Help! The Dark Side of the Forgotten Beatles Album

The true story of Help! is one of excess, lost identities, and a band caught between creative risk and commercial success.

Editing by Daniel Van Auken | Source Wikipedia

2025 marks the 60th anniversary of the Beatles’ single Ticket to Ride, a cornerstone of their pre-Rubber Soul era. Just four months later, Help!, their fifth album and the soundtrack to their second film, was released.

If we look through the haze surrounding this often-overlooked album and era, it becomes clear: Help! isn’t just a soundtrack, but the score to a real-life drama of excess, lost identity, and a band caught between creative risk and the pressure to deliver hits for a major film.

Behind the lighthearted caricatures on screen, in reality, it was one of John Lennon’s darkest hours as a Beatle.

And it began with a year no one could have predicted.

(This is one half of a two-part analysis of Help! written in collaboration with Alex Markham. See the link at the end of this article.)

Ed Sullivan to exhaustion

1964 was an intense year for the Beatles, from their debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show to their exhausting filming schedule for A Hard Day’s Night, and it didn’t stop there. Within weeks, they were on their first American tour, recording Beatles for Sale, and embarking on yet another UK tour.

At the end of 1964, having toured the globe, they entered a relentless schedule that tested their creativity and put pressure on their personal lives.

In February 1965, The Beatles were filming their second movie and recording their fifth album with hardly a break. More impressive than their pace was the new music, including what would become the most covered pop song ever. They showed no signs of burnout when recording Help!