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.
Brown Eyed Girl – I grew up hearing this song and I always thought it was The Rolling Stones. I know better now. Them with Van Morrison made some remarkable music as did Van as a solo artist.
Love this opportunity to get some new music free and interact with other music lovers in the process.
About 20 years ago we ( my wife and I ) went to a outdoor CSN concert in NJ. In the second half or the concert they ( CSN ) said their record label had been bugging them to do an album of covers. They said they had been practicing a few songs from other bands and they wanted to sing one for us. They then sang “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones. This is one of my favorite songs. I must have six or seven copies of it. CSN sounded so much like the Stones that it was spooky. It was like the Stones had inhabited CSN. The crowd went wild when they finished. Everyone wanted them to sing some more covers. Sadly that was the only one for the night.
Napster pulled the biggest swindle on me in 1999/2000. Having been a huge Weezer fan, like many fans I was eagerly awaiting new music and was so excited when the “new album” was leaked. Full track listing information was available along with a running order, song titles, (I remember one song featured Eddie Vedder). I fully bought it, it sounded exactly like Rivers singing, the songs were incredible, I could not wait for the official release. When the green album came out, I was sorely disappointed and very confused as to why they had abandoned such great tracks. A year or so later the mystery was solved when I heard “Slanted and Enchanted” for the first time. Some sick bastard had taken time to rename all the tracks just to confuse 14 year old me.
Also ran: my little sister swore until the day she died that the version of “Stuck In The Middle With You” that she had put on a mix CD was a version with Dylan singing, even when I played her the version on the record to show her they were the same version.
Well, not so much a misidentified artist as misidentified lyrics. In the White Stripes song “Blue Orchid”, Jack sings the lyrics “you took a white orchid”. My young daughter had thought he was singing “you tickled my armpit”. Once you hear it you can’t unhear it. It’s been “Tickle My Armpit” ever since.
A couple of months ago I heard a new Led Zeppelin song. I had never heard it before and I wondered if they had some new archival release, so I Shazammed it…it was whitesnake Slow an Easy. Afterwards I knew it didn’t sound quite right, but I had never heard any non-hit whitesnake songs before.
Growing up in an era of Warped Tour mix tapes and Limewire so late 90s / early 00s pop punk songs were atributed to the wrong bands in my head. Most notably would Me First and the Gimmie Gimmies, they nailed their covers so well that evidently almost every cover in a similar style no matter by what band got labeled like that in the file shares, not till I was older and had enough money in my pocket to hunt for CDs and 7"s did I come to realize when something is free its often wrong and labeled with just what ever random band was going to help their ratios….
On a long car ride with a friend after work on the radio came a song from Bob Dylans Nashville Skyline. I wasn’t a Dylan aficionado then and I was adamant that this was not Dylan. This was like some Jim Nabors like Appalachian folk singer but definitely not Dylan. I was humbled.
I was at Austin city limits 2019. I stood in line to get k flat to sign a couple of records. I mention that I liked her contribution to Tom morellos atlas underground project however I mentioned the wrong song title (roadrunner) it was by a different female artist. Her song was (lucky one). Ooops. It was obvious I was wrong. Still have the records
I grew up in a house that was a music household, not in a way that anyone played an instrument, but in a way where there was always some music being played in the house. Grew up listening to the Beatles and Stones like I’m sure most did. To this day I’d say Tom Petty falls into my top 3 personal favorite musicians all time. So needless to say it was an all time embarrasing moment when “Life is a highway” came on while I was in college and I uttered the phrase “I love Tom Petty.”
Still getting heckled about this and I’m almost 40.
The way I learned that “The Air That I Breathe” by the Hollies is not by Air Supply was getting into an argument with my coworker when she told me Air Supply is her mom’s favorite band. I later had to break the news to rhat same coworker that “American Woman” is not by Jimi Hendrix.