Last night’s episode of The Americans featured a rather tense moment soundtracked by the Talking Heads’ recording of Slippery People.
That reminded me of the Staple Singers’ version, released in 1984.
It’s kind of weird how David Byrne’s twitchy, quasi gospel song fit the Staple Singers as well as it did.
Byrne also plays guitar on this version.
As you can see from this video, the Staples wound up miming it on Soul Train, and not long after, Roebuck ‘Pops’ Staples would pop up in Byrne’s True Stories.
I think this is my favorite take on the song, but as they say your mileage may vary.
But if this intrigues you, you should know that the Staples also cut a spirited take on Life During Wartime and it’s good enough that I wish they’d done a whole album of Talking Heads songs…
Chasing Perfect Sound Forever 
Oh god! The Americans is so good! My wife and I are so into it, we have had everyday conversations about how worried we are for the characters. As if they were real people! Back to the topic, cool cover! Glad you posted it, wasn’t aware of it prior.
LikeLike