“Help!” was written by John Lennon (Lennon–McCartney).

Help!

(Lennon/McCartney)

Quick Facts

Composer	John
Lead Vocal	John
Recorded	Apr 1965
Length	2:21
Key	A
Noted Takes	12
Producer	George Martin
Engineer	Norman Smith

Originally released on

Help! / I'm Down

Help!

Parlophone — R 5305 / PMC 1255

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Help! is the fifth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to the film Help!. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone.

Help! is a song by The Beatles, written by Lennon–McCartney and led on vocal by John Lennon. Lennon later said the title was a real cry for help: 'I was fat and depressed.' Within the catalogue, its title-track thread connects it to A Hard Day's Night; its film thread connects it to A Hard Day's Night, I Should Have Known Better, If I Fell; its confessional thread connects it to I'll Cry Instead, I'm a Loser, I Don't Want to Spoil the Party. The title track of the Help! album and film, John Lennon's 'Help!' began as an urgently autobiographical statement—a genuine cry for emotional support amid Beatles fame. Recorded on 13 April 1965 during the film's post-production push, the song merges personal vulnerability with commercial pop appeal, representing Lennon's capacity to blur private anguish with public entertainment (Lewisohn 1988, p. 58). The Help! album served as a pivotal moment in The Beatles' artistic development, bridging their earlier pop sound with the sophisticated songwriting that would define Rubber Soul. George Martin's production choices during this period helped establish the band's willingness to experiment with non-traditional arrangements. (Kozinn 1995, p. 122)

The session work falls within the band's Folk-Rock & Maturity (1965) period, recorded 13 Apr 1965 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road. George Martin produced; Norman Smith engineered. Recorded in Abbey Road, Room 65 (not the usual Studio Two), the piece captured 12 takes during the afternoon session. Multiple mono remixes (remixes 1–3) were generated for film approval by United Artists, with the final mono mix deemed 'best' for cinema use. George Martin and Norman Smith oversaw this meticulous remix process, signalling the track's commercial criticality (Lewisohn 1988, p. 58).

During the Revolver sessions, the Abbey Road team embraced unconventional sonic approaches, freely hiring outside instruments like harpsichords, French horns, or small orchestras to achieve desired moods. The song stands out for its harmonic sophistication, featuring yearning suspended ninths and rapid harmonic movement that distinguishes it from much of the Help! era material. Its unusual eight-bar structure, lacking a traditional middle-eight bridge, represents an experimental departure in the Beatles' compositional approach. (MacDonald 1994, p. 68)

What's distinctive

One of 101 songs led primarily by John. Recorded approximately 9 of 14 into the Folk-Rock & Maturity (1965) sessions. Carries the rare tag 'title-track' — shared with only 1 other song(s). Take count: 12 — takes 1–8 rhythm track, vocals from take 9, take 12 best; the first released Beatles song to receive a four-track-to-four-track reduction mix, freeing a track for George Harrison’s distinctive descending guitar overdub.^1,2

Recording

First released Beatles song with a four-track-to-four-track reduction mix — “Help!” was, in Ryan & Kehew’s description, “the first released Beatles song to receive a four-track-to-four-track reduction mix.” By the end of take 12 the original Studer J37 four-track tape was full: drums and bass on Track 1, rhythm and lead guitar on Track 2, and two lead-vocal performances (double-tracked) plus backing vocals on Tracks 3 and 4. George Harrison had been unable to play his distinctive descending guitar figure live with the backing track — the part was too fast for him to execute alongside the other instruments. With punching in ruled out, Norman Smith and George Martin bounced the content to a second four-track machine, mixing the two vocal tracks down to a single track and preserving the instrumental content on its own tracks. The resulting tape had one empty track onto which George could overdub his contribution section-by-section, “using as many takes as were necessary to record the part successfully.”^1,2
George Harrison’s difficulty with the descending guitar line — session outtakes document the group debating how to solve the problem. George Martin observed: “The first one was fine, George. That last one was, umm… out of rhythm. Would it be safer to overdub these on?” Harrison replied: “I don’t think so, no. ‘Cause it’s just that it’s so fast.” Harrison then raised a complication: “We want to double-track the voices, don’t we? So, I’ll have to double-track singing it. I’ll have to do this bit singing, which is going to be even harder still.” Paul initially misunderstood: “No, but we’ve got two voice tracks. We can double-track the voices on.” The decision to overdub the guitar part after a reduction mix resolved the impasse: George could record his part on the freed track without needing to play and sing simultaneously.²
The mono/stereo vocal mystery — C.T.S. Studios re-recording — the mono and stereo mixes of “Help!” feature completely different vocal performances. The stereo mix uses the original Take 12 vocals; the mono mix (heard on the single, mono LP, and in the film) uses vocals re-recorded at C.T.S. Studios in London, a facility specialising in post-sync work for film and television. No EMI session documentation records this re-recording. Working for The Observer, photographer Michael Peto captured the Beatles and George Martin at C.T.S. in a vocal overdub session: John Lennon sang into a single Neumann U49, while Paul McCartney and George Harrison sang into both sides of a U49 set to figure-of-eight — the same microphone configuration used at Abbey Road for lead and backing vocals. Enlarging and reversing one of Peto’s photographs of Lennon’s lyric sheet reveals the words to “Help!”. Lewisohn has narrowed the mystery session to the fourth week of May 1965. On 18 April, a twin-track mix of Take 12 had been created at Abbey Road, mixing the vocals down to one track and the instruments to another; studio documentation records this twin-track mix as “taken away for film company.” The mono backing track was likely copied to one track of C.T.S.’s three-track machine, with the group overdubbing two new vocal performances onto the remaining tracks. C.T.S. had facilities for mono, stereo, and three-track recording; the song was likely mixed there as well, since Abbey Road did not possess a three-track machine capable of playing the tape back.^1,2
Lyrical and timbral differences between mono and stereo — the mono version contains a slight but noticeable lyrical change: during the first verse, John sings “and now these days” rather than “but now these days” as heard on the stereo mix. The mono version also contains no tambourine — since the tambourine had been bounced down with the vocals on Take 12, the C.T.S. re-recording necessarily omitted it. John’s double-tracking on the re-recorded version was “flawless” compared with the original, and the timing was “slightly altered in places to improve the flow.” The true reason for the re-recording may never be definitively known: one theory is that the purpose was to create a version without visible tambourine for the film’s supposed “live TV performance” opening sequence; another is that it was a straightforward desire to improve the vocal performances. Peto’s photographs of the C.T.S. session show no sign of Ringo.²
The intro splice — when preparing the final mixes on 18 June 1965, George Martin discovered that the C.T.S. re-recorded vocals were “a bit lacking during the song’s introduction” — the opening backing cry of “Help!” featured “a somewhat sour note from George Harrison.” To remedy this, a new mono mix was made from Take 12, and the intro from Take 12 — and only the intro — was spliced in place of the C.T.S. intro. “The edit between the two versions occurs just before the first line of the first verse and is quite evident, highlighting the disparity between the quality of the original take and the mono version.” The first ten seconds of both the stereo and mono mixes therefore originate from Take 12; beyond that, they diverge completely. The stereo mix uses the Take 12 vocals throughout; the mono mix transitions to the C.T.S. vocals after the splice point.²
Possible guitar doubling on the chorus — “subjective listening suggests that Paul or John simultaneously doubled George’s guitar line on portions of the chorus.” This supplementary overdub was onto the fourth track freed by the reduction mix, alongside George’s primary overdub of the descending figure.²

Equipment Section status: Outdated

Studio	EMI Studios, Abbey Road — Studio Two (recording, 13 Apr 1965); Room 65 (mono/stereo mixing, 18 Apr 1965); Studio Two control room (final mixing, 18 Jun 1965); C.T.S. Studios, London (vocal re-recording, late May 1965)^1,2
Tape machine	Studer J37 four-track (newly installed in Studio Two control room, April 1965 — “Help!” among the first recordings on the new machine)²
Console	REDD.51²
Microphones	AKG D19c, AKG D20 (drums); Neumann U47, U48 (guitar, vocals, piano); Neumann U67 (first uses, 1965)²
Outboard / effects	RS124 compressor, Fairchild 660 limiter, RS127 Presence Box; echo chamber, repeat echo, double-tracking, half-speed recording (available 1965)²
Guitars	Rickenbacker 360-12 (12-string, Harrison), Epiphone Casino (Lennon, McCartney, Harrison), Fender Stratocaster, Gibson J-160E acoustic²
Amplifiers	Vox AC30 Twin, Vox AC100 Super DeLuxe, Fender Bassman (first appearance, 1965)²

Recording Timeline

13 April 1965 (Tue) — recording takes 1–12, EMI Studio Two — Studio Two, 7.00–11.00pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Ken Scott. Recording: “Help!” (takes 1–12). “As far as the recording was concerned, it was not too complicated. Takes one to eight concentrated on the rhythm track, the first vocals being introduced at take nine. Take 10 was complete, take 11 was a false start and the ‘best’ and final take, numbered 12, saw the introduction of George Harrison’s descending, jangly guitar figures which made the song especially distinctive.” The 13 April session was one of the first Beatles recordings on the newly installed Studer J37 four-track in Studio Two’s control room; prior to this, four-track work had been done via the Telefunken machines in dedicated tape rooms. Drums and bass went on Track 1, rhythm and lead guitar on Track 2, with Tracks 3 and 4 reserved for vocals. By Take 4, George Harrison had proved unable to play the descending guitar line live. The group continued recording, with George resting during the problematic sections. After Take 12, a four-track-to-four-track reduction mix bounced the content to a second machine, freeing one track for George to overdub his guitar part section-by-section.^1,2
18 April 1965 (Sun) — first mono + stereo mixing, Room 65 — Abbey Road, Room 65, 10.00am–12.30pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Phil McDonald. Mono mixing: “Help!” (remixes 1–3, from take 12). Stereo mixing: “Help!” (remix 1, from take 12). “Three mono remixes of ‘Help!’, the final one being deemed ‘best’ for use in the film, plus stereo remixes of both ‘Help!’ and ‘The Night Before’, the tapes of which were also taken away by United Artists, but were never used.” A twin-track mix of Take 12 was also created, documented as “taken away for film company” — this twin-track mix later served as the backing track for the C.T.S. Studios vocal re-recording.^1,2
Late May 1965 — vocal re-recording at C.T.S. Studios, London — estimated by Lewisohn to the fourth week of May. The Beatles and George Martin recorded new vocals at C.T.S. Studios, a facility specialising in post-sync work for film and television. Using the twin-track mix created 18 April, the mono backing track was copied to one track of C.T.S.’s three-track machine and two new vocal performances overdubbed. John’s double-tracking on the new version was markedly improved. No EMI documentation records the session; its existence was confirmed through Observer photographer Michael Peto’s photographs of the group recording at C.T.S. with George Martin present.²
18 June 1965 (Fri) — final mono + stereo mixing, Studio Two — Studio Two control room, 10.00am–12.30pm. P: George Martin. E: Norman Smith. 2E: Phil McDonald. Mono mixing: “Help!” (remix 4, from take 12). Stereo mixing: “Help!” (remix 2, from take 12). “Final mixing for the mono single and LP and the stereo LP.” The Take 12 intro was spliced onto the C.T.S. re-recorded vocals for the released mono master, remedying a sour Harrison backing-vocal note on the C.T.S. version of the opening “Help!” cry. The stereo mix was made entirely from Take 12.^1,2
18 June 1965 — two mixes, two vocals — Mono and stereo were both made on 18 June 1965 but use different lead vocal takes; Lennon’s voice is rougher throughout the mono.³ The stereo additionally carries a tambourine in the chorus that the mono lacks, and Capitol derived the American mono from the stereo rather than using the British mono.³

In the end it was almost exclusively written by John, and in later years he would look back on the lyric as being one of his first real ‘message’ numbers, Lennon pleading for help from somebody, anybody, to help relieve his insecurity.— Mark Lewisohn¹

Studio Notes

Studer J37 installed in Studio Two — “Help!” among the first recordings on the new machine — April 1965 saw the installation of the Studer J37 four-track in Studio Two’s control room. EMI had purchased four new J37 machines for Abbey Road: one installed in the Studio Two control room, a second in the Room 1A machine room, and two for remote location recording. The oldest Telefunken four-track (the T9U being replaced in Room 1A) was moved to Room 65 for four-track remix work. “The J37 was the perfect machine,” Peter Vince recalled. “It was no bigger — in fact it was smaller — than the BTR machines, so it fit right alongside them.” “Virtually all four-track recording carried out for the remainder of the Beatles’ career would take place on the J-37.” “Help!” (13 April 1965) was recorded within days of the J37’s installation.²
Half-speed overdub considered but not implemented — George Martin discussed running the tape at half-speed for Harrison’s guitar overdub, a technique Martin had used to solve similar performance difficulties on “Misery” (1963) and “A Hard Day’s Night” (1964). Paul suggested tapping a quarter-note beat at the end of each chorus (“so that if we do half it, tap a beat”) to give George a rhythmic reference at the slower speed. John demonstrated an alternative on his acoustic: “Well, I’m already — [slaps the strings on his acoustic on the off-beats].” Paul countered: “Yeah, but it needs to be something you can hear on the track… when it’s slowed you’re not going to hear it.” The technique was ultimately not used; instead, the reduction mix freed a track and George recorded his part section-by-section at normal speed.²
Four-track tape contents (pre- and post-reduction) — before the reduction mix (Take 12 as recorded): Track 1 drums and bass, Track 2 rhythm and lead guitar, Track 3 lead vocal, Track 4 lead vocal (double-tracking) plus backing vocals, with someone (presumably Ringo) adding tambourine on one of the vocal tracks. After the reduction mix: Track 1 drums and bass (preserved), Track 2 guitars (preserved), Track 3 vocals (two vocal tracks mixed to one), Track 4 empty — onto which George overdubbed his descending guitar figure. The reduction mix took three attempts, with Take 12 considered the best source tape.²
John’s double-tracking muted on the intro — “During the reduction mix, one of John’s vocal tracks was muted during the song’s introduction. This was likely due to the fact that, as outtakes reveal, his double-tracking on that section was quite poor, with significant discrepancies between the two performances.” This muting is audible on the stereo mix, which uses the original Take 12 vocals throughout. The C.T.S. re-recording — where John’s double-tracking was markedly improved — may have been motivated in part by a desire to fix this issue across the entire song.²
“They want to come up with something different each time in the studio!” — Norman Smith’s observation during the Help! sessions, reflecting the shift from the group’s earlier live-in-the-studio approach toward more adventurous production. 1965 saw the first uses of outside musicians (flutes on “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away”, a string quartet on “Yesterday”) and the widespread introduction of percussion overdubs, both trends exemplified on the Help! album.²

Releases

The mono and the stereo use different lead vocals. Not a different balance — a different performance.

1965 UK single (Parlophone R 5305) and mono LP Help! (Parlophone PMC 1255) — Mixed 18 June 1965, and it carries a different lead vocal from the stereo. Lennon’s voice is rougher throughout. For many listeners this is the better performance and it is the one Britain bought.
1965 UK stereo LP — Help! (Parlophone PCS 3071) — Mixed the same day from the other vocal, smoother and more controlled, and with a tambourine through the chorus that the mono does not have. A mnemonic: the ending “I’ve opened up the doors” carries its final S on one version and not the other.
1965 US — single (Capitol 5476) and Help! (Capitol MAS/SMAS 2386) — Capitol derived a mono from the stereo, so the American mono is not the British mono and does not have the rough vocal.
1980 US — Rarities (Capitol SHAL 12060) — Where American listeners could finally get the British mix.
2006 — Love (Apple 79808-2) — A 2006 remix for the George and Giles Martin production.
2009 remaster (Parlophone 99456 2, 9 September 2009) — Flat transfers of both 1965 masters.

Sources

Mark Lewisohn, The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions (New York: Harmony Books, 1988), 58, 60.
Kevin Ryan and Brian Kehew, Recording the Beatles: The Studio Equipment and Techniques Used to Create Their Classic Albums (Houston: Curvebender Publishing, 2006), 388–93, 396, 407.
Joseph Brennan, Usenet Guide to Beatles Recording Variations (rev. edn.), song entries.

Frequently asked

Who wrote Help!?

“Help!” is credited to John Lennon (Lennon–McCartney).

Who sings lead on Help!?

The lead vocal on “Help!” is by John Lennon.

When was Help! recorded?

“Help!” was recorded 13 April 1965 at EMI Studios, Abbey Road (Studio Two, 7.00–11.00pm); mono and stereo mixes were prepared 18 April and 18 June 1965, with a separate vocal re-recording at C.T.S. Studios in approximately late May.^1,2

How many takes did Help! require?

12 — Lewisohn’s session log documents takes 1–12 on 13 April 1965; takes 1–8 were the rhythm track, vocals were introduced from take 9, and take 12 was deemed best.¹

On this page

Story Section status: Outdated

What's distinctive

Recording

Equipment Section status: Outdated

Recording Timeline

Studio Notes

Releases

Sources

Frequently asked