HELP!

The fifth Parlophone UK LP was entitled "HELP!". This LP contained songs from the Beatles second motion picture of the same name was well as various other songs recorded during the sessions. As with the previous soundtrack for the first film "A Hard Day's Night", this LP featured the songs from the film on side one and the others on side two. The LP was released on Friday August 06 1965 in both mono (PMC 1255) and stereo (PCS 3071).

The front cover of the album was taken by Robert Freeman. It features the Beatles spelling out sophomore letters although in reality the letters spell out N-U-J-V rather than H-E-L-P. The back cover features four solitary photographs of the Beatles along with the track listing and author's credits along with information pertaining to the singer(s) of the song.

In North America, it was the seventh Capitol LP release (omitting the United Artist "A Hard Day's Night" LP and "The Beatles Story" documentary 2-LP). The release date was August 13 1965. This version is a true soundtrack to the film as it contains only the seven film songs along with five instrumentals by the Ken Thorne Orchestra as performed in the film. This version was also released in mono (MAS-2386) and stereo (SMAS-2386). A couple of interesting notes: the North American Capitol mono version of the "HELP!" LP does not contain the true mono mixes like the UK version does. It simply contained the "folded down" stereo mixes. Secondly, there is a very short intro in the "James Bond" style performed by the Ken Thorne Orchestra preceeding the title track on all North American versions of the "HELP!" LP that is not present on the UK version.The front cover featured the Beatles once again but re-positioned in order to have George, Ringo, John and Paul in that order rather than the UK George, John, Paul and Ringo. This was done in order to show Paul on the extreme right pointing to the Capitol logo on the right side of the front cover. The "HELP!" logo is also different and very large as compared to the UK version. Also, the song title are on the front cover underneath in blue. The North American version boasts a gatefold cover with various photos from the movie and the back cover features a still with the track listing, movie credits and mini album jackets at the bottom in order to promote the Beatles catalogue up to this point.

Needless to say, the album sold millions around the world and had no problem attaining number one.