Put Your Little Hand In Mine

The final song on the second sountrack Parlophone UK LP/CD "Help!" is a cover tune entitled "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" that was originally written and performed by the great Larry Williams. The recording of this song and another Larry Williams song "Bad Boy" were recorded especially for the North American market upon request by Capitol Records. The Beatles being obligatory to the fact decided to pull out these two songs since they did not have any original material ready to record at this time. Both songs ended up on the Capitol version of "Beatles VI" and "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" ended up on the UK "Help!" LP as well. "Bad Boy" was eventually released in the UK but this will be discussed in a later post. Now...back to "Dizzy Miss Lizzy".

The song was recorded on Monday May 10 1965 at EMI Studio Two. Two takes were completed and the song was left as is and marked "best". The Beatles went away and worked on other things until returning to the song in order to improve upon it. The Beatles than performed another five takes until arriving to take 7 which was now the best take and the one that was released commercially. Overdubs for the song included the vocal by John, an additional guitar overdub by George, cowbell by Ringo and an electric piano by Paul.

Once the overdubs for "Dizzy Miss Lizzy"were completed, both mono and stereo mixes were completed and a copy of the tape sent to Capitol Records in Hollywood, California, US. All done on the same day and all completed at EMI studio two.

"Dizzy Miss Lizzy" appeared on the Parlophone UK LP/CD "Help!" as well as the North American Capitol LP/CD "Beatles VI". It is also featured on the EMI/Capitol 2-LP compilation "Rock And Roll Music".

The Beatles performed "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" live during thier 1965 North American tour as well as on their tour of the UK in late 1965. A version of this can be heard on the EMI/Capitol LP "The Beatles At the Hollywood Bowl".

The Beatles performed "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" for BBC radio on their final show "The Beatles Invite You to Take a Ticket To Ride". Once broadcast in June 1965, the Beatles never recorded another live show for the BBC during their career. The BBC version of the performance can be heard on the Apple 2-LP/3-CD "Live at the BBC".

I'm Not Half The Man I Used To Be

The sixth song on the second side of the Parlophone UK LP "Help!" (or the thirteenth song from the Parlophone UK CD "Help!") is the biggie. The song was written by the original composers Lennon/McCartney and is very much mainly written by Paul. McCartney had woken up one morning out of a dream where there had been this melody in his head. A great, original melody that he played around with and chorded on the piano in the music room of the Asher house (where he was rooming at the time - his girlfriend in the mid-sixties was Jane Asher). Paul was sure that he had probably picked up the tune subconsciously somewhere during his travels and premiered the tune for anyone that happened to be around including George Martin, Dick James, the other Beatles, Alma Cogen, etc. Once he was sure that there were no other melodies similar to anything heard by everyone else's ears, he began the task of writing lyrics for the song. At this point in time, the song was tentatively entitled "Scramble Eggs" (oh my baby, how I love your legs).

It's been said that the song had been around ever since the trip to Paris in January 1964 during thier performance residency at the Olympia Theatre in France. Paul had supposedly played it on the piano that was installed in their hotel suite at the George V. It would take almost another year and a half for the Beatles to record it. McCartney eventually came up with the proper lyrics for the song while on holiday - "Yesterday". This tune is very unique as it was the first song at the time to feature only one Beatle - and it was the first song to have a group of classical musicians play on the song in the form of a string quartet. McCartney at first balked at the idea of having "stings" on the tune - as suggested by George Martin - but relented once he was assured that there would not be any syrupy vibrato style playing.

"Yesterday" was recorded on Monday June 14 1965 ( amazingly, on the same day as "I'm Down" and "I've Just Seen A Face") at EMI studio two. At this session, only Paul and his Epiphone Texan six string acoustic were recorded. The track took two takes. On the first take, you can hear Paul chatting with George Harrison about how although the song was played in the G chord fingering, the actual song would be heard in the key of F due to the fact that the acoustic guitar would be tuned down one tone. Take one also features a slight error where two lines are out of lyrical order on the second verse. Take one of this recording can be heard on the Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 2". The second take is the commercial version and is vocally perfect. The string quartet was added three days later on June 17 1965. Also on June 17 1965, another attempt at the vocal by Paul was recorded and it can be heard on the commercial version near the end of the first bridge, giving it a double tracking effect as you can hear leakage (at this point, the Beatles did not wear headphones in the studio).

"Yesterday" was mixed for mono on June 17 1965 on the same day as the string quartet and vocal overdub were added. All this took place in studio two. "Yesterday" was mixed for stereo the next day on June 18 1965 from the control room of studio two. It's incredible that the Beatles certainly "buried" the track on the Parlophone UK LP/CD placing it on side two as the second last song. "Yesterday" was featured on the UK EP of the same name (Parlophone GEP 8948) release on March 04 1966. In North America, it was released as a single on Capitol 5498 on September 13 1965. It was released as a single in the UK on March 08 1976 as Parlophone R 6013.

"Yesterday" first appeared on the Parlophone UK LP/CD "Help!" and is also available on the Parlophone UK LP "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" and the North American Capitol LP "Yesterday...And Today". The song is also featured on the Apple 2-LP/2-CD "The Beatles 1962-1966" as well as on the EMI/Capitol 2-LP compilation "Love Songs". It can also be found on the EMI/Parlophone UK/Canadian LP "The Beatles Ballads" as well as the UK and North American version of the EMI/Parlophone "The Beatles 20 Greatest Hits" and the Apple 2-LP/CD "1".

"Yesterday" was perfomed live on the UK TV show "Blackpool Night Out" on August 01 1965 and the "Ed Sullivan show" in the United States on August 14 1965 (but aird almost a month later on September 12 1965). The song was also featured live on the Beatles 1966 Far Eastern and North American tour.

"Yesterday" is the most covered Beatles song of all time.

I Have Never Known The Likes Of This

The fifth song on side two of the UK LP "Help!" (or number twelve on the CD of the same) is a very nice and quick folk-rock original composition by Lennon/McCartney by the name of "I've Just Seen A Face". This was mainly written by Paul. A very acoustic and quick step type number and I can imagine all of those bluegrass bands salivating as they hear this gem. The song starts off in three-four time with the acoustic guitar playing triplets until about 10 bars into it when it becomes a two-four time and a very quick singing lyric.

The song was recorded on Monday June 14 1965 at EMI studio number two. The tune took six takes to perfect main consisting of the acoustic guitars ( six and twelve string) as well as a perfected McCartney vocal and maracas. The overdubs consisted of another McCartney vocal harmonizing with himself on the choruses and a very nice, quick George Harrison acoustic solo. This is one of those songs where there is real no middle eight per se.

"I've Just Seen A Face" was mixed for both mono and stereo on the same day. Friday June 18 1965 from the control room of studio two.

"I've Just Seen A Face" is available on the Parlophone UK LP/CD "Help!" and on the North American Capitol LP/CD "Rubber Soul".

Paul McCartney performed this tune during the American tour of 1976 with his band "Wings" and it can be heard on the EMI/Capitol 3-LP/2-CD "Wings Over America". It had a totally different arrangement when played on that particular tour.

I'll Make Bright Your Day

The next song on the second soundtrack Parlophone UK LP was an original Lennon/McCartney latin tinged type of tune entitled "Tell Me What You See". This one seems to be a collaboration of both writers but it leans towards Paul. Both John and Paul sing the song as a duet. The tune was considered for the actual film but it was relegated to the second side of the non-soundtrack songs in the end. It's a nice tune and I especially like the keyboard bit after the chorus. This electric piano was played by Paul.

"Tell Me What You See" was recorded on Thursday February 18 1965 at EMI studio two. Four takes were required to complete the basic track. Overdubs include the electric piano, a second vocal by Paul, tambourine and claves. The song was mixed for mono two days later on February 20 1965 from the control room of studio two. Finally, the song was mixed for stereo three days after the mono mix on February 23 1965 also from the control room of studio two. A pretty straightforward track.

"Tell Me What You See" is available on the Parlophone UK LP/CD "Help!" as well as the North American Capitol LP/CD "Beatles VI". It can also be found on the EMI/Capitol 2-LP compilation set "Love Songs".

"Tell Me What You See" was never performed live.

I Really Do

The next tune on the Parlophone UK soundtrack LP for the second film "Help!" is the second George Harrison original composition entitled "You Like Me Too Much". The first George Harrison composition is contained on the first side of the record and was featured in the film - it was entitled "I Need You". This has been discussed in a previous post. This second original composition was contained on the second side of the record.

"You Like Me Too Much" was recorded on Wednesday February 17 1965 at EMI studio two. The basic tracks took eight takes to perfect and there was an addition of electric piano played by John Lennon and the Steinway grand acoustic piano played by both George Martin for the introduction of the song and the same piano played by Paul McCartney for the solo and the end of the song. George Harrison also double tracked his vocals for the song with occasional back up vocals by Paul.

"You Like Me Too Much" was mixed for mono from the control room of studio two the next day Thursday February 18 1965. There was also a production acetate made of the song which means that it may have originally been slated for use in the film, but was utilized in the end. The song was mixed for stereo on February 23 1965. Another stereo mix was created in the 1980s for the release of the "Help!" CD in 1987 but I really cannot hear much of a difference from the vinyl stereo mix.

"You Like Me Too Much" is available on the Parlophone UK LP/CD "Help!" as well as the North American Capitol LP/CD "Beatles VI".

The song was never performed live.

Why Am I So Shy When I'm Beside You?

The second song on the second side of the second soundtrack LP to the second movie. The next song on the Parlophone UK version of the "Help!" soundtrack is an original Lennon/McCartney composition mainly written by John entitled "It's Only Love". It's a nice little melody and vocals are well done on this tune.

The recording of "It's Only Love" were commenced at EMI Studio two on Tuesday June 15 1965. There were six takes of the basic track recorded. Two of them were breakdowns and four were complete. An early version of the song can be heard on the Apple 3-LP/2-CD "Anthology 2". This version consists of take three edited in front of the complete take two. Three days later, on June 18 1965, "It's Only Love" was mixed for both mono and stereo. This all took place from the control room of studio two. It must be noted that the song was re-mixed for the 1987 CD release (and the remasters) in stereo although I don't really find very much difference after comparing them both.

"It's Only Love" is available on the Parlophone UK LP/CD "Help!" as well as the North American Capitol version of the LP/CD "Rubber Soul". The song is also featured on the EMI/Capitol 2-LP compilation "Love Songs".

This tune was never performed live.

We'll Make A Film About A Man That's Sad and Lonely

The last song on side one of the Parlophone UK version of the second film soundtrack "Help!" was a previously released single entitled "Ticket To Ride". This song has been discussed in a previous post.

The next side of the Parlophone UK LP (or the eighth song on the CD) begins the side which was not from the soundtrack of the film but with the other songs from the early 1965 recording sessions. First up is a cover song that was written by Johnny Russel /Voni Morrison and performed by Buck Owens and his Buckaroos. The song is entitled "Act Naturally". This was chosen for Ringo Starr to sing since the original composition by Lennon/McCartney entitled "If You've Got Trouble" originally chosen for Ringo had not panned out so this cover version was officially released instead. "If You've Got Trouble" will be discussed in a later post.

So...back to the task at hand with "Act Naturally". As previously mentioned, this was a song vehicle for Ringo to sing on the "Help!" LP (UK version) and it was recorded near the end of the sessions on Thursday June 18 1965 at EMI studio two. It took 13 takes of the basic track before vocals by Ringo (with backing vocals by Paul) to be overdubbed.

"Act Naturally" was mixed for both mono and stereo on the same day: that being June 18 1965 (which , incidentally, was Paul's 23rd birthday) from the control room of EMI studio two.

"Act Naturally" appears on the Parlophone UK LP/CD "Help!" as well as the North American Capitol LP "Yesterday...And Today".

The song was performed live at some cities during the 1965 North American Tour, it was featured on the 1965 "Ed Sullivan Show" in the United States and was also performed on the 1965 UK television show "Cilla".