Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth For Christ Choir
LIke A Ship...(Without A Sail)
Ok, embarrassing revelation time. I have this record in my collection, filed away as an indication that I've listened to it.
Somehow I ended up with a second copy, probably due to the fact that both Light In The Attic and Numero Group have both reissued it over the years. Anway, I pulled it out to listen to, and I'd be goddamned if my immediate reaction wasn't "Wait...isn't this a Parliament song?"
As I pull at the thread further, what I've come to realize is that the title track has been played often over the years on the TMR turntable and beyond. I've heard it dozens of times, no doubt.
But I never really connected it with the Barrett LP. I thought it was George Clinton and company.
Nevertheless, the soulful vocals, the propulsive funk bass bottom and the magical spark in the air anytime you've got a youth choir and this record is IT. In addition to many other dream hypotheticals, a perfect world is one wherein there's a thousand different albums just like this, just as good. I can only imagine...
And since I've got two copies, one can be yours.
Post your best story, truthful or fiction, that explains a song you mis-attributed to the wrong artist, in good faith, because of how much they sounded alike. Except for "Lies" by the Knickerbockers sounding like the Beatles. You can't post that story because I lived that one too.
Get your words up here before midnight January 30th and the winner, as chosen by me, will get this delicious LP mailed straight to their doorstep, or failing that, PO box.
Oh noooooo!!!
This just reminds me of my church days… That’s the whole reason I missed the White Stripes!!!! I sing in acquire that sounded exactly like that for the most part. we were weren’t allowed to listen to anything except Christian music no worldly music no white stripes💔
I am a free woman
it brings back some happy times
I love it when I hear familiar music in other music
we all get inspired somewhere
The first time I heard Maggot Brain, I thought it was a David Gilmour solo track. It was played for me on vinyl without context and I was amazed that I hadn’t heard it before. It wasn’t until the track was over completely that it was revealed to me to be a Funkadelic tune. I was in pure denial and wondered if the LP was mislabeled. Only after confirming there were other tracks on there by Funkadelic did I realize I had a whole new rabbit hole to go down, far beyond the commonly known P Funk tracks.
I’m sure I wasn’t the only young white kid in the 80’s that assume Oh Sheila by Ready For The World was by Prince. However this belief of mine went on for years and years until an embarrassing conversation at the record store finally set me straight. But in my defense we didn’t have Wikipedia back then! :D
First off, I have this record and it’s fantastic. Mine is actually that other really stuffy music club’s version but is a cool black/white splatter.
My song is actually from the band Doves off their first album Lost Souls. There’s just one problem, I can’t remember which song was from a different band, or which band. I think it was Kestrel the prog band from the 70’s. Either way, reminded me to listen to Lost Souls and Kestrel.
I probably have other examples but it’s funny this is the prompt because this has happened to me twice in the past month with the same song, including just last night. I discovered the band Secret American back in 2019 opening for the band Palm Palm (J. Roddy Walston’s new band) and fell in love with their sound and listen to them a lot. I recently heard the song “Love is Strange” by Mickey & Sylvia and thought it was them. When I realized the song I was listening to wasn’t by them, I convinced myself they at least covered it on one of their albums. I heard that same song in the background of the Sopranos last night (S2E6) and told my wife, “Secret American covers this song.” I then decided to look it up and they don’t. That said, I still feel like I need to listen to both their albums straight through again because I swear maybe there’s a snippet covered within one of the songs…
Anyway, y’all should check out Secret American and Palm Palm.
Man, for me it was “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Petty. I always thought it was a Bob Dylan tune. I think it is the harmonica and story telling throughout the song. Petty even gives it that extra-Dylan on this tune. Hell, when I discovered the Traveling Wilburys years later I saw further how I could get confused.
To this day, when it comes on, I sing along in my Bob Dylan voice and not like Petty. Because it makes me laugh. Also, I still think he stole it from Bobby’s unreleased demo tapes. I believe the earth is round, I believe in science, but I believe in the conspiracy of “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” being a Bob Dylan tune.
I was in Mexico in 2009, and heard BellX1’s “The Great Defector” on a radio station that occasionally played English tracks. I would’ve SWORN it was a new Talking Heads track! The song is firmly pop, but definitely has Talking Heads vibes (and the singer’s voice is a dead-ringer for David Byrne’s). The problem, was that the DJ didnt name the artist, so I needed to wait until I returned to the United States to figure it out.
First time I heard the Riffs for Electric Wizard, I thought “Whoa, is this some Sabbath I’ve never heard before?”, but then the vocals came in and was like “Nope, but someone deff listened to a lot of Sabbath growing up.” lol
One time in college a bunch of people were playing Neil Young covers as their first song of 3 for open mic night and when I got up there I said “I guess I’ll join in on the Young love” (which is creepy in itself for college kids)…then I proceeded to sing and play “I’ve been to the desert on a horse with no name, it feels good to be out of the rain”…with confidence too. Like “i just nailed that”
thinking that bluegrass cover of ‘Gin and Juice’ from Napster was actually Phish