Scan of original 1975 LP jacket, and photo of an alternate possible cover not used.

Scan of 1994 CD cover, and scan of 1994 CD back piece.

Primary releases:

Helen Of Troy, (LP), Island Records, ILPS 9350, UK, 1975
Helen Of Troy, (CD), Island Records, 74321 19460 2, Germany, 1994
Helen Of Troy, (CD), Universal/Polygram, (?), USA, 1994
Helen Of Troy, (CD), Island Records, Universal 80100059, UK, 2004
Helen Of Troy, (CD), "Island Masters", Island Records IMCD 177, 522 116-2 UK
Helen Of Troy, (LP),Vinyl Lovers, 10.02.2008, LP reissue, 2008 (UK)

Spex on selected releases:

John Cale
"Helen of Troy"
Island, ILPS 9350, LP released 11/17/75 (UK)

1. My Maria 3:50
2. Helen Of Troy 4:19
3. China Sea 2:31
4. Engine 2:45
5. Save Us 2:21
6. Cable Hogue 3:30
7. I Keep A Close Watch 3:27
8. Pablo Picasso 3:21 (Jonathan Richman)
9. Leaving It Up To You 4:34 (Coral Moon 2:15 was substituted after the first pressing)
10. Baby What You Want Me To Do 4:49 (Jimmy Reed)
11. Sudden Death 4:37

All songs composed by John Cale, except where indicated.

Personnel:
John Cale - keyboards, guitar, vocals
Phil Collins - drums
Pat Donaldson - bass
Tim Donald - drums
Brian Eno - synthesizer
Chris Spedding - guitar

Robert Kirby - string & choir arrangement
Mixing engineer: Vic Gamm
Executive Producer: John Woo
Recorded at Sound Techniques, London

 

John Cale
"Helen of Troy"
Island, 74321 19460 2, 1994 (Germany)

1. My Maria 3:50
2. Helen Of Troy 4:19
3. China Sea 2:31
4. Engine 2:45
5. Save Us 2:21
6. Cable Hogue 3:30
7. I Keep A Close Watch 3:27
8. Pablo Picasso 3:21 (Jonathan Richman)
9. Coral Moon 2:15
10. Baby What You Want Me To Do 4:49 (Jimmy Reed)
11. Sudden Death 4:37

All songs composed by John Cale, except where indicated.

Personnel:
John Cale - keyboards, guitar, vocals
Phil Collins - drums
Pat Donaldson - bass
Tim Donald - drums
Brian Eno - synthesizer
Chris Spedding - guitar

Robert Kirby - string & choir arrangement
Mixing engineer: Vic Gamm
Executive Producer: John Wood
Recorded at Sound Techniques, London

 

 

John Cale
"Helen Of Troy"
Island Records, Universal, 80100059, 80100059, CD, LP reissues, 2004 (UK)

1 My Maria 3:50
2 Helen Of Troy 4:19
3 China Sea 2:31
4 Engine 2:45
5 Save Us 2:21
6 Cable Hogue 3:30
7 I Keep A Close Watch 3:27
8 Pablo Picasso 3:21 (Jonathan Richman)
9 Coral Moon 2:15
10 Baby What You Want Me To Do 4:49 (Jimmy Reed)
11 Sudden Death 4:37
12 Leaving It Up To You 4:34

Personnel:
John Cale - keyboards, guitar, vocals
Phil Collins - drums
Pat Donaldson - bass
Tim Donald - drums
Brian Eno - synthesizer
Chris Spedding - guitar

Robert Kirby - string & choir arrangement
Mixing engineer: Vic Gamm
Executive Producer: John Wood
Recorded at Sound Techniques, London

 

John Cale
"Helen Of Troy"
Vinyl Lovers, 10.02.2008, LP reissue, 2008 (UK)

Side A:
1.My Maria
2.Helen Of Troy
3.China Sea
4.Engine
5.Save Us
6.Cable Hogue
7.Mary Lou *


Side B:
1.I Keep A Close Watch
2.Pablo Picasso
3.Leaving It Up To You
4.Baby, What You Want Me To Do?
5.Sudden Death
6.Coral Moon

* Bonus cut, plus contains both Leaving It Up To You and Coral Moon.

 

This from Wikipedia regarding "Helen Of Troy":

This album came out without the consent of Cale, who considered that the tapes were not finished. After shipping the first pressings Island Records replaced the track "Leaving It Up to You" with "Coral Moon", because the former song mentioned Sharon Tate, wife of film director Roman Polanski, who was murdered in 1969 by the Charles Manson gang. Things turned sour, and Cale and Island went their separate ways. The CD version contains both tracks.

 
John Cale explained: "It could have been a great album. I came back from finishing Patti Smith and had three days to finish Helen of Troy before I went on Italian tour. I was spending eighteen hours a day in the studio. When I got back, I found the record company had gone ahead and released what amounted to demo tapes. The trouble was that Island had their own ideas of what that album should sound like. They wanted to include songs I don't particularly like, but it was also an impertinent assumption on my part that I was capable managing myself. My determination to have Helen of Troy the way I did was not really fair to Island or my management, especially at a time when Island was losing its percentage of the market, which was making everybody very paranoid."

Even though the other Island albums were issued in the US (June 1, 1974, Fear, Slow Dazzle, Guts), Helen Of Troy was not. It was commonly sold as a UK import all over the US, however.

During the sessions Cale cut three other songs: the unreleased covers "Willow Weep For Me" and "God Only Knows", and "Mary Lou" which was released on the compilation album Guts.

The album features a cover of "Pablo Picasso" by The Modern Lovers, a song which Cale had produced for the band's debut.

Cale re-recorded "I Keep A Close Watch" in 1982 for his album Music For A New Society.