In 1965 the Beatles released their second movie called Help! The album that went with it contained 7 songs that were featured in the film and 7 that were not. Of the seven that were not in the film, 2 were covers, the final two covers that the Beatles would record. This record was a major milestone for the Fab Four. Instead of focusing on pure rock and roll, or R&B, the each of the Beatles was experimenting with different genres and different ways of writing songs. For me, this album is sort of the bridge from the early Beatles to the middle Beatles (experimental studio recordings). The album contains a standard rock and roll song (You’re Going To Lose That Girl) as well as a country western song (I’ve Just Seen A Face).
They were now very comfortable in the studio and 10 or 20 takes for a song was not uncommon. This allowed them to even take parts from different takes and edit them together to form a single song. The album also contained more solo songs that in the past. For the first time, one song was sung only by one Beatle with no vocals or instruments from the others. Yesterday was just Paul with his guitar and a string quartet as backup. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away was mainly John and a guitar with backup music from the rest of the band. This would become common in the future of the Beatles music. In the early Beatles, they all sang together, and in the middle and later Beatles, you hear more and more solos.
As they matured in the studio, we hear much better stereo and mono mixes and I have picked favorites in both mono and stereo.
Help! – Stereo is the clear winner. There is much more depth to this mix.
The Night Before – The stereo is so much cleaner that if almost sounds like being in the studio.
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away – I choose the mono here. The two mixes are very close in sound, but something in the stereo just does not sit right with me.
I Need You – Stereo wins. The guitar is so much better on the stereo. It sounds like they were using a wah wah pedal and it is hard to hear that in the mono.
Another Girl – I will call this a Tie. I like the mono mix but the stereo is very clean.
You’re Going To Lose That Girl – Stereo wins. Sometimes it feels like they wanted to make the stereo mix better than the mono and this song is a good example of this. The mono just sounds flat.
Ticket To Ride – The instruments are so much better on the stereo that there is almost no contest. The vocals are cleaner as well.
Here are both Versions of You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, plus the movie version. You choose!
Enjoy!
Mono
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxl6uxev5R4]
Stereo
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5alNm0hmtE]
Movie
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNMhPQoEbJE]