The Mysterious Faith Tones

   



   
   
    So last Thursday night Theresa and I were checking out the collection of vintage record albums on the wall of the fM restaurant lobby (see Friday's post),

...when this one stopped us in our tracks.

         Our initial what the heck?! reaction quickly evolved into a discussion over whether this supposed album cover from - when?  The 50's?  The 60's? - was real or a photo shop creation; were The Faith Tones an actual group?  If so did they represent satire or sincerity?  Were they women?  Or guys in leisure suits and bouffant 'do's?
    Anyway, when we got home Theresa googled "The Faith Tones" and what we learned was that this this 60's - or possibly pseudo-60's  - trio that I'd never heard of is in fact a great internet mystery with a cult following.  
    There are numerous sites debating the existence of "The Faith Tones" and their album.  There are those who swear that the album, supposedly released in 1964, exists; that they, or their father, or their cousin's friend's uncle in fact own, or used to own a copy.  There are others who claim  that  they've scoured the internet  looking for a copy of "Jesus Use Me" and that they've never found any evidence of its existence.
    Some hold that the album is just a fabricated meme image, an internet urban legend .
    Not that you can't find a recording of the title song.
    A recording of the of the song "Jesus Use Me",  an Old Timey piano gospel tune sung in close three-part women's harmony, was posted with a photo of the album cover on Youtube in 2013.  You  can check it out at: 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RciSEvedXvs
     If you listen to the recording it sounds authentic enough, and the person who posted that also posted two other songs from the album, "It's Different Now" and "God Bless America."

   But then after snooping around a bit I found this:

    The above photo accompanied a supposedly rare recording by a supposedly 60's Canadian Christian girl rock group.  That recording is at: 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMjlz7aCVzE
    So does this prove that the Faith Tones are a fake?  Or that they were just moonlighting?
    Anyway, there are enough believers out there that "Jesus Use Me" has a place - sometimes first - on several "Worst Album Cover Ever" sites,  and there are numerous parodies of the cover kicking around the 'net:

  There's also a hilarious youtube video called "Faith Tones Exposed"  that reveals the "true identity" of The Faith Tones.  This one you should check out:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ewF1jtAJs     
     I did come across one blog that posted a very believable, detail-filled and rather touching biography of the group members that was picked up by Wikipedia...until the author admitted that the story was fiction.   
    Suspiciously, the person who posted the fake biography appears to be the same one who posted the Faith Tones recordings on Youtube.  So go figure.
    In any case, here are the conclusions I've come to about the Faith Tones:
    1. Be it real or fake, there are three individuals somewhere out there, though at this time we know not who for sure, who posed for that album cover, and
    2. If The Faith Tones really were a female trio that produced an album in 1964 that is now enjoying a dubious renaissance, you'd think they'd step forward and try to cash in on the phenomenon.  Or step forward and tell everyone to knock it the heck off.

    Anyway, next time I go to the fM I'm definitely going to ask if anybody there knows where this came from.