Help Yourself (Tom Jones song)

"Help Yourself"
Single by Tom Jones
from the album Help Yourself
B-side	"Day By Day" (Mills)
Released	July 1968
Recorded	1968
Genre	Pop
Length	2:53
Label	Decca F 12812 (UK) Parrot (US)
Songwriter(s)	Carlo Donida, Jack Fishman
Producer(s)	Peter Sullivan
Tom Jones singles chronology
"Delilah" (1968) "Help Yourself" (1968) "A Minute of Your Time" (1968)
Official audio
"Help Yourself" on YouTube

"Help Yourself" is a song recorded by Welsh singer Tom Jones in 1968. The song is one of Jones' best known songs and reached number five in the UK Singles Chart in its original run. It topped the charts in both Ireland and Germany, and spent three weeks at the top spot in Australia.^[1] The American single reached Billboard peaks of number 35 pop^[2] and number three easy listening, and is still widely played on adult-standards radio.

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1968) Peak position Australia (Go-Set) [3] 1 Canada RPM Top Singles[4] 34 Ireland (IRMA)[5] 1 Netherlands [6] 7 New Zealand (Listener)[7] 3 South Africa (Springbok)[8] 1 United Kingdom (Record Retailer)[9] 5 United Kingdom (NME)[10] 1 United States (Billboard Hot 100)[11] 35 United States (Billboard Easy Listening)[11] 3 United States (Cash Box) Top 100 32 West Germany (GfK)[12] 1

Year-end charts Chart (1968) Position Australia [13] 17 South Africa [14] 7 UK 25 US (Billboard Easy Listening)[15] 23

Original song

"Gli Occhi Miei"
Single by Dino
B-side	"Passano"
Released	1968
Length	2:30
Label	Arc Records
Songwriter(s)	Carlo Donida, Mogol

"Help Yourself" is a reworked English-language version of the Italian song "Gli Occhi Miei" ("My Eyes"), which was written by Carlo Donida with lyrics by Mogol and originally performed by both Dino (Eugenio Zambelli)^[16] and Wilma Goich at the 1968 Sanremo Music Festival. British author and songwriter Jack Fishman (a.k.a. Larry Khan) wrote the English lyrics, which bear no relation to the original Italian.^[17]

Tony Ferrino version

The song was recorded by comedian Steve Coogan in character as Tony Ferrino. The track was used in the TV show The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon, included on an album and released as a single in November 1996, reaching #42 in the UK singles chart.

Other cover versions

• In 1968, Nora Aunor (a Filipino Superstar) released an English-language version on the album More, More, More of Nora Aunor which became a big hit on that same year in the Philippines
• In 1968, Peter Alexander (Austrian performer) released a German language version called "Komm' und bedien' Dich bei mir" and reached no. 9 of the German charts.
• Les Compagnons de la chanson released a French version titled "Ce bonheur-là", which reached No. 48 on the Belgian chart in 1968.^[18]
• In 1968, Sten & Stanley released a Swedish language version called "Du och jag".
• In 1970, Hong Kong female singer Billie Tam (蓓蕾), released a Mandarin Chinese-language version with Chinese lyrics written by Di Yi (狄薏) and given the title name of 夢遊人, on her 喇叭與我 (Billie And The Big Brass) LP album with EMI Angel Records.
• In 1972, Hong Kong female singer Frances Yip (葉麗儀) recorded it on her Frances Yip Greatest Hits LP album with Life Records.
• In 1973, Hong Kong female singer/artist Sum Sum (森森), also recorded the song in Mandarin Chinese language with Chinese lyrics (different from Billie Tam's version) written by Shu Yun (舒雲) and given the title name of 我比花兒好年華, on her 春雨傘‧森森玉女團南遊專輯 LP album with EMI Regal Records.
• Between 1972 and 1974, this song was covered by Singapore-based female singer Ervinna, backing music by the Charlie & His Boys, on her LP album Golden Hits Of 20th Century Vol. 4 with White Cloud Record of Singapore.
• In the 1970s this song was frequently performed by Soviet baritone singer Muslim Magomayev.
• In 1978, the song was covered by Filipino singer Sam Sorono (1950–2008) on his Sings Tom Jones' Greatest Hits LP album with EMI Records.^[19]
• The song is performed, by Tom Jones and Will Ferrell, in the 2004 movie Anchorman.
• In 2015 the song was covered by Patrizio Buanne, Gli occhi miei-Help yourself, in Italian and English, on his album Viva la Dolce Vita.

References

1. "Go-Set Australian charts – 2 October 1968". Poparchives.com.au. 1968-10-02. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
2. "Music: Top 100 Songs | Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.com. 1968-10-12. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
3. "Go-Set Australian charts – 11 September 1968". Poparchives.com.au. 1968-09-11. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
4. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
5. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Help Yourself". Irish Singles Chart.
6. "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
7. "NZ listener charts". 10 October 1968.
8. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
9. "Artist Chart History Details: Tom Jones". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
10. Rees, Dafydd; Lazell, Barry; Osborne, Roger (1995). Forty Years of "NME" Charts (2nd ed.). Pan Macmillan. p. 198. ISBN 0-7522-0829-2.
11. "allmusic ((( Tom Jones > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 8 August 2010.
12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Tom Jones – Help Yourself" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
13. "Go-Set Australian charts – Top Records for the Year of 1968". Poparchives.com.au. Archived from the original on 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
14. "Top 20 Hit Singles of 1968". Retrieved 2 September 2018.
15. Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1968
16. Dino discography at Discogs
17. "Obituary: Jack Fishman". The Independent. 14 May 1997. Retrieved 9 March 2019.
18. "Les Compagnons De La Chanson – Ce bonheur-là". Ultratop.
19. Discogs - Sam Sorono – Sing Tom Jones' Greatest Hits

External links

• Help Yourself - at lyrics.com