does in mine? I find myself humming it when I'm idle at work.
Thanks for this.Love your channel.
Great video. Keep up the good work.
I love your Beatles videos- Please make more.
I see where your coming from with the last two tracks, however I feel the opposite. While I agree “Yesterday” would be an excellent closer, “Dizzy Miss Lizzy” just ends the album on a more uplifting happy note for me.
Great video! I enjoy both versions of the album. Which ever version I’m in the mood for is the one I listen to.
Beautiful episode, as always. I always wondered about these two pressings. I have both, but never knew the difference till now! Thanks, Geek!
You didn't listen to them?
I listened all my life to the UK Help!, I just never knew the differences of the vinyl versions' history all that well.
I Love both versions, I played more the US version lately but I Love Both
Yeah! I love this series man, 🥰
I had to wait until October '68 to see it again on Canadian TV. The UK LPs are always the best!
Hi Eric. Boston's WLVI Channel 56 had the Creature Double Feature on the weekends. They also played a Hard Day's Night and Help! on Saturdays in the mid 1970's. It was so amazing seeing my heroes in these movies. I remember clearly watching these films before they were taken off the air. I am a drummer, and i wanted a Ringo Ludwig kit. Such great movies and memories. Thank You. 🎉🥁👍😎
Yay! Versus is back!
It’s about time we got this video
Back in the '60s, in the NYC area, NBC & ABC had shown movies from 4:30-6:00 PM which is where I first saw A Hard Day's Night as well as, Help!
I grew up with the Capitol Records version and I love the instrumentals interspersed with the Beatles' songs. I just got used to it that way. One other thing, especially as I listen to the CD today (now, from the "Beatles U.S. Albums" box set that I got, is how quirky and weird the soundtrack is, with all that Bondesque and exotic music! I was listening to soundtracks back then (right around 1969-70, when I first discovered the world of album listening, at age 6), but they were from movies like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Wizard of Oz, and The Sound of Music. The "Help!" soundtrack was so very different from that and it broadened my mind about music from around the world. It's one reason I felt so "at home" when I began my love of Lounge Jazz in the mid-to-late 1990's! If it weren't for Help! -- and growing up on TV shows from the 1960s and 70s -- I would not have found Lounge, Swing, and Standards-Jazz to be so relatable and fun.
I owned the American version of Help in the '60s. Having seen the movie, I enjoyed listening to the instrumental pieces. However, I imagine that it was probably somewhat of a disappointment to fans who only got to hear 7 Beatles songs on an album. But we wouldn't have gotten much more than that on some of those Capital albums because there were quite a few albums that only had 11 songs on them (The Beatles Second Album, Beatles VI, The Early Beatles, Revolver, to name a few). Once I discovered the British imports, I realized that they were getting the better deal on the albums, and with a cleaner mix without that added reverb and distorted fake stereo. But as a Beatle fan I was happy for whatever we had. They should have left Dizzy Miss Lizzy and Act Naturally off of the British version, that way it would have been exclusive Beatle compositions.
Help! is an interesting album. I think of it as a transitional album. It isn't quite early Beatles (Please Please Me, With The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles For Sale), and it isn't quite middle Beatles (Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Magical Mystery Tour). You could argue both ways for which period of Beatles (early or middle) to put it in.
As far as the album, of course the U.K. version is far superior, simply because it has 14 Beatles songs. No contest.
However, there is one small victory for the U.S. version---having the James Bond Theme lead into the song "Help!" is just...right. It feels right, like it belongs there, and NEEDS to be there.
Super cool video! Here's one that might be fun to compare because there's plenty of nuances and different angles when it comes to the mixing. How about Jefferson Airplane's "After Bathing At Baxter's" mono vs stereo. Hopefully their won't be any red flag copyright issues doing this.
Good vlog. I lived in Singapore in the 1960s and my parents bought Capital version of Help soundtrack - so I like this version. However there is no question that UK Help album is better. I now have multiple copies of both these vinyls including Japanese version with gatefold and non gatefold. I also have multiple versions of both albums in other formats including cassette, cd and Blu-ray. I really love Help and look forward to its release as 4K. In hindsight there are a few unfortunate Asian stet types in the film but it reflects the times the film was made and none of the stereotyping was done with bad intentions.
This is not a vlog, it's an episode. There is a difference between doing a vlog and doing an episode to a web series.
Sound quality wise? The UK, of course!
Stereo: the -1 cut sounds the best and was pressed clear into the 70's, on the "2 box" EMI label LP's.
Mono, I hear the -2/-3 cut sounds the best, but I can't vouch for it myself yet personally, since I don't have a copy. I'm working on it though! 👍I still the 2014 pressing too.. One of a couple I'm still missing.
BTW, the late 70's German A-2/B-3 cuts sound incredible too and can be some real sleepers, MMT in particular! ✌️
Interesting to note that no Beatles album (going by U.K. releases) released in the 1960's used the Beatles (long 'T') logo.
This is true, however it was featured on Ringo's drum head on a photo found in the gatefold for the album 'Beatles for Sale.'
Actually in the 60s here in America, we have plenty of opportunities to watch Help!,
It was played on TV quite a bit when I was a kid.
Ура! Новое видео.
Great observations 👍
(Old Beatle freak here 😎)
OMG! I am so frustrated with this title track. My first B album, at age sixteen, was The Red Album, so I grew up with James Bond music on my "HELP!". I had to sell my records for food, so I no longer have The Red or Blue LPs. When I bought Red on CD, I was dismayed to hear "my" music missing. And now it seems that NOBODY wants to post this version online!
One of My fave series
"I'LL BE BACK" (which here was on BEATLES 65) has a third part harmony drone on the 5th note (E in this case)... that was pointed out to me by Jesus Oldman, on SoundClick. Beatles Aficionado. To say the least. He's Brilliant. I wish I were Him.
As a Beatles fan you really want them both! UK version is the best in my opinion cause it includes Yesterday, officially not released as a single in the UK in 1965!
Why did you not talk about the Capitol version of "Help!"? I love that version.
I always had the impression the asymmetric serifs were a hint at their iconic boots.
I really don’t like the sequencing on Side 2 of the UK version. I mean, not opening with I’ve Just Seen A Face and closing with Yesterday just makes it feel kinda slapped together. I still think it’s a better album than the US one though, but I still appreciate both for what they do. I’m one of seemingly few who like the instrumentals on this and AHDN.
Me too
Beatles fans can’t believe that the American help is the first record with sitar on it
I wouldn’t say one was better because I really like both. I like instrumental music and for that reason the US Beatle soundtracks are among my favorites. At least one of the instrumentals is a classical piece and was written by Richard Wagner. It’s also heard in the Marx Brothers film, At the Circus.
Hello, @VinylRewind! Could you please do an episode on the UK and the US version of Take That's Nobody Else album? I bought the UK version last week and would love to hear your opinion about it and its US counterpart. Thanks in advance.
I prefer the Capitol stereo mix with the hard panning. May no have been on HELP!. I know it's not what was intended by the group, but that's how I remember them and I though it was way cool. Very Futuristic!
The UK versions were always the superior ones.
Except for “Magical Mystery Tour”
Exactly, even the overrated US version of Rubber Soul, probably the US album I despise the most
I agree completely with your take on this .
The UK version is better , but it’s nice to have the US version as well . I have both , and every once in a while I will throw on the US version , and it takes me back to when I saw the film in the theatre as a 12 year old .
An excellent overview of both versions . Thanks !
Successful movies left the major first run theatres, went to smaller markets and eventually to Television. I saw Help on network TV.
Each has it's own pro's and cons. U.K. has more Beatles songs and was what the band intended it to be. However the U.S. has the instrumental versions that George Martin did which you would not get any other way . Both great albums no matter how you look at it
I combine the two. I play the US version followed by side two of the UK version. Works for me.
The US albums were also released in Japan. The Japanese got both the UK and US releases so I'm guessing it's possible other countries also got both.
No mention of the James Bond-ish intro to HELP!?
Excellent
I was so confused after listening to the Beatles for over 20 years when I put on a copy of the U.S. version for the first time and heard the James Bond intro to "Help!"
Likewise, the UNITED ARTISTS release of A Hard Day's Night, contained half an album, of instrumental Beatles songs, some of which, were not even at all in the movie! "I Should Have Known Better (Instrumental" was one, "And I Love Her (Instrumental)" was another. Also, until a much later re-release of the movie on video, "I Cry Instead" (released on Capitol Records as I'LL CRY INSTEAD") a vocal song, sung by Lennon, was in fact not at all in the movie. But the Parlophone "A Hard Day's Nights" ... a whole album of Beatles songs. Again, die hards, want both.
Thanks - I enjoyed your interesting reflections. Was the US version one of the first albums to have an opening gatefold? Or even the first such album? When Sgt Pepper came out a couple of years later, it was seen as a game-changer for a number of reasons, including the gatefold.
UK version of Beatles For Sale had a gatefold sleeve (not sure about the US release.)
To Vinyl Rewind: You should do an episode on The Yardbirds: Roger The Engineer album.
I got the US Help! first but 9 months ago I purchased a 1976 UK stereo pressing. Let me just say I am never going back.
The UK one is a Beatles album through and through. It's set up that way from even just the artwork.
The US one is a soundtrack. It's an advert for the film.
The US version isn't an advert for the film, but a faithful representative of the music in the film - a true soundtrack.
Question re: the Ticket To Ride single. As said in this vid, 1965 pressings had "Eight Arms To Hold You" on the label. Anyone know why the 1968 and 1969 repressings still included "Eight Arms To Hold You?" It seems they typeset new labels at least for 1969, and would have had the opportunity to change it to "Help!". Were staff responsible for the reissue just asleep at the wheel or is there more of a story/explanation? PS: Great channel!
Great video. Do you watch Spikes Breezeway Cocktail Hour? Maybe a collab? He's in southern California as well.
Never thought Paul would be used to sell a pube shaver 🤣
Well, the US version is more of a “soundtrack” album with the inclusion of instrumental tracks from the movie. The UK album is not a soundtrack album but more a regular rock album . I think the songs ended up on the American Beatles VI and Rubber Soul
I really wish that my OG UK pressing didn’t have more than surface noise sound issues. Still it was $30 and as lucky as I had been getting with VG LPs my luck was bound to run out. I just decided to grab a copy from the 2009 remastering 2012 line.
Interesting... Would really like to hear your opinion on the 2018 (?) Parlaphone remaster of Bowie's 'Heroes'. :0)
I have the us vinyl and the uk cd. The only thing I like better is the James Bond theme opening to the song Help! It is fantastic and my preferred way to listen to this song. I do love the gatefold cover and the pictures but all in all for the music the uk version is far superior.
UK version has 14 Beatle songs. US version has 7 Beatle songs, interrupted by the film score. No contest.
That’s because is a Motion picture album. It’s a completely different album than the actual album. Hints the difference between the covers. The American release is the same cover, but capital. Usually there would be a deference between the track listing, just like how the British “rubber soul” track listing is deferent from the American track listing. Anyway, my point is. These are two different albums. I have all three versions
You mean the American Rubber Soul album has a different track listing than the original British Rubber Soul
Interesting vid & fair pointabout the US gatefold sleeve. It's probably made with nicer card too isn't it??
I've got the UK version in both mono & stereo (as detailed in one of my collection vids) but of all the Beatles albums this just to me doesn't sound quite as good as some of the others despite the strength of the songs.
Doesn't have the warmth of AHDN in mono or the sparkle of BFS in stereo for example.
Anyway keep up the good work, you've got a new subscriber
In the early days - until at least Sergeant Pepper - the original versions of Beatle albums were all mono. The stereo versions of those records were/are fake stereo and weren't elegant.
@@lcrust5910
I generally agree but BFS is much better in Stereo I think
I would say that even as a "soundtrack" album, the US version does not play nearly as well as Universal's Hard Days Night soundtrack. Despite the fact that the instrumental bits in the Hard Days Night album have a distinctly more "old fashioned" sound than the Help! instrumental bits, on Hard Days Night they play more like actual songs (in fact they're all just instrumental arrangements of actual Beatles songs), and so they fit much better alongside the actual Beatles songs, while on Help! the instrumental bits are pretty much all standard formless film score background music, solely meant to accompany the visual image of someone sneaking around or punctuating a jump scare or some sort of sight gag, and in every case bringing the momentum of the album to a complete halt.
You forgot to mention Wagner on the American version of The Beatles Help (Just so you know I'm not commenting to the wrong UA-cam video) ; from the prelude of Lohengrin Act 3. I also thought "Help!" was the 1st time the U.K. released a Beatles album in stereo, but I guess I was wrong.
I’m British, but I’m going to own up to enjoying the US version. Sure, the uk version is the better Beatles album, but as an actual soundtrack album the US version wins. As you say, it is also laid out in its artwork as a souvenir of the film, whereas the British version is the songs from the film as half the album only.
In the UK up to that point the Beatles generally finished their albums on hard rockers (Twist and Shout, Money, Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby), with I’ll Be Back (closing A Hard Day’s Night) being slightly less of a tempo. So it seemed to be a thing that worked, hence Dizzy Miss Lizzy at the end of Help. It leaves the listener feeling energised.
It isn't even a contest the UK version is a real album. The US version has all that ersatz incidental music (similar to Yellow Submarine but this stuff isn't even George Martin's compositions).
Could you do an episode on Pet Sounds?
Never mind he already did a few episodes on The Beach Boys and an episode on Pet Sounds
Does sound like it opens with a James Bond intro✅✅✅👍
On the US/Canada version.
I'm not sure an original UK mono pressing of 'Help' will be easy to find. I have one and it was the only time I saw it in the wild.
Yes to James Bond to Help!
Do a Which Is Better with The Beatles Rubber Soul UK versus USA. I grew up on the US version, which made it sound more like a acoustic version because it opens with I’ve Just Seen A Face, and also includes It’s Only Love, which are both from Help.
He did that episode 8 years ago.
@@jimmymelendez1836 Thanks. I waded through all the videos and watched it. Yep I do think the US Rubber soul sounds better with I’ve Just Seen A Face and It’s Only Love, which make the album sound so acoustic.
I think the font on the US cover was mirroring the font that was actually used in the movie posters
First of all, it's an album, not a album. Second, what's that you said about the use of the sitar that's better than Rubber Soul? What does that even mean? Anyway, great video.
Definitely the US version. I love the orchestral and sitar tracks! Also, WAY cooler packaging!
Yeah, it's great to have The Beatles album with half the tracks not played by the group themselves :D
@@onderov I like the eclecticism of soundtrack albums. Same goes for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, half of which is by George Martin.
@@onderov I like the eclecticism of soundtrack albums. Orchestral music, pop music, world music-- the diversity is great! Even Yellow Submarine had an entire side dedicated to George Martin's music. Sure, some people are narrow minded and only want to hear pop music, be we are not all like that. My favorite George Harrison album is Wonderwall Music filled with psychedelic instrumentals and Indian music. A classic of the late 1960s artistic renaissance in popular music!
@@onderov it's a soundtrack not a Beatles album. George Martin did the music
@@dolphinsrr you think a soundtrack is better than the actual Beatles album? Lmao
Am I mistaken or did they mix the bass weaker on the American presses? (otherwise they tended to skip on cheap american record players). I bought the American one too though---just to get that James Bond intro. (that the Beatles hated)
The James Bond intro REALLY sets a mood. I STILL love that!
In general all the UK mono versions sound better than the Capital stereo versions. But fun to compare.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that "Yesterday" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzie" should have been switched on side two of the U.K. version.
Without a doubt the UK versions are best, if only because the band were consulted about the running order and the selection of songs.
Most of the American mixes are a joy to listen to, though. And there's a few surprises there.
Why watch? What the Beatles wanted you to hear was the best. Ditto on mono for original albums.
Good Question. 1st, almost no one has a monaural record player. But if you do, Parlophone's release of HELP! (the English one) is unlistenable in mono. Whole tracks disappear. But in STEREO, the English one's better, 'cause it's a whole album of BEATLES songs, while the American one, has half an album of the instrumental stuff that was in the movie... which for most of us, uh, who cares. But the die hard want wants both.
When I was a kid it took forever to get the cash to buy an LP. Help was not released on 45 so we had to buy the LP. BUT we got screwed. The instrumental fillers piss me off to this day. 57 years later.
Both Equally the best
Liner notes were used for albums way into the 1970s, in fact, there was a Grammy award in 1975 for one of Bob Dylan’s albums done by Pete Hamel. Unfortunately, the critics thought the liner notes were awful and they were soon deleted from Bob’s album. And then the liner notes Grammys mysteriously disappeared from the Grammy awards
They moved much of it onto the Inner Sleeve in the 70s.
It is pretty seems educational
When I was young, I didn't know thier were two different Help albums. The American version, or Capitol Records label, A side were the Help songs, B side was sitar Indian music 🎶? I feel we got ripped off!!
The UK version is much better. Every UK album is better than any US album. I do have every US and UK album, but rarely listen to the US albums.
I like a lot of the Capitol albums but this is a no brainer, I paid for The Beatles not some orchestral tracks! Same with a Hard Day's Night other than This Boy (Ringo's Theme) Rubber Soul is a harder choice as both are so so good (I believe this channel picked the US version in mono)
Is Help the last album that the real Paul McCartney made with the Beatles?
America use to also be really good at butchering and rearranging Japanese Monster Movies during the 50s, 60s, 70s.
I just a little pissed off after years of dealing with that Capital FDS crap I had to re buy this stuff to get the real stereo versions Oh well hehe