Comments on: With A Little Help From My Friends

By: Mr. Kite

Mr. Kite — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 22:46:44 +0000

That’s definitely George singing back up vocals…”Are you sad because you’re own?” Can hear George’s voice!

By: Ron Rudzitis

Ron Rudzitis — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 20:48:00 +0000

Paul added bass as the last takes on each song on SP acording to Jeff Emerick’s book, the first in and out at each session. He was very concious of Carol Kay ( Paul thought it was Brian Wilson) raising the bass playing bar on Pet Sounds.

By: Yeah Boy

Yeah Boy — Wed, 27 Dec 2017 08:17:46 +0000

I hear two Hammond Organs on the track. One with the Rock Band Vocal Track at the beginning played by George Martin and one quietly heard on the Rock Band Piano Track played by John Lennon

By: Teddy Salad

Teddy Salad — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 20:43:50 +0000

Seems I recall reading that somewhere. Oh, yeah…on this very page in Paul’s recollection to Barry Miles. ” It could have been him playing with his willie under the covers…”

By: Teddy Salad

Teddy Salad — Tue, 03 Oct 2017 20:34:21 +0000

More evidence being that even one down vote could eliminate a song from an album.

By: Sgt. Pepper 67

Sgt. Pepper 67 — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 21:10:09 +0000

There two Hammond Organs at the beginning of the song played by John and George Martin listen to the rock band tracks. 🙂

By: gnukev

gnukev — Wed, 10 May 2017 05:06:30 +0000

So, I’m seeing a few comments about the line, “What do you see when you turn out the light? I can’t tell you but I know it’s mine.” You all get that’s a cloaked masturbatory reference, right?

By: gnukev

gnukev — Wed, 10 May 2017 05:00:47 +0000

Yes! Paul’s bass on this one and on “Getting Better” is so fluid and melodic. I always remember hearing it for the first time when I was a kid in ’67 and thinking I’d never heard a bass line so separate and independent of the rest of the music while at the same time functioning perfectly as how a bass is supposed to. It wasn’t like a walking jazz bass or anything I’d ever heard in rock or pop. Something entirely new and different and very creative.

By: gnukev

gnukev — Wed, 10 May 2017 04:48:32 +0000

Funny how the Beatles sing the “Ode to Joy” in that scene in the movie “Help!” where Ringo is trapped in the basement with the tiger that had escaped from the London Zoo and John says to Ringo in a funny accent, “Don’t worry, all you have to do is whistle famous Beethoven’s famous 9th Symphony.” But Ringo is too scared to whistle, so they all start singing the Ode in German and the world joins in.

By: Dan L

Dan L — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 16:52:31 +0000

I love how the vocal arrangement shifts with each verse: all Ringo on the 1st… John & Paul responding to Ringo in the 2nd… Ringo answering John & Paul in the 3rd. Wonderful vocal community.

By: Young Fred

Young Fred — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 03:55:03 +0000

Having heard Hunter Davies’ recollection on this song creative process on the radio around the early 1990s, brings back lots of reflections on how this songwriting team eventually slipped away. Great bass from Paul as mentioned in previous years comments. Harmonies give the song an extraordinary atmosphere. George Martin’s production took out an excellent result from the band.

By: Daan

Daan — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 18:40:39 +0000

It’s probably John who listened to the song many years later and thinking it’s not that good (in his opinion) and not willing to have got to do something with it by just say it’s Paul’s song

By: oldFartBassPlayer Walt

oldFartBassPlayer Walt — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 16:43:50 +0000

gosh, what a memory- about to graduate high school, driving my father’s car home,
and I hear ‘Little Help’ on the radio for the first time- It was like the most perfect
combination of melody/harmony, lyrics and arrangement, (not to mention bass) that
I had ever heard in my life. Thanks, lads.

By: Graham Paterson

Graham Paterson — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 09:46:19 +0000

Lovely song. Great collaboration by John and Paul. It is one of the best songs on “Sgt Pepper”.It’s construction is so well documented in Hunter Davies biography. Joe Cockers version is a classic.

By: Timmytour

Timmytour — Mon, 18 May 2015 23:30:57 +0000

I remember reading once about this song that John Lennon was trying to get the line “I can’t tell you but I know that it’s mine” and turned down someone’s suggestion (Mal?) that they go with “I just know that it’s miine” …because he hated the use of the word “just” as a filler. Always remember that and especially so when I first heard “Don’t You Want Me Baby” by Human League and the line “i guess it’s just what I must do”!

In fact because of that memory I used to be more inclined to thinking this was John’s song more than Paul’s

By: MaccaFan

MaccaFan — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 17:50:10 +0000

It’s likely that George Martin was not present during the writing process. Also, he has always been heavily biased towards Paul — John and George not so much (he, laughingly, backhand compliments “Something” as “…quite simple, really…’ I tend to believe John’s comments from his 1970 interview regarding WALHFMF.

By: JB

JB — Tue, 23 Dec 2014 05:15:08 +0000

I’ve always wondered why the piano sounds so bright on this… Could it be it is the same kind of piano featured in Octopus’s Garden ?… It must be some kind of small non-reverberant piano, kept out of tune on purpose to achieve that bright chorused Honky Tonk sound…

Listen to both: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLHcyWdW9bA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLHcyWdW9bA

Does anyone have a clue?

By: andre

andre — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 16:47:51 +0000

Both Mccartney and Hunter Davies (present during the songwriting session) agreed that the song was co-written

By: Brook

Brook — Sun, 01 Jun 2014 13:58:58 +0000

On ‘The Making of Sgt Peppers…’ video on utube George Martin states that Paul wrote ‘I Get by With a Little Help From My Friends’ but as usual all the band members added some of their own creative touches to the song.

By: Julian

Julian — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 14:22:33 +0000

Yep. It’s definitely hearable through the Rock Band mixes.