The Beatles UK singles: A sides v B Sides

So have we officially moved on from Yesterday/Act Naturally and are now discussing Help!/I'm Down? I don't want to jump the gun just yet. Arnie

 

Not yet.

 

Or Bad Boy.

 

Help! b/w I'm Down





Help! is a favourite of Johns & was written during his "fat Elvis" period.
The a-side is the more commercial but I prefer the rocking b-side.

 

Love both of these. Have to go with Help -- I like the introspective John. Being US-born, I associate the song with the James Bond theme tacked on to the US version, but I've gotten used to having it intro-less!

I'm Down rocks -- it's one of the last Beatles songs I became familiar with; I never heard it until the Rock + Roll Music collection came out.

 

At the time both John and George commented that they'd have liked to put I'm Down on the A side. I've always thought of I'm Down as being Paul taking the idea of John's 'Help!' (" help me if you can I'm feeling down") and making up his own song (not unusual for them- Penny Lane would be inspired by In My Life and Strawberry fields, Girl from Michelle, etc. Perhaps in earlier days they'd have put their ideas together and co-written a song but by now were writing much more independently). I like Help! very much, the lyrics are another definite step forward and of course John would always regard it as one of his first 'honest' songs. George's guitar line is a real beaut too, and Paul's backing vocal idea is another brilliant touch, though not quite the co-write he claims.

 

Everything you ever wanted to know about the song "Help!":

http://www.beatlesebooks.com/help!

This article includes info on exactly how and why the mono version has a completely different vocal (recorded May 24th, 1965, not at EMI Studios, but at CTS Studios in London) from the stereo version.

Arnie

 

Not on the single.

 

A nice Parlophone red label 78RPM 'Help!' Sounds GREAT.
Yes, a red label 78!

 

To experience The Beatles second hand (born in 71) was absolutely thrilling. I can only imagine the excitement felt to hear these songs when they were originally released.

Some else mentioned "Yesterday and Today" concerning "Act Naturally". This was one of the first Beatles albums I heard. As "Act Naturally" came on to close side 1 I actually believed that it was a mistake and some sort of bad pressing. I was after all 8 years old.

 

Help! - one of m favorite Beatles songs....and I have to keep choosing the John sides.

I'm Down is great too.

 

Your "John" streak is going to have a hard time when we get to the Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby 45 ... Arnie

 

"Sky of blue! Sea of green! In our yellow! Submarine! Ya haa!" But Lady Madonna/The Inner Light... hoo boy!

 

Gotta pick "Help!" by a hair over "I'm Down" - both great, but the "Help!" backing vocals push it over the top!

 

Both of these songs are a regressive step back stylistically from Ticket To Ride and Yesterday, but they are both fantastic rock and roll songs, so it doesn't matter.

Help! was another lyrical break through, as has been mentioned, and a further example of joyous music being matched with quite depressing lyrics, after I'm A Loser (I have always seen it as an even more successful version of Loser). I definitely think that this had to be the A-Side, it is incredibly catchy, it makes you sing a long and it was the title of the film. This song really hits you right at the beginning and it never lets go. The backing vocals are incredible, George's guitar part is fantastic, and Paul's bass line is very strong. This is an absolute classic, I cannot name many other songs that burst with this amount of enthusiasm.

I'm Down is a great Little Richard style rocker, I really feel that Paul achieved what he set out to do with this song. I really feel that this should have been on the album as well as the single. As other's have mentioned, it does sound like Paul's answer to Help! (and I'm A Loser), seeing as it is also an upbeat song with downbeat lyrics. I love Paul's vocal on this, very reminiscent of Long Tall Sally. I also really like George and John's backing vocals, you can tell how much they liked the song from these, especially from the live performance at Shea Stadium. John's organ part is also a highlight for me, unique amongst his instrumental contributions with the Beatles as far as I can remember.

So although I enjoy both songs greatly, Help! had to be the A-Side, although I'm Down could have been an A-Side on another single.

 

Help! Definitely, was never that fond of I'm Down, although I agree it would have been a better album closer than Dizzy Miss Lizzy.
Help! (the album) was the first original album of the Beatles, that I bought, having 1962-1966 before this. I bought it in 1981 and it is still a favourite album to this day. Ticket to ride, was such a game changer, there was a huge shift in 1965, even though the red/blue album would lead us to believe the change happened at the turn of 66 to 67, but in retrospect, it was 1965 where they went from fluff to substance, although there are hints in 64 of what was to come.

 

I'll pick Help, but I'm Down is also a fave of mine.

 

Both "Help!" & "I'm Down" are great tracks...what blows my mind about "I'm Down" is that Paul and the boys cut this track the same day he cut "Yesterday"...talk about a contrast in styles and a demonstration of their versatility!!!

 

Help is a winner in every sense. I've always felt the weak link on I'm Down are the inane lyrics.

"You tell lies saying I can't see, you can't cry cause you're laughing at me"
"Man buys ring woman throws it away, same old thing happen every day"

Total tripe. Hate it. The music is good though.

 

ha ha..that was my first reaction when I read the lyrics. My dad bought a cassette of the Rock & Roll compilation when I was a kid and "I'm Down" was a favourite...a powerful performance; for years I thought John Lennon sang on it because I read somewhere that he was the "Rock 'n' roll" heart of The Beatles while Paul did only the melodic stuff. Blame it on the old italian magazines. ..and yes the lyrics are so and so..

btw we all experienced this:

we're all alone and there nobody else- you still moan: "keep your hands to yourself"

 

I feel that they work though, in the same way as the Long Tall Sally lyrics.

 

I agree. Remember, this is a comic song, the vox (check Paul's delivery of the 'you still moan' etc.), the frenetic performance, and the lyric. And there are some inspired lines in there. That 'man buys ring--woman throws it away'--that strikes me as pure Lennon jokery. It's a 'newspaper headline' riff, like Dog Bites Man...and like that hoary old classic it is an Old Story. Look at them perform it live--it is obviously a song for laughs, meant to be humorous.

 

I always thought the lyrics of "I'm Down" were absolutely brilliant - in a Chuck Berry/Little Richard sense.
The "Man buys ring" line is a short story in itself.
And I love the way McCartney can totally change his voice in so many weird ways, like "She's a Woman", "Oh Darling" and much later: "Old Siam Sir" and "So Bad".