TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Strange Affair" - Help Yourself (1972)

"Strange Affair" - Help Yourself (1972)

Help Yourself was an English rock band from London who had a bit of that trippy West Coast rock spirit.  Their 2nd album "Strange Affair" is warm, catchy, and psych dusted enough to give the listener a good feeling.  Plenty of good playing on all fronts.  Vocals are especially solid, at times recalling the timbre of America and CSN, and yet retaining their own flavor.  
 
"Strange Affair" - Help Yourself  (back)

Favorites include the outstanding 10-minute psych-biscuit "The All Electric Fur Trapper."  Floaty and fuzzy.  Trippy and groovy.  Just a great spin.  "Movie Star" sounds right out of a CSN cookbook left at Laurel Canyon.  "Brown Lady" is a groove with harmonies sounding very much like America.  “Many Ways of Meeting” closes us out with a satisfying gentle ballad that's not cheap, maintaining the good vibe of the album.  

My copy came with a printed inner sleeve that included an interesting story about the legend of "The All Electric Fur Trapper."  There is a smallish corner-cut at the bottom-left and $5 let me rescue the album from Garageman G.  The band released four albums between 1971-1973 and they all received above-average props.  A few band members went on to work with George Harrison, Jeff Beck, ELP, and others.  If you stumble on one in the wild...don't sleep.

(record sleeve front & back)

United Artists Records

Cat #
UAS-5591
SIDE A  MATRIX
UAS 5591-A-1  1T  Eck   
SIDE B  MATRIX
UAS 5591-B-1  1T  Eck

"The All Electric Fur Trapper" - Help Yourself / "Strange Affair" (1972)

TRACKS:
A1  "Strange Affair" 3:21
A2  "Brown Lady" 4:40
A3  "Movie Star" 5:45
A4  "Deanna Call and Scotty" 3:44
B1  "Heaven Row" 4:00
B2  "The All Electric Fur Trapper" 11:55
B3  "Many Ways of Meeting" 3:54

PERSONNEL:
Malcolm Morley - vocals, guitar, keyboards
Richard Treece - bass, guitar, vocals, harmonica
Paul Burton - bass
Ernie Graham - guitar
Jojo Glemser - guitar
Dave Charles - drums, percussion, vocals

Good stuff.

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Comments

Charlie Ricci said…
OMG, I can't believe I've found someone else who knows about Help Yourself. I've only got one of their records but it's a good one and you can read about it HERE.
April 15, 2021 at 1:36 PM
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