Notes

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A progressive outfit, formed in 1969 and who also have one track, Street Songs, on the All Good Clean Fun compilation and two live tracks, Eddie Waring and Mona, on Christmas At The Patti.

Their first album is rather mainstream progressive rock meets pub rock, despite some excellent songs written by Malcolm Morley including the excellent Deborah. Most of the musicianship on the album is raw and derivative (with exception of Richard Treece's guitar) and consequently the punters weren't at all interested. After its release, Whaley departed for Ducks Deluxe and was replaced by Paul Burton.

Strange Affair exhibited a strong US West Coast influence with greater musical improvisation and some fine moments. Beware Of The Shadow continued in much the same vein. Listen out for their magnum opus, Reaffirmation, on this one, as well as American Mother.

Ken Whaley rejoined the band in 1973, hence the title of their final album.

After their demise, Malcolm Morley had a spell with Man (and Ken Whaley later joined him there). The rest of the band joined Deke Leonard's Iceberg, and Treece was later in The Flying Aces.

- Help Yourself was formed in the London area of England in 1970 initially as a backup band for Malcolm Morley, who was signed as a solo act under the management of the Famepushers whose acts Brinsley Schwarz and Ernie Graham had also secured contracts with the U.K. division of United Artists/Liberty Records. The band consisted of Richard Treece (guitars/vocals/harmonica), Dave Charles (drums/percussion/vocals), Ken Whaley (bass), and of course Malcolm Morley (guitars/keyboards/vocals). Help Yourself recorded their debut self-titled album in early 1971. The songs on that album were completely written by Morley. Ken Whaley left the band after the debut to be replaced by Ernie Graham (guitars), who had just released his solo album on Liberty. Help Yourself was experiencing some financial difficulties at this time, as were a number of other bands in England, so they teamed up with bandmembers from Brinsley Schwarz and moved into a rented house in Headley in 1971/1972 called the Grange, where Led Zeppelin had recorded the Symbols album earlier that year. While at the Grange, the band recorded the second album Strange Affair, released in early 1972, with the addition of Graham and Jonathan (Jojo) Glemser to the band. Graham and Glesmer left during the recording of Strange Affair and were replaced by Paul Burton for the completion of the album. The lineup of Burton, Morley, Treece, and Charles recorded another album almost immediately, called Beware of the Shadow, which was released at the end of 1972. None of the first three albums were big sellers. The Helps, as they were called by fans, appealed to a hippie audience and found moderate success in the U.S., where they appealed to Deadheads and fans of such bands as Quicksilver. Glam rock was the big rage in England at the time, but Help Yourself were found to be a bit too rural for radio play, especially in England so there was basically no promotion or support for the band. In 1973, Ken Whaley returned to the band and the Helps recorded an album that was appropriately called, The Return of Ken Whaley. The initial release of that album contained a "bonus" album called Happy Days, which was recorded live on tour with the Flying Aces. Shortly after the release of The Return of Ken Whaley, Help Yourself broke up. Malcolm Morley went on to join the Welsh band Man, with Ken Whaley later joining him there. The remaining band members joined Deke Leonard's Iceberg and recorded a couple of albums, while Treece later joined George and Martin Ace in the Flying Aces. ~


01. Help Yourself: I Must See Jesus for Myself
02. Help Yourself: To Katherine They Fell
03. Help Yourself: Your Eyes Are Looking Down
04. Help Yourself: Old Man
05. Help Yourself: Look at the View
06. Help Yourself: Paper Leaves
07. Help Yourself: Running Down Deep
08. Help Yourself: Deborah
09. Help Yourself: Street Songs
10. Beware the Shadow: Alabama Lady
11. Beware the Shadow: Reaffirmation
12. Beware the Shadow: Calapso
13. Beware the Shadow: She's My Girl
14. Beware the Shadow: Molly Bake Bean
15. Beware the Shadow: American Mother
16. Beware the Shadow: Passing Through