Toppermost of the Poppermost - UK Number Ones : part 2 - The 1960s

[daf]

Nice bit of future synchronicity between these last three :

Two Yanks in England LP (Hollies & Everly Brothers)
Crosby Stills & Nash (The Byrds & The Hollies)

[kalowski]

What a song...
What a version...
What a band...

Fucking amazing. As far as their many Dylan songs go, however, All I Really Want To Do is their best, I think.

[famethrowa]

The intro is so easy to play on guitar, but due to the 12-string magic it always sounds spectacular.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

A perfect record, everything about it is beautiful.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I'm going to spend most of the second half of the 1960s bitterly resenting harmonicas, aren't I?

Your bitter resentment may well continue, but not because of the records we'll be hearing. The harmonica has pretty much had its chart-topping day, they're old news. Even The Byrds, the ultimate folk-rock band, hardly ever used one.

Mr Tambourine Man is the first British # 1 to truly be a part of the burgeoning hippie counterculture, isn't it? Trippy lyrics, blissed out vocals, and just look at that picture of the band at the top of daf's post! The Byrds in those days were a bunch of forbiddingly hip, turned-on dudes who looked like they knew more about where it's really at than Mr So-Called Businessman in His Suit and Tie.

They appear to have arrived out of the blue on a cloud of incense and hashish smoke.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The ensuing South African tour was a disaster, with the band finding themselves having to play to segregated audiences—something that they had been assured by promoters they would not have to do. The under-rehearsed band gave ramshackle performances to audiences that were largely unimpressed with their lack of professionalism and their antagonistic, anti-apartheid stance. The Byrds left South Africa amid a storm of bad publicity and death threats.

Anyone with a bit of sense should've predicted this disastrous outcome. If you have an "antagonistic, anti-apartheid stance", then what the fuck are you doing playing in South Africa under apartheid in the first place?

[machotrouts]

Your bitter resentment may well continue, but not because of the records we'll be hearing. The harmonica has pretty much had its chart-topping day, they're old news. Even The Byrds, the ultimate folk-rock band, hardly ever used one.

This week, at my regular tango class, the teacher put on a song that featured a harmonica so ear-splitting I had to stop dancing, pretend I needed a shit, and leave the room until it ended, so if she keeps that up I expect my resentment will continue – there are several instruments I believe must never be Argentine tangoed to, and harmonicas are top 5 – but yes, I had remembered the 1960s charts as being loosely divided into fun exciting stuff for the first half and folksy hippies for the second. I had also remembered nothing about this song other than the harmonica, an instrument which it turns out does not feature at all. So.

I don't recognise any of this. It's pretty, which is not something I've ever previously thought about a record only 1 degree from Bob Dylan, though I've had the same intuitive first impression as I had for the Seekers song earlier: it sounds like an Australian soap opera theme tune. Do I just automatically think that about all folk music? Why? When have I ever even watched an Australian soap opera?

Nice to wave hello to David Crosby on his way to debuting on my 2020 Derby Dead Pool team anyway.

[daf]

With Eight Arms To Hold You, it's . . .

200.  The Beatles - Help!



From : 1 – 21 August 1965
Weeks : 3
B-side : I'm Down
Bonus 1 : Blackpool Night Out
Bonus 2 : Shea Stadium

The Story So Far : The Second Film

The Beatles second film, Help! was produced by Walter Shenson and directed by Richard Lester. Thanks to the commercial success of  'A Hard Day's Night', Lester was given a larger budget for this second film - shooting on several exotic foreign locations, and in colour.

The screenplay, written by Marc Behm and Charles Wood, sees the group attempt to record their new album while trying to protect Ringo from a sinister Eastern cult and a pair of mad scientists - all of whom are obsessed with getting their hands on his ring.

The band flees to the Austrian Alps for refuge, muck about in the snow for a bit, then pop back to Britain to record some songs in a field near Stone Henge while being guarded by some tanks. After some business with a trapdoor in a pub, and hiding in Buckingham Palace, they nip off to the Bahamas to throw the cult and the scientists off their scent.

After singing some more songs, and chasing around on the beach, the ring slips off Ringo's finger. When one of the cult members finally gets to poke his finger through Ringo's big red ring, he becomes the target for sacrifice. The movie ends with a dedication to "Elias Howe, who, in 1846, invented the sewing machine".

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Help! was shot in London, Salisbury Plain, the Austrian Alps, the Bahamas and Twickenham Film Studios.

Starr commented that they were in the Bahamas for the hot weather scenes, and therefore had to wear light clothing even though it was rather cold. Tony Bramwell, the assistant to Beatles manager Brian Epstein, stated that Epstein chose the Bahamas for tax reasons.

The ski scenes were shot at Obertauern, a small village in Austria. One reason this location was chosen was that the stars of the movie were less likely to be recognized there than at one of the larger resorts with many British tourists.

The Beatles were in Obertauern for about two weeks in March 1965 along with a film crew of around 60 people. Locals served as ski stunt doubles for the Beatles who stayed at the hotel "Edelweiss". Most of the crew were based in the hotel "Marieta", where one night the Beatles gave an impromptu concert on the occasion of a director's assistant's birthday. This was the only time they ever played on stage in Austria.

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On Monday 22 February 1965, The Beatles left London Airport on a chartered flight to the Bahamas to begin filming their second feature film.



Their Boeing 707 was seen off by 1,400 fans. The flight stopped in New York to refuel, but The Beatles' party did not leave the aeroplane, although US Customs and Immigration wanted them to pass through customs.

George : "Brandon De Wilde was an actor, a James Dean type. He liked The Beatles' music and he heard we were going to film in the Bahamas, so he came over from the States with a big bag of reefer. We smoked on the plane, all the way to the Bahamas. It was a charter flight, with all the film people – the actors and the crew – and we thought, 'No, nobody will notice.' We had Mal smoking cigars to drown out the smell."

Upon their arrival in the Bahamas they held a swiftly-organised press conference at the airport. They then checked in to their suites at the Balmoral Club near Cable Beach, Nassau, and later enjoyed a midnight swim in the ocean.

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The Bahamas had been chosen after The Beatles' financial adviser, Dr Walter Strach, had established a tax shelter there, and had to spend a year living in the British colony as part of the setup. Partly as a gesture of goodwill, the group agreed to film there, staying for two weeks at the Balmoral Club near Cable Beach.

Although Tuesday 23 February was intended as a rest day following their trip from London to New Providence Island in the Bahamas, The Beatles began filming on this day. Firstly, in an unused scene Ringo Starr listened to conch shells in the docks near Mackey Street, before all four Beatles were filmed swimming fully-clothed in the pool at the Nassau Beach Hotel in the island's West Bay region.

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On Wednesday 24 February, The Beatles were filmed cycling on the lengthy Interfield Road, near to Nassau International Airport on New Providence Island.



Over the following week, various scenes were filmed at the stadium of the Bahamas Softball Association, at lime quarry caves, and in the yacht basin and in front of the post office on Bay Street, Nassau. John was filmed running out of the public library shouting for Ringo, and a number of scenes not featuring The Beatles were also shot for the prison camp sequences, at Lake Cunningham.

The sequence for Another Girl was shot on Balmoral Island, and Ringo was filmed with Victor Spinetti, Roy Kinnear and Eleanor Bron on a schooner moored near the shore. Also filmed was the final sequence, in which Ringo Starr was rescued after being staked into the beach..

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On Saturday 6 March, the group returned to Nassau International Airport for scenes in which they descended aeroplane steps and took photographs of each other.

Sunday 7 March, was the first of a two-day shoot at what The Beatles thought was a former army camp on New Providence Island. In the film script they presumed the building was a temple. After finding out its true purpose - which was a hospital for handicapped children and elderly people - they were disgusted with the conditions there.

On Wednesday 10 March, following the final day of filming in the Bahamas (on Paradise Island), The Beatles left the islands to return to England.

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Following two weeks of filming Help! in the Bahamas, The Beatles began work on scenes in the snowy climes of Austria.

Filming began on Sunday 14 March outside the Hotel Edelweiss in Obertauern, where they stayed until they left the country on 22 March 1965. An unused scene involving toboggan hire was shot, after which The Beatles were filmed falling backwards into snow. Other scenes were filmed on this day of The Beatles' stand-ins riding a horse-drawn sleigh.

Beginning on Wednesday 17 March, the group appeared in scenes on the curling rink, at an Olympic ski jump, on the ski slopes, and in an après-ski cellar.

On Friday 19 March, The Beatles gave an interview to Brian Matthew of the BBC radio show Saturday Club, which took place over the phone from their hotel suite, and that evening hosted a wrap party for the film's cast and crew.

On Saturday 20 March, The Beatles and their doubles appeared in scenes on the ski slopes. Parts of the famous Ticket To Ride sequence was shot on this day, as was an unused scene in an outdoor restaurant featuring Ringo.

   

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On Wednesday 24 March, following three weeks of filming in the Bahamas and Austria, work on Help! continued at Twickenham Film Studios.

While The Beatles continued filming at Twickenham Film Studios, NEMS Enterprises announced that the soundtrack to Eight Arms To Hold You, as the film was then called, would follow the format of the US edition of 'A Hard Day's Night', whereby The Beatles' original recordings would be presented alongside additional instrumental music.

The plan was later abandoned after the group recorded a range of new songs in May and June 1965. However, Capitol Records in North America did release a version of Help! containing mixture of original and intrumental tracks, the latter composed by Ken Thorne and performed by the George Martin Orchestra.

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On Monday 5 April and the following day, The Beatles filmed the interior kitchen and dining scenes at the Rajahama Indian restaurant on a purpose-built set at Twickenham.

During a break while filming, the group saw traditional Indian musical instruments for the first time. George Harrison, in particular, was fascinated by them, and the music had a significant effect on The Beatles' musical development.

John : "The first time that we were aware of anything Indian was when we were making Help!. There was an odd thing about an Indian and that Eastern sect that had the ring and the sacrifice; and on the set in one place they had sitars and things – they were the Indian band playing in the background, and George was looking at them."

George : "We were waiting to shoot the scene in the restaurant when the guy gets thrown in the soup and there were a few Indian musicians playing in the background. I remember picking up the sitar and trying to hold it and thinking, 'This is a funny sound.' It was an incidental thing, but somewhere down the line I began to hear Ravi Shankar's name. The third time I heard it, I thought, 'This is an odd coincidence.' And then I talked with David Crosby of The Byrds and he mentioned the name. I went and bought a Ravi record; I put it on and it hit a certain spot in me that I can't explain, but it seemed very familiar to me. The only way I could describe it was: my intellect didn't know what was going on and yet this other part of me identified with it. It just called on me ... a few months elapsed and then I met this guy from the Asian Music Circle organisation who said, 'Oh, Ravi Shankar's gonna come to my house for dinner. Do you want to come too?'"

John : "We recorded that bit in London, in a restaurant. And then we were in the Bahamas filming a section and a little yogi runs over to us. We didn't know what they were in those days, and this little Indian guy comes legging over and gives us a book each, signed to us, on yoga. We didn't look at it, we just stuck it along with all the other things people would give us. Then, about two years later, George had started getting into hatha yoga. He'd got involved in Indian music from looking at the instruments in the set. All from that crazy movie. Years later he met this yogi who gave us each that book; I've forgotten what his name was because they all have that 'Baram Baram Badoolabam', and all that jazz. All of the Indian involvement came out of the film Help!."

On 6 April 1965, television talk show host Simon Dee presented The Beatles with a Bell Award from pirate station Radio Caroline. The Beatles, however, proved disruptive by ringing the bell during inappropriate moments during the presentation.

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On Wednesday 7 April, the pub cellar sequence was filmed where Ringo was confronted by a tiger, "Raja, the famous Bengal man-eater".

Meanwhile, NEMS Enterprises, The Beatles' management company run by Brian Epstein, announced that Ringo and his wife Maureen Starkey were expecting their first child.

On Thursday 8 April, the washroom scene - involving an overactive hand drier featuring all four Beatles - was filmed. Also filmed was a solo sequence featuring Ringo in a bathroom that was left out of the final cut.

In the evening The Beatles attended the launch night of Downstairs At The Pickwick, a London nightclub. Situated at 15-18 Great Newport Street, London, it was often frequented by the group in the months that followed.

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On Wednesday 14 April, on Ailsa Avenue in Twickenham, The Beatles filmed the scene in which their Rolls-Royce dropped them in a residential street and they entered four adjacent terraced houses. Ringo entered number five's blue door, John went into number seven's red door, Paul perambulated through number 9, number 9, number 9's white door, and George, at number 11, finally found out what was behind the green door.

On Thursday 22 April, The Beatles were at Twickenham Film Studios filming the black-and-white sequence, used early on in the film, where Leo McKern threw darts at a film projection screen while watching The Beatles' performance of the "Help!" Title song



Also on this day, The Beatles began filming an unused scene featuring Frankie Howerd and Wendy Richard, set in a drama school. Completed on 28 April, the sequence was eventually left out of the final edit.

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On Monday 3 May, The Beatles began a three-day shoot on Salisbury Plain - at Knighton Down in Larkhill, Wiltshire.

When they weren't outside in the cold and windy conditions, The Beatles stayed at the Antrobus Arms in Amesbury. They arrived at the hotel on the night before the shoot began, and left on the afternoon of 6 May.

The mimed performance of George Harrison's I Need You was among the scenes filmed during this time. Also on hand were troops from 3 Division, Royal Artillery, who were on exercises there at the time. The army also allowed their tanks and other equipment to appear in the film.



The cold and windy conditions were evidently taking their toll on the group, who looked weather-beaten in many scenes and stills from the shoot.

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Monday 10 May was the first of a two-day shoot at Cliveden House in Maidenhead, Berkshire, a sumptuous stately home dating from the 19th century.

Cliveden House provided several interior shots in Help!, mainly for the scenes situated inside Buckingham Palace. A number of scenes were filmed on this and the following day. They include one in which The Beatles played cards, which was filmed in the French Dining Room in the south-western corner of the house.

Other scenes included The Beatles leaning out of a window to see the effects of poison gas, and the intermission, which was filmed in Bluebell Woods in the grounds of Cliveden.



During their time there, The Beatles were challenged to a relay race around the gardens, which was filmed on an 8mm home movie camera by a member of the crew. They won the race against three other teams, made up of electricians, carpenters and camera operators from the shoot. The Beatles' team also included their road manager Neil Aspinall and their driver Alf Bicknell.

Tuesday 11 May was the final day of filming for The Beatles - Shooting had begun in the Bahamas on 23 February 1965, and the group totalled 54 days' work until this day. A number of scenes in London were also filmed by director Richard Lester on the following day, 12 May, but these did not feature The Beatles.



The Beatles later said the film was shot in a "haze of marijuana" :

Ringo : "A hell of a lot of pot was being smoked while we were making the film. It was great. That helped make it a lot of fun ... In one of the scenes, Victor Spinetti and Roy Kinnear are playing curling: sliding along those big stones. One of the stones has a bomb in it and we find out that it's going to blow up, and have to run away. Well, Paul and I ran about seven miles, we ran and ran, just so we could stop and have a joint before we came back. We could have run all the way to Switzerland. If you look at pictures of us you can see a lot of red-eyed shots; they were red from the dope we were smoking. And these were those clean-cut boys! Dick Lester knew that very little would get done after lunch. In the afternoon we very seldom got past the first line of the script. We had such hysterics that no one could do anything. Dick Lester would say, "No, boys, could we do it again?" It was just that we had a lot of fun – a lot of fun in those days."
   
Paul : "We showed up a bit stoned, smiled a lot and hoped we'd get through it. We giggled a lot. I remember one time at Cliveden (Lord Astor's place, where the Christine Keeler/Profumo scandal went on); we were filming the Buckingham Palace scene where we were all supposed to have our hands up. It was after lunch, which was fatal because someone might have brought out a glass of wine as well. We were all a bit merry and all had our backs to the camera and the giggles set in. All we had to do was turn around and look amazed, or something. But every time we'd turn round to the camera there were tears streaming down our faces. It's OK to get the giggles anywhere else but in films, because the technicians get pissed off with you. They think, "They're not very professional." Then you start thinking, "This isn't very professional – but we're having a great laugh."
   
Eleanor Bron : "John did once offer me a joint. And I obligingly tried to take a little puff. I knew there was some special way of doing it – but I don't smoke anyway. So I took a little puff and then thought, "This is so expensive. I mustn't waste it!" And gave it back to him. So that's your definition of naïve, I think."



The Beatles did not particularly enjoy the filming of the movie, nor were they pleased with the end product. In 1970, John Lennon said they felt like extras in their own movie : "The movie was out of our control. With A Hard Day's Night, we had a lot of input, and it was semi-realistic. But with Help!, Dick Lester didn't tell us what it was all about." But, ten years later, he was more charitable :

John : "I realize, looking back, how advanced it was. It was a precursor to the Batman "Pow! Wow!" on TV—that kind of stuff. But [Lester] never explained it to us. Partly, maybe, because we hadn't spent a lot of time together between A Hard Day's Night and Help!, and partly because we were smoking marijuana for breakfast during that period. Nobody could communicate with us, it was all glazed eyes and giggling all the time. In our own world. It's like doing nothing most of the time, but still having to rise at 7 am, so we became bored."

A contributing factor was exhaustion attributable to their busy schedule of writing, recording and touring. Afterward they were hesitant to begin another film project, and indeed Help! was their last full-length scripted theatrical film.

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The film had its Royal World Premiere at the London Pavilion Theatre in the West End of London on 29 July 1965.



Ten thousand fans gathered outside to see the group arrive in a black Rolls-Royce. Inside the Pavilion they met Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon, who had delayed their summer holiday for the event. After the screening The Beatles attended a party at the Orchid Room of the Dorchester Hotel.



Critical opinion at the time of release was generally positive, but many critics feel that this big budget effort was not as strong as A Hard Day's Night.

In a contemporary review in The New York Times their critic Bosley Crowther was not impressed : "... It's a fiasco of farcical whimseys that are thrown together in this film—a clutter of mechancial gimmicks and madcap chases. ... Funny? Exciting? Different? Well, there's nothing in "Help!" to compare with that wild ballet of the Beatles racing across a playground in "A Hard Day's Night", nothing as wistful as the ramble of Ringo around London all alone. ... The boys themselves are exuberant and uninhibited in their own genial way. They just become awfully redundant and—dare I say it?—dull."

The Album :

The soundtrack to Help! was was released on 6 August 1965. Produced by George Martin, it was the fifth UK album release by the band, and contains fourteen songs in its original British form. Seven of these, including the singles "Help!" and "Ticket to Ride", appeared in the film and took up the first side of the vinyl album. The second side contained seven other releases including the most-covered song ever written, "Yesterday".

The album cover shows the Beatles with their arms positioned to spell out a word in flag semaphore.



Robert Freeman (photographer) : "I had the idea of semaphore spelling out the letters 'HELP'. But when we came to do the shot, the arrangement of the arms with those letters didn't look good. So we decided to improvise and ended up with the best graphic positioning of the arms."

On the UK Parlophone release, the letters formed by the Beatles appear to be "N U J V", whilst the slightly re-arranged US release on Capitol Records appeared to indicate the letters "N V U J", with McCartney's left hand pointing to the Capitol logo.



The Capitol LP was issued in a "deluxe" gatefold sleeve with several photos from the film and was priced $1 more than standard Capitol releases at the time.



The American release was a true soundtrack album, mixing the first seven songs with instrumental material arranged by Ken Thorne from the film : "From Me to You Fantasy"  /  "In the Tyrol"  /   "The Bitter End / You Can't Do That"   /  and "The Chase" which prominently featured the sitar. In addition, the US soundtrack begins with a brief parody of the James Bond theme, which leads directly into the title track, "Help!".

Of the other seven songs that were on the British release, two were released on the US version of the next Beatles album, 'Rubber Soul', two were back-to-back on the next US single and then appeared on 'Yesterday and Today', and three had already been on 'Beatles VI'.

For the CD release, the original 1965 stereo mix was replaced by a remix prepared by George Martin in 1986 - One of the most notable changes is the horrible digital echo added to "Dizzy Miss Lizzy", something that was not evident on the original mix of the LP. The original '65 stereo mixes of Help and Rubber Soul were finally released on CD in the 2009 'Mono Box'.

   

Derek Johnson of the NME said that the LP "maintains the Beatles' usual high standards" and was a "gay, infectious romp which doesn't let up in pace or sparkle from start to finish – with the exception of one slow track. It's typical Beatles material, and offers very few surprises. But then, who wants surprises from the Beatles?"

The Single :

"Help!" was written by John Lennon with some assistance from Paul McCartney.

The original working title for the film was Eight Arms to Hold You. This title was printed on the single "Ticket to Ride" as an upcoming movie.



"Eight Days a Week" was briefly considered as a potential theme song for the film, but the idea was scrapped and the song was instead recorded and issued as an album track on 'Beatles For Sale', as well as a single in the United States.

John : "I think we wrote 'Eight Days A Week' when we were trying to write the title song for Help! because there was at one time the thought of calling the film Eight Arms To Hold You."

According to Lennon's cousin and boyhood friend Stanley Parkes, "Help!" was written after Lennon "came in from the studio one night. 'God,' he said, 'they've changed the title of the film: it's going to be called 'Help!' now. So I've had to write a new song with the title called 'Help!'."

In mid-April the title Help! was settled upon, probably chosen by director Richard Lester. Paul McCartney later described the genesis behind the title and the song of the same name.

Paul : "I seem to remember Dick Lester, Brian Epstein, Walter Shenson and ourselves sitting around, maybe Victor Spinetti was there, and thinking, What are we going to call this one? Somehow Help! came out. I didn't suggest it; John might have suggested it or Dick Lester. It was one of them. John went home and thought about it and got the basis of it, then we had a writing session on it. We sat at his house and wrote it, so he obviously didn't have that much of it. I would have to credit it to John for original inspiration 70-30. My main contribution is the countermelody to John."



The Beatles recorded "Help!" in 12 takes on 13 April 1965 using four-track equipment. The first nine takes concentrated on the instrumental backing. The descending lead guitar riff that precedes each verse proved to be difficult, so by take 4 it was decided to postpone it for an overdub. To guide the later overdub by George Harrison, Lennon thumped the beat on his acoustic guitar body, which can be heard in the final stereo mix. Lead and backing vocals were recorded twice onto take 9, along with a tambourine.

A reduction mix was applied to the two vocal tracks, taking three attempts (takes 10 to 12), freeing up a track for the lead guitar overdub. This was the group's first use of two 4-track machines for "bouncing".

The vocals were re-recorded for the film during a session on 24 May 1965 at CTS Studios, a facility specializing in post-synchronisation. In addition to attempting a better vocal performance, the session might have been done to eliminate the tambourine (which had been on the same track as the vocals) since no tambourine appeared in the film sequence. With the new vocals, a mono mix was created at CTS Studios which was used for the film soundtrack. Mixes for record releases were prepared on 18 June. For the mono version, Martin decided to use a mix of the opening chorus of take 12 edited to the remainder of the CTS film mix. Because all instruments were combined on a single track for the CTS session, it could not be used for a stereo mix, so the stereo mix was made from take 12.

"Help!" went to number 1 on both the UK and US singles charts in late summer 1965. It was the fourth of six number 1 singles in a row on the American charts: "I Feel Fine", "Eight Days a Week", "Ticket to Ride", "Help!", "Yesterday" and "We Can Work It Out". At the following year's Ivor Novello Awards, "Help!" was named as the second best-selling single of 1965, behind "We Can Work It Out". "Help!" was nominated in four categories at the 1966 Grammy Awards but failed to win in any of them.

John : "The whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension. I was fat and depressed and I was crying out for 'Help'."

Although Lennon was proud of "Help!" and the honesty it conveyed, he expressed regret that the Beatles had recorded it at such a fast tempo :

John : "I don't like the recording too much; we did it too fast trying to be commercial... I might do I Want To Hold Your Hand and Help! again, because I like them and I can sing them."

The Beatles filmed the title performance for the movie Help! on 22 April 1965. The same footage (without the darts and credits seen in the film sequence) was used as a clip to promote the single on programmes such as Top of the Pops and Thank Your Lucky Stars.  Help was released as a single in the US on 19 July 1965, and in the UK on 23 July 1965, two weeks ahead of the album of the same name and topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

John : "The Help! single sold much better than the two before it: I Feel Fine and Ticket To Ride. But there were still a lot of fans who didn't like Help!. They said, 'Ah, The Beatles are dropping us. This isn't as good as A Hard Day's Night.' So you can't win. Trying to please everybody is impossible – if you did that, you'd end up in the middle with nobody liking you. You've just got to make the decision about what you think is your best, and do it."

They made another promotional clip of "Help!" on 23 November 1965 for inclusion in the year-end recap special of Top of the Pops. Directed by Joseph McGrath, the black-and-white clip shows the group miming to the song while sitting astride a workbench. Starr holds an umbrella overhead throughout the song, which becomes useful as fake snow falls during the final verse.



John : "People think of us as machines. They pay 6s 8d for a record and we have to do what they say – like a jack-in-the-box. I don't like that side of it much. Some people have got it all wrong. We produce something, something great every time. The onus is on the public to decide whether they like it or not. It's annoying when people turn round and say, 'But we made you, you ungrateful swines.' I know they did, in a way, but there's a limit to what we're bound to live up to, as if it's a duty."

A live version of Help! was recorded for the BBC television show Blackpool Night Out at the ABC Theatre on 1 August 1965. On 14 August, the group recorded a live performance of "Help!" and five other songs for The Ed Sullivan Show, broadcast the following month.

"Help!" was included in the set list for The Beatles' 1965 US tour. The group's 29 August performance at the Hollywood Bowl was chosen for the 1977 album The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl. The final live concert performances of "Help!" took place on The Beatles' 1965 UK tour in December.

 

Other Versions include :   Peter Sellers (1965)  /  Mary Wells (1965)  /  "¡Socorro!" by Los Mustang (1965)  /  José Feliciano (1966)  /  Clara Ward (1966)  /  The Hollyridge Strings (1966)  /  Count Basie (1966)  /  The Band of Irish Guards (1966)  /  Cathy Berberian (1967) (!!) /  Deep Purple (1968)  /  Ray Stevens (1969)  /  Carpenters (1970)  /  The Damned (1976)  /  Dolly Parton (1979)  /  John Farnham (1980)  /  Tina Turner (1984)  /  The King's Singers (1986)  /  U2 (1986  /  Bananarama and Lananeeneenoonoo (1989)  /  Brazilian Tropical Orchestra (1990)  /  Extreme (1993)  /  Rick Wakeman (1997)  /  The Punkles (1998)  /  Oasis (1998)  /  McFly (2004)  /   Danny McEvoy (2010)  /  Joehlers (2011)  /  NES 8-bit (20123)  /  Ringo Ska (2016)  /  Caroline Dare (2018)  /  a fat and depressed robot (2018)

On This Day  :

1 August : Sam Mendes, stage and film director, born in Reading, Berkshire
6 August : The Beatles release "Help" album in UK
11 August : The Beatles film "Help" opens in New York
15 August : The Beatles play to 55,000 at Shea Stadium
20 August : KRS-One, rapper, born Lawrence Parker in Brooklyn, New York
21 August : Gemini 5 launched into Earth orbit (with 2 astronauts)

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

                 

[purlieu]

I have a deep-rooted memory relating to 'Help!', although the only traces of it that remain are something to do with sitting up late with my mum because we were leaving for our holiday at about 3AM. What the connotations actually are I no longer know, but it always makes me feel really queasy, like that's something really wrong. Just for a moment. Especially the opening chorus. It's bloody strange. So I can't listen to it with anything resembling objectivity. It's just that Beatles song that makes me feel very, very strange.

[kalowski]

Paul McCartney receiving the classic school move: the nipple tweak -

[grassbath]

The perfect pop song trope is thrown around a lot but if you're looking for examples, 'Help!' is a damn fine one - not a wasted second of its 2 minutes and 20. Every section, every moment, every lick, does something new, takes it to a new place. I also love how the acoustic guitar has come to the fore.

Lyrically, it's pretty bold to be using the conventions of a pop song to actually cry out to the audience - or to the band, or to Paul? - 'fuck, I can't cope with fame and I'm falling apart, literally somebody help me,' and know that it'll still be totally acceptable for a mass audience. The soul-baring songwriting identity that John would self-consciously embrace on Plastic Ono Band is really on show here.

[The Culture Bunker]

'Help!' is one of those Beatles songs that, as a kid in the 80s, you knew somehow and singed along with on the school bus. I guess the charity version from the latter part of that decade played a part... but it's amazing to look back all this time later to think we were buzzing to songs our parents had dug too. Maybe my nephews will be singing, I dunno, 'Wonderwall' or whatever in a few years, but it doesn't seem as likely, somehow. I could be wrong, of course.

[Satchmo Distel]

The album's photographer, Robert Freeman, died today.

[daf]

SCHEDULE UPDATE :

The new TEMPORARY service will be 3 times a week : Monday, Wednesday and Friday

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sorry about that - it's either this or a complete nervous breakdown!

I'll try and get back to the 5-a-week plan as soon as I can - I've just got a lot of work on at the moment, and don't want to do a half-arsed job on these.

[Cardenio I]

Pal, you don't owe us shit. Thanks for keeping up the good work on whatever schedule suits you.

[Satchmo Distel]

Three times a week is fine, for as long as you want.

[machotrouts]

NUJV!
I need somebody!
NUJV!
Not just anybody!
NUJV!
You know I need someone!
NUUUUUUJJJJJVVVV!

When I was younger, so much younger than todayyyy,
I never needed anybody's NUJV IN ANY WAY.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self-assuuuured,
Now I find, I've changed my mind, and OPENED UP THE DOORS.

NUJV ME IF YOU CAN, I'M FEELING dowwwwwn!
AND I DO APPRECIATE YOU BEING rouuuuuund!
NUJV ME GET MY FEET BACK ON THE GROUUUUND!
won't you PLEEEEEEEEEASE, PLEEEEEEEEEASE NUJV ME?

[machotrouts]

The album's photographer, Robert Freeman, died today.

Anybody done this yet?

[daf]

My rough stab at what it'd look like actually spelling H/E/L/P



Nice armpit tickle!

- - - - - - - - - -
Bonus EXTRA! :

 

[Satchmo Distel]

McCartney recorded 'I'm Down', 'I've Just Seen A Face' and 'Yesterday' at the same session.

[Pranet]

Pal, you don't owe us shit. Thanks for keeping up the good work on whatever schedule suits you.

Three times a week is fine, for as long as you want.

Thirded. Can't imagine how much effort goes into these. Especially the epic Beatles or Elvis entries.

[machotrouts]

My ranking of the last 40 #1s, following on from my rankings of #1s 1-40, 41-80, 81-120, and 121-160. The Yardbirds and Everly Brothers songs are not in the chart canon so they get a big fat strikethrough, but at least this time I don't have to add a caveat about double A-sides meaning there are more songs than #1s, because there were no double A-sides. Didn't even need to write that sentence really. Pointless waste of time.

• The Kinks - You Really Got Me
• The Animals - House of the Rising Sun
• Herman's Hermits - I'm into Something Good
• The Beatles - Help!
• Roy Orbison - Oh, Pretty Woman
• Sandie Shaw - (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me
• The Dave Clark Five - Glad All Over
• The Honeycombs - Have I the Right?
• Unit 4 + 2 - Concrete and Clay
• Billy J Kramer with the Dakotas - Little Children
• The Supremes - Baby Love
• Roy Orbison - It's Over
  The Yardbirds - For Your Love
• The Kinks - Tired of Waiting for You
• The Rolling Stones - It's All Over Now
• Moody Blues - Go Now
• The Searchers - Needles and Pins
• The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
• Jackie Trent - Where Are You Now (My Love)
• Manfred Mann - Do Wah Diddy Diddy
• Tom Jones - It's Not Unusual
• The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man
• Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames - Yeh Yeh
• The Hollies - I'm Alive
• The Beatles - I Feel Fine
• The Beatles - Ticket to Ride
• Sandie Shaw - Long Live Love
• The Rolling Stones - Little Red Rooster
• Cilla Black - Anyone Who Had a Heart
• The Righteous Brothers - You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
  The Everly Brothers - The Price of Love
• The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love
• The Rolling Stones - The Last Time
• Roger Miller - King of the Road
• The Four Pennies - Juliet
• The Searchers - Don't Throw Your Love Away
• Peter & Gordon - A World Without Love
• Cilla Black - You're My World (Il Monde Mio)
• The Bachelors - Diane
• The Seekers - I'll Never Find Another You
• Elvis Presley - Crying in the Chapel
• Cliff Richard - The Minute You're Gone

Additionally, an update of my overall 40 favourite #1s of the 200 we've had so far – there's been such a good run of #1s that somehow nearly half of these are new entries, including a new #1 amongst #1s.

• The Kinks - You Really Got Me
• The Everly Brothers - All I Have to Do Is Dream
• Del Shannon - Runaway
• Lonnie Donegan - Cumberland Gap
• John Leyton - Johnny Remember Me
• The Animals - House of the Rising Sun
• Herman's Hermits - I'm into Something Good
• The Searchers - Sweets for My Sweet
• The Beatles - She Loves You
• The Beatles - Help!
• Russ Conway - Side Saddle
• Perez Prado - Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White
• Roy Orbison - Oh, Pretty Woman
• Sandie Shaw - (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me
• The Dave Clark Five - Glad All Over
• Tennessee Ernie Ford - Sixteen Tons
• Rosemary Clooney - This Ole House
• The Honeycombs - Have I the Right?
• Unit 4 + 2 - Concrete and Clay
• The Everly Brothers - Temptation
• Billy J Kramer with the Dakotas - Little Children
• The Supremes - Baby Love
• Jimmy Jones - Good Timin'
• Emile Ford & the Checkmates - What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?
• Elvis Presley - I Got Stung
• Lord Rockingham's XI - Hoots Mon!
• Roy Orbison - It's Over
• Johnny Kidd and the Pirates - Shakin' All Over
  The Yardbirds - For Your Love
• The Kinks - Tired of Waiting for You
• The Rolling Stones - It's All Over Now
• The Beatles - I Want to Hold Your Hand
• Floyd Cramer - On the Rebound
• Moody Blues - Go Now
• The Searchers - Needles and Pins
• The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night
• The Shadows - Wonderful Land
• The Shadows - Dance On!
• Jackie Trent - Where Are You Now (My Love)
• Manfred Mann - Do Wah Diddy Diddy
• Cliff Richard and the Shadows - The Young Ones

This list will look very different by the time we're assessing the 2020s – to think we're still nowhere near pop giants of my generation, like Cher Lloyd and Nicole Scherzinger – but I don't think there can possibly be another mass clearout like that again. Just chipping away at the machotrouts rolling 40 from here on in.

[daf]

Music For Idiots?, it's . . .

201.  Sonny and Cher - I Got You Babe



From : 22 August – 4 September 1965
Weeks : 2
Flip side : It's Gonna Rain
Bonus : Top of the Pops

Sonny and Cher :

Cherilyn Sarkisian first met Salvatore Bono in a Los Angeles coffee shop in November 1962, when she was sixteen. Eleven years her senior, Bono was working for record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. The two became best friends, eventual lovers, and later married.

Cher started as a session singer, and sang backup on several of Spector's classic recordings, including "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" by The Righteous Brothers and Darlene Love's "A Fine, Fine Boy".

With Bono continuing to write, arrange and produce the songs, the couple's first incarnation was as the duo "Caesar and Cleo". They received little attention, despite releasing some singles in 1964: "The Letter", with Vault Records, and "Do You Wanna Dance" and "Love Is Strange", with Reprise Records. In September 1964, they released "Baby Don't Go" - the first single under the name of Sonny & Cher - which became their first regional hit in the US.

 

Signed to Atlantic, The duo released their first album Look at Us in the summer of 1965. The album contained the eventual number-one single "I Got You Babe". The album peaked at number two on the Billboard chart for eight weeks, and number 1 in the UK for two weeks at the end of August 1965.

Also in August they appeared as themselves in the film Wild on the Beach, singing another song from their debut album : "It's Gonna Rain", and that same month, Cher's solo version of the Bob Dylan song "All I Really Want to Do" peaked at #9 in the UK chart.

   

The couple soon appeared on many of the top television shows of the era including The Ed Sullivan Show,  American Bandstand,  Where The Action Is,  Hollywood A Go-Go,  Hollywood Palace,  Hullabaloo and Shindig! in the US; Beat Club in Germany; plus Ready Steady Go! and Top of the Pops in the UK.



To cash in on the number 1, their old record label Reprise released "Baby Don't Go" as a single in the UK, which quickly reached #11 in September 1965. To add insult to injury, their proper follow up, "But You're Mine", written by Bono, only managed to reach #17 in October 1965.

The single was included on their second studio album, released in April 1966, The Wondrous World of Sonny & Chér, which peaked at number 34 in the US album charts. Also included on the album were two more Bono originals - "I Look for You"  and the Sonny solo outing "Laugh at Me", plus covers of "Bring It On Home to Me", Ray Davies' "Set Me Free", and the single "What Now My Love" - which peaked at #13 in February 1966.

 

Periodic solo releases by Cher continued during this period, including major successes with "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" (#3 in April 1966), and her version of Burt Bacharach & Hal David's theme from "Alfie" - which was a #32 hit in the US.

Their next single, "Have I Stayed Too Long" performed poorly - only scraping to #42 in July 1966, and Cher's solo single "I Feel Something in the Air", released the following month, went one worse - running out of gas at #43. Her next single, "Sunny" was a slight improvement - landing a #32 position in September 1966.

In March 1967 Sonny and Cher released their third album, In Case You're In Love. It peaked at number 45 in the U.S. charts. It contained three singles, all written by Bono : "Little Man" (a Top 4 hit in the UK in September 1966), "Living For You" (a #44 UK flop in November) and "The Beat Goes On" - which although a Top 6 hit in the US, surprisingly only just managed to scrape into the Top 30 at #29 in the UK in February 1967.

 

In 1967, in an attempt to capitalize on their success, Bono arranged a film project for the duo to star in. But the feature, Good Times, directed by William Friedkin and co-starring George Sanders, was a flop. The film soundtrack album included the title song "Good Times"  /  "Don't Talk To Strangers"  /  "Just a Name"  /  and "Trust Me"

With album sales dwindling, in 1968, Bono decided to carve a new career for the duo in Las Vegas resorts, where they sharpened their public persona with Cher as the wise-cracking, glamorous singer, and Bono as the good-natured recipient of her insults. In reality, Bono controlled every aspect of their act, from the musical arrangements to the joke-writing. While success was slow to come, their luck improved when network TV talent scouts attended a show, noting their potential appeal for a variety series.

In 1970, Sonny and Cher starred in their first television special, The Nitty Gritty Hour, a mixture of slapstick comedy, skits, and live music. The appearance was a critical success, which led to numerous guest spots on other television shows.

Sonny and Cher caught the eye of CBS head of programming Fred Silverman while guest-hosting The Merv Griffin Show, and Silverman offered the duo their own variety show. The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour debuted in 1971 as a summer replacement series. The show returned to prime time later that year and was an immediate hit, quickly reaching the Top 10.

The duo also revived their recording career, releasing the album All I Ever Need Is You, and charting two more top ten hits in the US : "A Cowboy's Work Is Never Done" and "All I Ever Need Is You", which was their last hit in the UK - reaching #8 in January 1972.

 

In 1973, they released their fifth and final studio album, 'Mama Was a Rock and Roll Singer, Papa Used to Write All Her Songs'. Only reaching #132 on the US album chart, an edited version of the 9+ minute title track was the only single from the album to enter the US charts, reaching #77. The album, largely a collection of covers, also included  "I Can See Clearly Now", "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show" , and "Listen to the Music".

Cher won a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance By an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in 1974, but by the third season of the show, their marriage was falling apart; the duo separated later that year. What followed was a very public divorce, finalised on June 26, 1975.

Bono launched his own show, The Sonny Comedy Revue, in the Autumn of 1974, retaining the "Sonny and Cher" troupe of comedians and writers. Cher also announced plans to star in a new variety series of her own. Critics predicted that Bono would be the big winner with a solo comedy vehicle, and held little hope for Cher's more musical showcase. After only six weeks, however, Bono's show was abruptly canceled.

The Cher Show debuted as an elaborate, all-star television special on February 16, 1975, featuring Flip Wilson, Bette Midler, and special guest Elton John. The series received four additional Emmy nominations that year, thanks in no small part to some star-studded duets, such as the one with Dave Bowie from The Dave Bowie band (feat. Dave Bowie).



As a result of the divorce, Sonny and Cher went their separate ways until Cher attended the opening of one of Bono's restaurants in something of a reconciliation. The Sonny & Cher Show returned in 1976, even though they were no longer married (the duo "reunited" with a humorous handshake). After struggling with low ratings through 1977, Sonny and Cher finally parted ways for good.

Sonny Bono went on to an acting career and later entered politics, eventually becoming a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Cher went on to become a Grammy Award-winning solo singer and an Academy Award-winning actress.

The couple made two surprise impromptu reunion performances: the first on The Mike Douglas Show in the spring of 1979, singing a medley of "United We Stand" and "Without You", and the second on November 13, 1987 on Late Night with David Letterman where they performed their hit song "I Got You Babe". It would be the last time the two would perform together.

 

On January 5, 1998, Sonny Bono died of injuries from hitting a tree while skiing at Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe. He was 62 years old. The epitaph on Bono's headstone reads: "And The Beat Goes On".

The Single :

"I Got You Babe" was written by Sonny Bono, and sung by Sonny and Cher.



In August 1965, their single spent three weeks at number 1 in the US where it sold more than 1 million copies, and was also a number 1 in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Recalling Dylan's bitter 1964 song "It Ain't Me Babe", Bono wrote his own opposite sentiment. "I Got You Babe", set to waltz time, retained a light feel despite the sometimes busy instrumentation, led by a prominent ocarina and the alternating vocals between the two singers.

 

African-American musician Harold Battiste, who provided the instrumental arrangement, points out that the prominent figure in the song is played on an oboe rather than an ocarina (Duh-uh - you idiots!!).

In 1993, Cher recorded a cover version of "I Got You Babe" with the American animated characters Beavis and Butt-Head. The video features Cher and Beavis and Butt-Head in a virtual animated world. The animated pair refer to her former husband Bono as a "dork" and a "wuss", to which a live-action Cher agrees.

Other Versions include :   Wayne & Dee (1965)  /  "Je t'aime trop, toi" by Claude François (1965)  /  "Nous on s'aime" by Michèle Richard & Gilles Brown (1966)  /  James Last (1965)  /  "Bleib bei mir, Babe" by Benny und Petra (1966)  /  "Sei contento" by Jonathan & Michelle (1966)  /  Etta James (1968)  /  Tiny Tim (1968)  /  The Majestics (1968)  /  The Dictators (1975)  /  Arthur Conley (1976)  /  The Hoovers (1980)  /  Nino Tempo & April Stevens (1982)  /  Holly Beth Vincent & Joey Ramone (1982)  /  UB40 & Chrissie Hynde (1985)  /  The Flying Pickets (1986)  /  Blackmore's Night (2015)  /  Danny & Jasmine (2011)  /  Night Bird (2014)  /  Praytell (2017)   /  Luisma Vazq (2018)  /  Adam Lambert & Cyndi Lauper (2018)

On This Day  :

27 August : The Beatles spend an evening with Elvis Presley
27 August : Le Corbusier, [Charles-Édouard Jeanneret], Swiss French architect and city planner, dies at 77
28 August : Shania Twain, singer, born Eilleen Regina Edwards in Windsor Ontario, Canada
28 August : Bob Dylan booed for playing electric guitar at a concert in New York's Forest Hills
2 September : Lennox Lewis, boxer, born Lennox Claudius Lewis in West Ham, London
3 September : Charlie Sheen, actor, born Carlos Irwin Estévez in New York
3 September : Pope Paul VI publishes his latest hardboiled gumshoe potboiler Mysterium Fidei
4 September : Albert Schweitzer, German/French missionary, dies at 90

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! :

                 

[The Culture Bunker]

Best thing I can say is that it was used in the correct context in 'Groundhog Day'.

[purlieu]

Nice song, lovely jangling arrangement, always enjoyed the oboe bit.

[sevendaughters]

just watched Groundhog Day so I've heard the first 8 bars about 100 times this week.

[Satchmo Distel]

I think it's a fine song, lovely melody and harmonies, performed superbly by the Wrecking Crew, and Cher is super cool in the TOTP performance.

Curious live cover by Bowie and Marianne Faithfull, the latter dressed as a nun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OX2nelvhIE

[daf]

Marianne Faithfull dressed as a nun

Cracking find!

Thought that curious way she was singing might have been a tribute and salute to Madeline Kahn from Blazing Saddles there - but this was a year earlier!

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The new TEMPORARY service will be 3 times a week : Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Take as long as you like, Mister daf. You've started one of the great CaB threads here, we are but humble servants.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I love I Got You Babe. Great faux-Spector arrangement, charming vocals and lyrics, no amount of incessant daily groundhog ubiquity can wither it.

It's also one of the few songs I've ever performed via karaoke. In a duet with my girlfriend at the time. Nearly twenty years ago. Swedish, she was, looked a bit like a young Cher. I feel miserable now. THANKS.