Anatomy of an Album: "Help!" Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

The flag semaphore arm positions of The Beatles on the "Help!" album cover, produce the letters N U J V.

The original aim was to have the Fab Four spell out the word HELP on the album cover in semaphore but that formation did not work out. They settled for the arrangement we all know and love but meaning nothing. Unless, that is, you have cracked a secret code and found the real message.

Answer: small

"You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" was written and sung by John Lennon but credited to Lennon/McCartney.

The story goes that while singing John made a mistake and sang"two-foot small" instead of "two-foot tall" but decided to leave it in. It was the second Beatles song to feature a non-Beatle musician, ("Love Me Do" was the first). Flautist/harpist/saxophonist/producer/conductor/composer John Scott plays the tenor and alto flutes. He became artistic director of the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra in 2006.

Answer: I Need You

Track four on The Beatles "Help!" album was "I Need You" written and sung by George Harrison.

Although George Harrison sang "I'm Happy Just To Dance With You" on the "A Hard Day's Night" album and "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" on the "Beatles For Sale" album, "I Need You" was the first George Harrison composition on a Beatles album since "Don't Bother Me" on the "with the beatles" album in 1963.

Answer: Another Girl

Track five on The Beatles album "Help!" is "Another Girl" written by Paul McCartney but credited to Lennon/McCartney.

In The Beatles movie "Help!" The Beatles are seen performing this song while standing on the coral reef on Balmoral island in the Bahamas. Nice work if you can get it. George Harrison is seen miming to the lead guitar which Paul McCartney actually played on the record.

Answer: Ticket To Ride

"Ticket To Ride" reached number one on the UK chart on the 22 Apr 65 and was number one for three weeks. It was number one for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 the same year.

As usual it is credited to Lennon/McCartney but was primarily written by John Lennon. According to Paul McCartney it was about having a rail ticket to Ryde, a town on the Isle of Wight but according to John Lennon a ticket to ride was a euphemism for a card carried by ladies of the night in Hamburg in the early '60s proving that they had a clean bill of health. An orchestral version of the song can be heard on the fade out of "Eclipse", the last track on the album "Dark Side Of The Moon" by Pink Floyd. I don't know if Pink Floyd meant it to be there or whether the tape they used to record "Dark Side Of The Moon" had not been erased completely (The Beatles and Pink Floyd both recorded at Abbey Road studios) but it is definitely there. I have the SACD version of the album but a standard CD player and I can hear it with the volume turned right up. I know all of you that own the album are now going to try it, lol.

Answer: It's Only Love

Track nine on the "Help!" album "It's Only Love" is credited to Lennon/McCartney but was written mostly by John Lennon.

The working title of the song was "That's A Nice Hat". Years later John Lennon thought it was a lousy song and Paul McCartney thought it was a bland filler. What do they know, I like it anyway.

Bryan Ferry covered the song on his "Let's Stick Together" album in 1976.
Gary U. S. Bonds covered the song on his "Dedication" album in 1981.
Peter Cetera covered the song on his "Another Perfect World" album in 2001
Dwight Twilley covered the song on his "The Beatles" album in 2009.
Gary U. S. Bonds' version is particularly good.

Answer: The Night Before

In the movie "Help!" The Beatles play "The Night Before" (written by Lennon McCartney) during a scene on Salisbury Plain where the British army train.

Although "She's A Woman" is not on the "Help!" album it can be heard in the movie "Help!" during the Salisbury Plain underground scene in which Cult leader Clang is seen setting explosives. "Ticket To Ride" was played during the snow and skiing scenes in Obertauern in Austria in the movie "Help!". "Another Girl" was mimed to during the scene on the coral reef on Balmoral Island in the Bahamas.

Answer: You Like Me Too Much

Track ten on The Beatles "Help!" album is "You Like Me Too Much" written and sung by George Harrison.

George Harrison doesn't get one of his own songs on a Beatles album since "with the beatles" and then gets two songs on the same album. There is a lot of dubbing on this track, Paul McCartney's bass and George Harrison's vocals. The intro has Paul McCartney and George Harrison playing different piano parts on the opposite ends of the same Steinway grand piano and John Lennon playing an electric Hohner pianet.

Answer: Yesterday

"Yesterday" tucked away on side two of The Beatles "Help!" album has been the most covered Beatles song by other artists.

It was released as a single in the US and reached number one for four weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965. It was not released as a single in the UK until 1976 and reached number eight on the UK chart. Although credited to Lennon/McCartney is was a solo effort by Paul McCartney and recorded with a string quartet apparently without any of the other Beatles being involved in the final recording. Ballad singer Matt Monro had a number eight hit with the song on the UK chart in 1965. It has been recorded over 2,200 times and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1997. It was voted the Best Song of the 20th Century in a UK BBC Radio 2 poll of music experts and listeners in 1999. It was voted the Number One pop song of all time by MTV and the Rolling Stone magazine in 2000.

Answer: Dizzy Miss Lizzy

Track fourteen on The Beatles "Help!" album was "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" by Larry Williams. It was not featured in the movie "Help!".

The original Larry Williams version of "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" was a number 69 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958. It did not chart in the UK. The Beatles recorded the B-side "Slow Down" for their 1964 E. P. (extended play single) "Long Tall Sally". "Bad Boy" was was not a hit for Larry Williams and got its first UK release by The Beatles on the album "A Collection of Beatles Oldies" which reached number seven on the UK album chart in 1966. "Bony Moronie" was a number 14 hit for Larry Williams on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957. It was his biggest UK hit and reached number 11 on the UK chart in 1958.