RAY SHARPE WITH THE KING CURTIS ORCHESTRA

This is the original version of the track that was recycled as "Help Me" by Owen Grey, "Save Me" by Aretha Franklin and "Instant Groove" by King Curtis & the Kingpins. The release of the single was nicely documented in the following Record World news articles:

Record World 29 January 1966:
"We hate to tease you about something that is coming up, but we are not at liberty to give you the full details about a new record coming out in February that Jerry Wexler says is "The most exciting, swingingest, most `down,` greatest sound created in the last decade in the world of R&B!"

I can only clue you that King Curtis and his boys wrote the figures, that the vocal is done by the great Ray Sharpe, that it was cut in the Atlantic studios but the atmosphere is all South of the Mason-Dixon line, and that it is so down that you will feel those icy soul fingers pull your scalp skin clean off your skull bone."


Record World 5 February 1966 :
"FLASH FROM JERRY WEXLER: That Ray Sharpe-King Curtis record I clued you on is being mastered. Jerry is at a fever pitch waiting to get it to you. Look out!"


Record World 12 February 1966:
"Jerry Wexler has that King Curtis-Ray Sharpe record ready. The title of it is "Help Me," and it is as "down" as you can get!"


Record World 19 February 1966:
""Help Me," Ray Sharpe, sounds like a stone "down" winner"

Released in USA
Title: Help me (Get The Feeling) - part I / part II - 7" single

Composers:
Help me (Get The Feeling) - ("King" Curtis Ousley, Ray Sharpe, Cornell Dupree)
Producer: "King" Curtis Ousley
Release date: February 1966
Label: Atco records
Catalog number: 45-6402

Exists in 4 different versions, same label design with different text:

Issue 1
- Stock copy, yellow & white label, "Get The Feeling" in upper & lower case letters.
- White label promo, "Get The Feeling" in upper & lower case letters (no picture available).
There's also at least one copy in existence on which side A has a promo label and side B a stock label, this is or course a mispressing and not really a different issue of this 45.

Issue 2
- Stock copy, yellow & white label, "Get The Feeling" in upper case letters.
- White label promo, "Get The Feeling" in upper case letters.

 

Side A

Side B

sha45 3a

sha45 3b

Side A

Side B