The Help Album

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This article is about the 1995 charity album. For the Beatles album, see Help! (album).

Various Artists chronology
The Help Album

Compilation album by Various Artists
Released	September 9, 1995
Recorded	September 4, 1995
Genre	Various
Length	??:??
Label	Go! Discs Records
Producer(s)	War Child
	The Help Album (1995)	Help: a Day in the Life (2005)

The Help Album is a 1995 charity album, bringing together many contemporary British and Irish artists, with all proceeds going to the War Child charity's aid efforts in war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The concept of the album was inspired by John Lennon's comments about Instant Karma, that he wanted records to be like newspapers and be released as soon as they are recorded. Help was recorded on the Monday (4th September), mixed on the Tuesday and in the shops on the Saturday.

1 Notable tracks
2 Track listing
3 The Help EP
4 External links

[edit] Notable tracks

Notable tracks include:

A version of The Beatles' song "Come Together", by a new 'supergroup', The Smokin' Mojo Filters (Paul McCartney, Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, Steve Cradock, Steve White and Carleen Anderson)

A cover of "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head", which marked the Manic Street Preachers' return to recording after the disappearance of Richey Edwards

The first appearance of the Radiohead song "Lucky", which was to later appear on the album OK Computer

Suede's cover of Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding"

The first new recording from Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty (better known as The KLF, but billed here as "The One World Orchestra") in over 2 years; a drum'n'bass version of the theme tune from The Magnificent Seven, with vocal samples from DJ Fleka of Serbian radio station B92.

A version of Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billy Joe" by Sinéad O'Connor. As the makers of the album were putting the final touches to the album, a courier arrived with a tape of O'Connor's contribution. In theory the song had arrived too late for inclusion in the album, but the producers were so impressed with her haunting rendition that they felt they had to include the song.

The album's sleeve notes included a contribution from former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic. It reached Number One on the UK albums compilation charts, and would have reached number one on the UK albums chart but Gallup who compiled the charts at the time refused to accept it as a single artist album. In his book A Year With Swollen Appendices, Brian Eno writes bitterly about this decision claiming it would have cost the charity thousands of pounds in lost sales, nevertheless in the end it raised £1.25million for War Child.

A follow-up album was released by NME in 2002 called 1Love. A second follow-up was released in 2005, titled Help: a Day in the Life.

[edit] Track listing

Oasis and Friends - "Fade Away"
The Boo Radleys - "Oh Brother "
The Stone Roses - "Love Spreads"
Radiohead - "Lucky"
Orbital - Adnan"
Portishead - "Mourning Air "
Massive Attack - "Fake the Aroma "
Suede - "Shipbuilding"
The Charlatans - "Time for Livin'"
Stereo MC's - "Sweetest Truth (Show No Fear)"
Sinéad O'Connor - "Ode to Billy Joe"
The Levellers - "Searchlights"
Manic Street Preachers - "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head"
Terrorvision - "Tom Petty Loves Veruca Salt"
The One World Orchestra featuring The Massed Pipes and Drums of the Children's Free Revolutionary Volunteer Guards (aka The KLF) - "The Magnificent "
Planet 4 Folk Quartet - "Message to Crommie"
Terry Hall and Salad - "Dream a Little Dream"
Neneh Cherry and Trout - "1, 2, 3, 4, 5 "
Blur - "Eine Kleine Lift Musik"
The Smokin' Mojo Filters - "Come Together"