THE BEATLES/HELP! ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK MAS 2386 (-65) US MONO

                                                                                

 US variation of the "Help!" album. Instead of doing one side with songs from the film and one with unrelated cuts, as was done in UK and most other countries, this American was a genuine soundtrack, combining the seven Beatle movie ones with five instrumentals by Ken Thorne And His Orchestra. I'm all for it. Though the remaining UK cuts were spread over a couple of future US albums it's not like any regular "butchering", instead resulting in a by all means legit alternative.  I guess the Ken Thorne versions only can fully satisfy the movie lovers, but the album sticks together with a fine flow even for the regular fans. It is a little annoying that the title song here is a fold from the stereo, but you do get it with a kind of James Bond intro, not hearable on the UK, so it's ok. The rest of the Beatle tracks sounds like the true mono versions and plays just fine, though somewhat more damp than on the UK LP. Biggest plus for me is the sleeve with a whole bunch of nice pics and some extra writing, but even without that it's a must, just because of the different tracking. Issued this way in Canada, Russia, Japan and a couple of Southamerican  countries. EU limited ed. 2014 CD on Capitol (B0019706-02). Premiere US (also as stereo SMAS 2386) had label as shown here in a glossy fold/out cover.  (BÄ*)  (YZÄ*)  (LGÅ*)  (ÖXCÅ*)  (ZÖNT*)