From “I Want To Hold Your Hand” to this,just four years later…..Thats progress.

IMO McCartney has (or had) one of the most versatile voices ever. He could sing as sweet as a choir boy or belt like Little Richard with equal conviction.

I could never understand why the "critics" didn't like this song. Recorded a decade before the Sex Pistols and Nirvana was 2 decades away.

Ringo showing Keith Moon had nothing on him for going a little crazy on the drums and screaming at the end a legendary phrase... "I Got Blisters On My Fingers"

Paul McCartney wrote, sang, and played what some consider the first Heavy Metal Song. Some had remarked that the Beatles couldn't rock hard. Paul and the boys shut them up with his. Great pick of a fantastic song. Love your commentary - always witty and insightful.

They could do ANY genre,and do it better than everyone else.

The big thing for me is not just how the Beatles could go heavy metal when they chose to, but how they did it waaay ahead of other musicians back in 1968!

WOW! They made every kind of music didn't they?!? AWESOME!! Thanks

I heard an interview with Paul when he said that he wanted to write something harder and louder than The Who.

Background tidbit. Helter Skelter is a British "carnival" ride.. its still in use😊

Often called the first HEAVY METAL song ever.

You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer - Now THAT'S a R&R lyric!

Next up for the Beatles if you want more heavy sounding songs of theirs: I Want You/She's So Heavy - that one is a John song. The second half of the song is considered by many as the first doom metal song. This one is considered one of the first or even the first by some of the heavy metal genre.

Look Out!!! The Beatles finally let loose with this one. Best line is the last one in the song, "I've got blisters on my fingers!"

According to Paul, it was written after reading a quote from Pete Townshend of The Who , he said they’d just recorded their "loudest,dirtiest, rawest" song ever. Paul said ‘let me do that.’

Paul McCartney singing, Ringo is the one who screams "I've got blisters on my fingers!" (He'd been playing for nearly 27 minutes, the actual length of "HS").

By this point The Beatles just did whatever they wanted, in whatever genre. Back in the USSR on this same album is a nod to the Beach Boys and they knock it out of the park. That was Paul singing by the way.

Heavy metal was born

Helter Skelter is a ride at a carnival. Paul explained that once in an interview.

Ringo made this song so classical and Paul's Vocals were great!

Yes; now _there's_ the Beatles' wild edge! I'd recommend "It's All Too Much" for a track further down the madness rabbit-hole!

First Heavy metal song by about 2 years.

The Beatles... 1968! Enough said... ❤

Proud of you. You stayed after the Fade out! 👍 IDK why they did that! Just to mess with the Folks on Acid!

The energy in the room when The Beatles recorded this track is on another level. That bass alone is so heavy. I get goosebumps.

The look as it fades back in... when you experience the awesomeness

Considered to be the 1st heavy metal song and highly connected with the Manson murders

John Lennon’s bass was incredible.

Great tune! One of the first heavy metal songs and for good reason, it totally freaked us out when it was first released. For more hardcore Beatles, do I Want You, She's So Heavy. Beatles in 68/69 kicked out several real heavy rock classics that influenced heavy bands to come, they are well worth a listen Enjoy! 🎵🎸🎤🎹🎶

JMBoy. On Tuesday I was at a Sir Paul concert here in my hometown of Newcastle Australia! Yes he did this song and it went off!!! Best thing was so many young people like yourself there and even teens rocking out!

Paul wrote this song. In a interview he said that Helter Skelter was the name of a carnival ride.

What I have heard is that Pete Townsend sent to McCartney something like the Who was the loudest band in the world, and McCartney took that as a challenge to make something really loud and screaming.

Wow...Great and incredibly powerful song. Superb vocal from Paul McCartney and wonderful drumming from Ringo. Wow this song has your heart pumping from beginning to end. I would love to have seen it live, Another brilliant composition from the Beatles and terrific reaction from Jim Boy.

"Helter Skelter" When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride 'Til I get to the bottom and I see you again Yeah, yeah, yeah, ha-ha-ha! Well do you, don't you want me to love you? I'm coming down fast, but I'm miles above you Tell me, tell me, tell me, come on tell me the answer Well, you may be a lover, but you ain't no dancer Now, helter-skelter Helter-skelter Helter-skelter Yeah Ooh! Oh will you, won't you want me to make you? (Ah) I'm coming down fast, but don't let me break you (ah) Tell me, tell me, tell me the answer Well, you may be a lover, but you ain't no dancer Look out! Helter-skelter Helter-skelter Helter-skelter Ooh Look out! 'Cause here she comes When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide And I stop, and I turn and I go for a ride And I get to the bottom and I see you again Yeah, yeah, yeah! Well do you, don't you want me to make you? I'm coming down fast, but don't let me break you Tell me, tell me, tell me your answer Well, you may be a lover, but you ain't no dancer Look out! Helter-skelter Helter-skelter Helter-skelter Well, look out! Helter-skelter She's coming down fast Yes, she is Yes, she is Coming down fast Oh yeah, helter-skelter Ooh I got blisters on my fingers - (Ringo)

I love when U2 did their "live"version and the introduction was "here's a song Charles Manson stole from the Beatles and we're stealing it back "......so cool ,man

“If You’re Going to Do Something, Do It Well. And Leave Something Witchy”

Maybe someone said it below. That was John on bass on this one... LSD !!!

The first heavy metal song. And the best.

At the time, Paul McCartney and Pete Townsend of The Who were having a friendly battle to see who could produce the dirtiest guitar sounds with the new more powerful amplifiers that we’re becoming available.

The baddest grunge, garage band ,punk maniac music ever. Luvit!

heavy metal !!! beatles forever!!!

Revolution and I’m Down are two more pretty hard rock Beatles songs. Thanks for reacting to this one. ✌️🖖

Yep John goes at it heavy at times with his vocals , just not on this one This is the man with a thousand voices , Paul

This song was Beatles response to reading in a Rock Magazine that *The Who* had the Most Hardcore Rock Song Ever. No one couldn't think of what song was being label that, so they wrote *Helter Skelter* The rest is Iconic history, remember T-Shirt Slogan *"Charlie Can't Surf"* 😁

One of their greatest hits, That white Album Kicks Ass 🐲☯️🐉

Played this for a friend one day and he was shocked it was the Beatles. All these years later and they still surprise people

Rolling Stone magazine ranked "Helter Skelter" 52nd on its list of "The 100 Greatest Beatles Songs". Paul said......."I'd read a review of a record which said, "and this group really got us wild, there's echo on everything, they're screaming their heads off." And I just remember thinking, "Oh, it'd be great to do one. Pity they've done it. Must be great - really screaming record." And then I heard their record and it was quite straight, and it was very sort of sophisticated. It wasn't rough and screaming and tape echo at all. So I thought, "Oh well, we'll do one like that, then." And I had this song called "Helter Skelter," which is just a ridiculous song. So we did it like that, 'cos I like noise"

As noted by another person, Paul McCartney sang on this one.

Best Beatles Album🎇

The fast version of Revolution by the Beatles is my favorite song of theirs.

This is the same guy that wrote Yesterday. Anyone who doesn’t consider Paul McCartney the greatest composer of pop/rock of all time is objectively wrong!

Bealtes pioneered so many genres... here... heavy metal

P.aul singing and Ringo screaming at the end because he was in pain. First heavy metal song. Now how about an opposite song from their early period that has the mpst beautiful 3-part harmony: THIS BOY....is heavenly

John plays bass on this song. Great freaking song! Enjoyed your reaction.

Always a delight to see reactors hit this for the first time. It's a long way from "Yesterday" but just 3 years later!

The story is that Peter Townsend of The Who had described their new album as the hardest heviest rock ever made. Paul McCartney and the Beatles took up the challenge and Ringo got blisters on his fingers.

absolutely ♥ this song!

Amazing what they accomplished in 7 short years

Try Hey Bulldog. Great riff.

This is a Paul song.

The Sixties were a trip. The Beatles took the Leave It To Beaver generation from "I want to Hold your Hand" to this. The first introduction to heavy metal/hard rock. The Beatles were the creators. This is modern music history. Nothing like it ever heard before. Analog recording. Genius innovators. They changed the world

Aw my childhood, rang out in the house every single day, we were a house of Beatles lovers 🙏😌

If you ask me, this was the very early stage of punk rock. And from The Beatles, believe it or not

Another hard one on this album is John's everybody's got something to hide except me and my monkey🤯

Helter Skelter was the name for a ride like at a fair

No surprise!!! The Beatles started out screaming on the their songs.....before they started putting out melodic tunes for the general public.....but on the interior of their albums were songs like this that was not appropriate for the general airwaves for the radio. Also "I am the Walrus" was psychedelic and hardcore." by The Beatles. react to that too. Fire!!!

RINGO got the last word !!

The Beatles had themed lunch boxes that you could buy.

Paul tells a couple stories about how this song came about. There's the one about trying to outdo the Who, who had just recorded a song they considered the loudest and filthiest. There's also the one about Paul getting tired of critics thinking all he can do is pretty ballads. I think both are true. Paul said this song, based on the British amusement ride the helter skelter (a short tower of about 10 to 20 feet tall with stairs inside and a sliding board spiraling around the tower's exterior; google for image) was a metaphor for fame, that you work to make your way to the top, but the slide down is both exciting but quick. The thing is, Paul went to Hamburg with the rest of the early band and they played some of the raunchiest clubs there, so his background is not romantic love songs (though he could do them). Paul came up playing and singing rough 1950s rock and roll; his favorite singer was Little Richard. Compare "Helter Skelter" to his early recording of "Long Tall Sally", then his later song "Oh Darling". Final note: this song was released in November 1968; it wasn't until the next year that bands suddenly appeared playing this kind of hardcore music. Check the release dates on those bands' first albums. They all appeared 1969 to 1971. Led Zeppelin was 2 months later, Black Sabbath was almost a year later. Some say the Kinks, but that's just rock and roll. Some say The Who, but that's just hard rock.

That was 🔥🔥🔥🔥

2009 mix: better CHUNKY bass & cymbals 2018 mix: better guitar solo panning and clearer chorus/backing vocals STILL NEEDS AN ULTIMATE REMIX IMO...

Probably the first ever heavy metal song. If not, the heaviest you could get before metal was a thing.

I saw McCartney in1990 and loved hearing this one live.

Good catch/call-out on the John Lennon Primal Scream stuff! It was Paul on vocals, but, sure, still a relevant remark. One of the hardest songs by the Beatles--or ANYONE!

The Beatles did it all and just moved on to something else.

LOVE this song. Anytime I'm frustrated by life, I turn it on and drum on the table. Instant relief.

Probably the Beatles heaviest song I'm sure Black Sabbath heard it

The Beatles and the Rolling Stones !!!! 😊😊 England's Gift to the World. 😊 Thank You

Funny that you said "what a ride" at the end, as a helter skelter is just that, a ride. It's a slide that spirals around the outside of a lighthouse shaped building that has the stairs to the top inside it

John played bass on this one while Paul normally did and John normally played rhythm. Paul sang lead. Ringo said the line about blisters on his fingers.

When Charles Manson heard the CD version of the white album he was like “the clarity is amazing. I guess the Beatles weren’t telling me to kill those people after all. I must have had a blown speaker, man now I feel like a complete jerk!”

I first saw The Beatles on their American TV debut in February 1964 when I was four on The Ed Sullivan Show. I'm still learning things about them that are new to me. I highly recommend How The Beatles Changed the World. It's not your typical documentary. Usually it's clips or photos with folks they were close to. HBCW is an analysis of the culture in general and the London-New York pop scene that had always been reciprocal, simply exploding and expanding in new ways. Or how four subversive artists in sheep's clothing became repackaged into mainstream culture and promptly took it with them as they personally progressed. And mostly remained kind.

Beatles can do anything they damn well please. That’s that.

Loved the heavier stuff from them

Great piece, immortal, and Harrison's solo is wonderful ❤️

Crazy hard rock by the Beatles--thanks for bringing it to us!

A Helter Skelter was a huge slide at British amusement parks.

good recognition to the beatles!

Top selling musicians of all time. Still!

Love the cover by Siouxie and the Banshees, if any Beatles song was meant to be covered by a punk band this is it.

This is totally Paul's song, and he sang it as well as played the guitar riff, and possibly that main lead, while John played the six-string bass. Ringo is the one who shouted about his blisters at the end, after doing 18 takes before they were happy, using the final take for the album. Paul wrote this as a competitive response to Pete Townsend's claim that the Who had the heaviest song out with 1967s I Can See For Miles, which, back then, was actually a "heavy" song. Just think about hearing Helter Skelter in 1967 !

This is BEFORE heavy metal

I have always loved this song !

At least 5 years ahead of its time. Reminds me of The Sweet Ballroom blitz 1973 ish

Punk before punk.

Beatles invented Metal with this song

This song and the song "Piggies" from the same album dropped off the airwaves after the Tate-La Bianca murders by the Manson gang. When a mass murderer claims inspiration from this, and his followers write "Piggies" in blood on the wall, it does something to the ratings.

I love John and George singing the "ahhhh"s in the background.

Bonarama, band out of New Orleans does a mean cover of this with all their brass,

Fantastic!