Helen O'Connell - Here's Helen LP

I knew nothing about Helen O'Connell when I bought this record. All I knew is what I read on the back of the jacket. By the way I miss all the great marketing ploys that were in the liner notes on the backs of records back in the day. Anyways this tells the story of a mother and daughter seeing Helen on her TV show and then mother playing some old Helen O'Connell records for her daughter. Of course the daughter loves what she hears. It's funny that this whole dialgogue is put on the record to sell the idea that a whole new generation of kids can discover Helen like their parents. What I got out of it was there was some singer named Helen O'Connell that had some kind of Hollywood chat show in the 60's who sang for some pretty good bands in the 40's or 50's and I never heard of here. So I gave up the buck and bought the record. I love when those gambles pay off. Helen really swings and the band behind her is top notch. Right out of the gate the record kicks into high gear with "Who Cares". Short, sweet and enough punch to knock you on your butt.

Another big highlight for me is "Saturday Night (Is The Loneliest Night Of The Week)". I liked this song to begin with and after hearing this I think I prefer this version to any other I've ever heard. It is one hell of a A-Side closer.

Track 8 "Just You Just Me" also really cooks. The band is on fire and she really sounds beautiful. I love the bouncing base line underneath everything. It really gets the toe a tappin'.

The funny thing about listening to the record is that it kinda makes me feel a little sad because it is so good and because she and the record are forgotten. Since she only released a couple records and had a slight comeback in the 60's with some long forgotten TV show, no one is talking about her today. But that is kind of the point of this blog. Hopefully someone else can discover Helen like I did.

Enjoy!

01 Who Cares.m4a
02 I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me.m4a
03 Bye Bye Blues.m4a
04 Blue An Broken Heart.m4a
05 Saturday Night (Is The Loneliest Night In The Week).m4a
06 I've Got A Feelin' You're Foolin'.m4a
07 You Showed Me The Way.m4a
08 Just You Just Me.m4a
09 I Cried For You.m4a
10 Miss You.m4a

Here's Helen.zip