August's Underappreciated Music: Various Artists, "Am I The Same Girl/The Soulful Strut"

Growing up on oldies radio as a kid, I would often come across this 1960s instrumental by the soul group Young-Holt Unlimited, appropriately titled "Soulful Strut."



Then in 1992, British group Swing Out Sister released their hit "Am I The Same Girl," which featured the same music arrangement but with lyrics.



Hearing their version threw me for a loop. I wondered what made them add lyrics to this classic instrumental (as good as the vocal version is)? I've since learned earlier this year that Swing Out Sister did not, in fact, create these lyrics, but that these lyrics have been part of the song from the beginning.

The version recording of the song was by Barbara Acklin in 1968, with her singing these lyrics along with the music that became "Soulful Strut." However, for whatever reason, the producer/record label, stripped Acklin's vocals from the recording, added the piano solos, and released the song under the artist name Young-Holt Limited (who actually had nothing to do with the recording) in 1968. Acklin's recording "Am I The Same Girl" was released in its original form in 1969, and it is this version that Swing Out Sister covered.

Here is the original by Barbara Acklin. You can easily tell that the music track is exactly the same one released as "Soulful Strut" minus the piano solo.



Here also is a blue-eyed soul version of the song by the legendary Dusty Springfield.



As NBC would say, the more you know. Thanks!