Page Two
Masterfraction, 2000
DISC ONE
ORIGINAL MONO & STEREO MIX
ORIGINAL UK MONAURAL MIX:
1. Help! 2'22''
2. The Night Before 2'36''
3. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away 2'13''
4. I Need You 2'31''
5. Another Girl 2'09''
6. You're Going To Lose That Girl 2'22''
7. Ticket To Ride 3'09''
8. Act Naturally 2'33''
9. It's Ony Love 2'00''
10. You Like Me Too Much 2'38''
11. Tell Me What You See 2'40''
12. I've Just Seen A Face 2'08''
13. Yesterday 2'08''
14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy 2'57''
ORIGINAL UK STEREO ANALOG MIX:
15. Help! 2'21''
16. The Night Before 2'33''
17. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away 2'09''
18. I Need You 2'29''
19. Another Girl 2'07''
20. You're Going To Lose That Girl 2'18''
21. Ticket To Ride 3'10''
22. Act Naturally 2'30''
23. It's Ony Love 1'56''
24. You Like Me Too Much 2'37''
25. Tell Me What You See 2'38''
26. I've Just Seen A Face 2'05''
27. Yesterday 2'06''
28. Dizzy Miss Lizzy 2'57''
DISC TWO -ALTERNATES AND OUTTAKES
ALTERNATE VERSIONS AND MIXES:
1. Help! (Capitol Stereo Version) 2'37''
2. Ticket To Ride (Capitol Stereo Version) 3'07''
3. Yes It Is (Capitol Stereo Version) 2'43''
4. Help! (Original Film Version) 2'21''
5. Ticket To Ride (Original Film Version) 3'11''
OUTTAKE SESSIONS:
6. Ticket To Ride (Take 2 No Fade Out) 3'14''
7. Yes It Is (Take 1) 2'57''
8. Yes It Is (Take 2) 1'23''
9. Yes It Is (Take 3) 0'14''
10. Yes It Is (Take 4) 0'20''
11. Yes It Is (Take 5) 0'30''
12. Yes It Is (Take 6) 0'14''
13. Yes It Is (Take 7) 1'13''
14. Yes It Is (Take 8) 0'20''
15. Yes It Is (Take 9) 2'43''
16. Yes It Is (Take 10) 0'16''
17. Yes It Is (Take 14) 2'51''
18. Help! (Take 1) 0'25''
19. Help! (Take 2) 0'38''
20. Help! (Take 3) 1'00''
21. Help! (Take 4) 1'19''
22. Help! (Take 5) 2'49''
23. Help! (Take 6) 0'32''
24. Help! (Take 7) 2'31''
25. Help! (Take 8) 0'27''
26. Help! (Take 9) 2'23''
27. Help! (Take 10) 2'26''
28. Help! (Take 11) 0'19''
29. Help! (Take 12) 2'27''
30. Help! (Take 13?) 2'20''
ACETATES:
31. Help! 2'24''
32. The Night Before 2'39''
33. I Need You 2'40''
34. Ticket To Ride 3'13''
35. You Like Me Too Much 2'46''
36. Yes It Is 2'55''
37. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away 2'18''
38. Another Girl 2'12''
39. You're Going To Lose That Girl 2'27''
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Now..."Help!" is one of those Beatle LPs you dont hear about often. However, it is a fine album in and of itself, and a neccessary platform to "Rubber Soul". This was pretty much the end of throwaways and simple love songs, for better or worse. No one song exemplifies that like "Help!". But hey, who cares, youre here for the boots, so onward we go..
The mono mix of the LP is, as usual, more punchy than the stereo. And small differences abound here, the biggest being the title track itself, with the well known differences between the 45 version (mono) and the 'LP version' (stereo).No light is shed on what the deal is with the seperate vocals on the session takes either, so..
Again, as I say, the other differences are minor, like a brief burst of a count in here and there, chatter at the end of "Another Girl", very trivial stuff. But I'd lay odds you keep returing to this disc for the warm sound of the mono LP mix.
The second disc opens with whats always called 'the James Bond theme'. Damn, haven't they HEARD the Bond theme? Its nothing like that!! Sorry, pet peeve of mine. I dont think this version has ever made it onto 'official' CD.Then theres Capitols 'bass boosted' Ticket To Ride, as well as their stereo mix of Yes It Is. You know this Capitol stuff sounded great when I was 15..what happened? We also get the original film print version of Help, with a totally different intro than released on ANY record. That muddies up the waters of 'wheres the different vocal come from...but if you want a possible answer...
Take 2 of Ticket To Ride is of course basically the released version, it simply shuts down after so many 'my baby dont care's.
Take after take ensues of Yes It Is then. You'll hear Johns phrasing change shape sevreal times before he hits on the final version. Frankly, I prefer how it was on earlier takes. Theres also the "Anthology" take, but complete. Well.. not SO complete, since at about the time the Anthology version fades totally into the released take, John breaks a string. This prompts John to announce, somewhat incredulously, "String broke!".
"Help!" is fun to listen to anyway, and the long road to the final version is great to hear. Though some reports say George did not come up with that great shimmering, descending guitar part until the last takes, this is not true, as its there from the start, but put away about midway thru so George can concentrate on those guitar 'stabs' thru the track. Whats more interesting about these unmixed takes is how prominent Johns acoustic guitar is, and how subdued Ringo plays until the last few takes. Finally they hit on the best backing track and begin the additions and mixdowns. For some reason, theres a 'take 13' on here. What is this, since there was no take 13? (As far as we know anyway).Again, this tells students of the song very little. Where did the alternate intro heard on original film prints come from? And the '45' vocal? Its hard to say,but if anyone has any ideas...
As with "A Hard Days Night", EMI supplied film makers with 'best mono mix' acetates to be used during movie production. No surprises here, exept for a totally different guitar solo during "Youre Gonna Lose That Girl", as well as a count in that is NOT whats heard in the movie! The sound quality is not great on these, as old acetates don't usually hold up well, so scratches galore!
SUMMARY/RATING: 4 STARS- The "Help!" album is wonderful anyway, I mean, look at that versatile track listing! But its worth it, for one, to have the mono LP mix and stereo (NOT the remixed CD version) on one disc. As far as the sessions and Capitol mixes go...I know Silent Sea has a slightly more complete collection, "Songs For Eleanor", but its not THAT much more complete. I'd have had the B-side "I'm Down" on here for one. But look, its fun to listen to, and one you'll return to again and again. Give Masterfraction extra points for being one of the very few bootleggers not to include "Anthology" mixes on their boot!
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The Studio Sessions, Hit Factory, New York, August-September 1980
I�m Stepping Out (early take)
I�m Losing You (early Cheap Trick take)
Cleanup time (early take)
Cleanup time
Cleanup time (mix with unused effects)
(Just Like)Starting over (studio talk)
(Just Like)Starting over (early take/mix)
Beautiful boy (early take)
Dear Yoko
Watching the wheels (different vocals)
I Am the walrus (goofing)
Woman
Woman (rough mix)
Dream lover/Stay (Unreleased Cover)
(Forgive Me)My little flower princess (rough mix)
Nobody told me (early take)
I don�t wanna face it
Borrowed time
Woman (with more backing voices, unused)
I�m Stepping out
First-the disc I have only features the first part, the second being demos, so obviously we'll only look at the studio recordings. Most of this CD was taken from Vigotones "Lennon Journals" set, and it is all in pretty good sound quality. But all tracks seem a little sped up, and some are probably monitor mixes. No matter, its great and a little sad to hear John in the last weeks of his life, having fun and laying down the law in the Record Plant! John has a good time with the musicians, mostly New York guys like Hugh McCracken, Andy Newmar and Bowies Earl Slick, but he is also in full command mode. Any screwing around was hardly tolerated when the red light went on. Not a big change from the Beatle days! Most of these tracks are early takes of the songs, with slightly different arrangements. One I found most interesting was "Cleanup Time". What has to be around the final take is still missing a section (the instrumental part before ..'The queen is in..'). It also features the African childrens sound during each chorus, instead of at the end. And the only time we hear 'show those mothers how to do it' ( as seen on the Double Fantasy liner notes) is only heard mumbled during one of the first takes. "Starting Over" remains mostly the same, but we hear John trying to decide how best to go from the intro into 'its been so long..'. The band throws around ideas, but the final version seems to be an edit of the last take heard ( ending before the middle 8) here and another one not on here.
Dont get your hopes up for "I Am The Walrus". Its John saying "I am you and you are you and we are we.." with a comment afterwards! And its Johns comments you'll enjoy as much as the music. Before beginning "Starting Over", he announces "this ones for Elvis,Eddie and Gene...and Buddy!". Then theres the unfortunate comment made by Yoko during recording of "Woman". John is talking about how he feels like hes back singing "Girl" again, and should be doing that sharp intake of breath as on that song. After singing a bit, Yoko announces that John sounds "like a Beatle". "An EX BEATLE, you f***ing c***! Actually, I'm supposed to be Smokey Robinson at he moment my dear." WOW! He also talks a bit about the early Beatles, when they first discovered double tracking, and how much he loved it. His funny recital of "Dear Yoko"s lyrics is also interesting, as in a Peter Sellers type voice he says "I miss you when youre not here, oh my g** damn dear, dear yoko".
Theres also the great bonus of a version of one of Johns favorite oldies, Bobby Darins "Dream Lover". It probably could have been used, except that John only seemed to remember SOME lyrics, and even then not always the right ones! Its still awful fun, bookended with Maurice Williams "Stay".
All in all, this was an interesting listen, especially doing as I did, hearing it after "Plastic Ono Band Demos"! Lennon 1970 was obviously conflicted and not too happy. Lennon 1980 was the opposite, which makes this sad, but such great music cannot leave you with a sad feeling at all.
SUMMARY/RATING: ****1/2 (4 1/2 Stars)- An essential addition to your Lennon collection. A great listen no matter what, and how could a master at work not make an interesting CD? Get this one!
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Okay you usual and unusual bootleggers, come back to the five and dime here! See you next week, on Beatles Bootleg Reviews, brought to you by Plenty of Jam Jars Baby.
