Comments on: The Beatles Mono Reviews 6: Help!

By: Top albums of 2011, #7: Help! (1965), The Beatles | The Reinvigorated Programmer

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:39:27 +0000

[...] the most immediately likeable of all the Beatles’ work — which is saying a lot. As Andrew Hickey has rightly noted: If any other band in the world had made an album containing Help!, You’ve Got To Hide Your Love [...]

By: Andrew Hickey

Andrew Hickey — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 07:12:31 +0000

I’ve only heard two stereo versions of the track myself, but the Capitol versions of the Beatles’ records were well-known for having a lot of extra reverb slapped on them, as that was considered to be what the American audience wanted. So what I presume you’ve heard are 1) The US mix from Beatles VI, 2) The original stereo mix from Help! and 3) the 80s CD mix. As to what’s definitive, the Beatles and George Martin consider the 80s remix to be the definitive stereo mix for both Help! and Rubber Soul, though you could make an argument for the original stereo mix. The only one that definitely *isn’t* the ‘proper’ mix is the Capitol one, which will have been done without the involvement of Martin or the band.

By: Tom Wotus

Tom Wotus — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 01:46:50 +0000

Over the years, I have heard THREE “Stereo” versions of DIZZY MISS LIZZIE. On one, John’s vocal has a trace of reverb–two: his vocal is completely “Dry”–three: the CD version from the late eighties’…with a lot of “slap-back” echo. Is there a definitive or Proper stere mix?? Personally, I prefer the first-mentioned,with only slight reverb.

By: Tom Wotus

Tom Wotus — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 01:05:19 +0000

I just wish they would’ve mixed the “single” version of HELP for STEREO. The absolute WORST track on the album has to be TELL ME WHAT YOU SEE ! The then-unreleased IF YOU’VE GOT TROUBLES would have made a better choice’ but there was already a “Ringo” vocal.

By: same anonymous guy

same anonymous guy — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 19:18:44 +0000

Cool, thanks for the info. The mono set seems more enticing. Also, sometimes their wide panning in stereo can be a bit nauseating under headphones!

By: Andrew Hickey

Andrew Hickey — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:30:20 +0000

I used both speakers and headphones – I listened to these multiple times – but I was using a mixture of very low-end stereo systems and my computer to play them (can’t afford a really good stereo system). Even on those though, the differences stood out a mile.

By: anonymous internet user

anonymous internet user — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:12:35 +0000

Just wondering – when you compared songs, were you using speakers, headphones, or did you try both?

By: robin28

robin28 — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:06:23 +0000

after lots of searching to find a picture of the mono cover of help for my ipod, i finally found one.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a326/talanca/Blog/Helpmono.jpg

By: TAD

TAD — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:52:40 +0000

I think you’ve said more than enough about Terry Melcher (he’s one of the least talented people of the rock era).

By: Aaron Grunfeld

Aaron Grunfeld — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:59:11 +0000

Gotcha. I had it in my head that the Byrds’ first singles came out in late ’64. I hope you’ll explore the Byrds’ influence (& others) in the next few posts. Your excellent series has reached the stage when the Beatles are reacting partly to their own influence on other bands & artists. Keep up the great work!