Captain of Your Ship
| "Captain of Your Ship" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Reparata and the Delrons | |
| B-side | "Toom Toom (Is a Little Boy)" |
| Released | 1968 |
| Genre | Funk, Soul, Pop |
| Length | 2:29 |
| Label | Bell Records |
| Songwriter(s) | Kenny Young, Ben Yardley |
"Captain of Your Ship" is a pop song, first recorded by the US girl group Reparata and the Delrons, and released as a single in 1968 on the Bell record label. It was written by Kenny Young and Ben Yardley.
The song is unusual in its atmospheric use of sound effects (foghorn, ship's bell, Morse code) and features psychedelic instrumentation and treatments including electric sitar, backwards piano, filtered vocals and phasing. Lead singer Mary Aiese O'Leary told Mojo magazine in May 2008, "I thought it was horrible — the foghorn, the way they had changed my voice with effects. But I grew to like it, and it afforded the opportunity to go over to London ... In America, it fizzled. People in England liked quirkier stuff, and 'Captain of Your Ship' was quirky."
As O'Leary suggests, the song only made #127 in the U.S. national charts, but it became the group's biggest hit when it made #13 in the UK Singles Chart,. Following the success of the single, the group toured the United Kingdom, with the backing group Clouds.
Young said of this period: "I accompanied them to Top of the Pops ...[and]...attended the reception for their hit single "Captain of Your Ship", along with John Lennon and Ringo at the Revolution Club in London. I met half the Beatles at our own reception..."
Some sources wrongly credit Lorraine Mazzola with the lead vocal on the recording of "Captain of Your Ship". However a filmed live performance from German television, widely available on video sharing websites, shows Mary Aiese singing lead. The confusion may have arisen because Mazzola did become lead singer of the live group the following year, when Mary Aiese took a break from performing live. The filmed performance, with an introduction in German by Dave Lee Travis, appears to be the only existing archive television footage of the group from their 1960s heyday.
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