David Nathan: Soul Ambassador

David Nathan
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With six decades-plus as a renowned scribe and author as 'The British Ambassador Of Soul,' David Nathan offers reflections, reminiscences and ruminations on soul music and matters of the soul and spirit... davidnathan.substack.com

  1. Sep 18

    Sandra St. Victor: The Interview, Pt. 2

    In Pt. 1 of my extensive interview with soulstress of the first order, Sandra St. Victor, we talked about ‘stream of consciousness’ in sequencing her 2026 album, “XI” (Eleven); working with Mother Tongue Records; the genesis of the creation of some of the tracks (such as “Moonchild” and “Regarding Leon”); her collaboration with Lalah Hathaway on “No More Water”); and “What Would Miles Do” and her first encounter with Miles Davis. In Pt. 2, we continue to go ‘deep,’ which in my many conversations over the years with SSV (whose songs have been recorded by more than a few ‘names’ such as Chaka Khan, Prince and Tina Turner) is par for the course - doing some soul talkin’ about Go Up Moses and Roberta Flack; what being a ‘true’ artist means; touring and getting the word out about her latest album among other matters. Beyond the chat, best bet is to check the album and Sandra’s music! DAVID NATHAN: JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING... is a reader-supported publication. If you’ve enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing to my platform! (C) 2026, David Nathan, All Rights Reserved Get full access to DAVID NATHAN: JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING... at davidnathan.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Sep 17

    Sandra St. Victor: The Interview, Pt. 1

    HER-STORY As I share in Part I of this in-depth interview, I first heard Sandra St. Victor. an incomparable and uniquely distinctive artist on an advance cassette in 1988 when she, Peter Lord and V. Jeffrey Smith did a one-off LP for Atlantic Records, Chapters: A Novel under the name ‘Evon Geffries & The Stand.” I still remember my reaction: “WHO is this?” Best described as ‘progressive soul,’ there were tracks like “Sex W/O Love” and the emotive standout “Stand And Deliver.” I’m 99% sure I wrote the official press bio that accompanied the release, which sadly, was a little ‘too’ progressive for mainstream R&B radio and thus, audiences. Then, The Family Stand morphed out of the ashes of that brilliant first set to enjoy success (particularly in the UK) with the classic “Ghetto Heaven” and further albums, Sandra first solo venture, Sanctuary - a planned 1993 solo album for Elektra was not released…. Then, without a word of warning, along came Mack Diva Saves The World in 1996 on Warner Brothers: I was hooked. ‘MPH,’ ‘Since You Been Gone’ (my personal favourite) and “Come Over” all did it for me. Since then, I’ve been an unabashed champion for what I consider to be Sandra’s pioneering work through her genre-stretching artistry on two further albums, the 2001 set Gemini: Both Sides and 2013’s Oya’s Daughter. 11 - THE ALBUM Over a decade later, we have 11 (her eleventh record) and for me, it’s not surpisingly a mindblower, worth the wait. In our interview, Sandra shares about the genesis of the album (on Mother Tongue Records) and more…so much so that there is a Pt. 2 on Substack on September 18th, the release date for the LP. Check it. DAVID NATHAN: JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING... is a reader-supported publication. If you like/love what you read here, do subscribe! © 2026, David Nathan. All Rights Reserved. Get full access to DAVID NATHAN: JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING... at davidnathan.substack.com/subscribe

  3. Aug 31

    THELMA JONES: MOVIN’ IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION!

    TIMING IS EVERYTHING… The world of soul music is full of its fair share of recording artists and performers who, for whatever their destiny may be, don’t ascend to the heights of recognition their talent warrants or deserves. In the crowded pantheon of ‘60s and ‘70s R&B, Thelma Jones is not - as she herself would acknowledge - a ‘household’ name. Indeed, like many a soulful purveyor of emotive and passionate singing - even in the hallowed hierachy of avid record buyers and listeners - Thelma is known only by a dedicated few, most notably and in particular in the UK. With the 1967 blues ballad “Never Leave Me,” Thelma achieved US Top 50 R&B chart status - and yet, some of her recordings for the Barry label achieved a greater reception among Britain’s ‘Northern Soul’ community. DAVID NATHAN: JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING... is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. SOUL CITY RECORDS - REVIVED & REJUVENATED… In 2025, I was approached by UK-based Charly Records to consider the relaunch of Soul City Records, a label that I co-founded with Dave Godin and Robert Blackmore in l968 as a natural outgrowth of our shop that only sold American R&B 45s and LPs. Soul City Records lasted for almost two years -and yet, among Britain’s hardcore soul music fraternity of the ‘60s, it became somewhat the stuff of mythology and legend. Our 1969 releases included the original recording of “The House That Jack Built” by Thelma Jones (covered and a big hit for Aretha Franklin in 1968) and in what I can only call synchro-destiny, August 2026 sees the ‘return’ of Thelma to the revived Soul City label with two brilliant new recordings, “Love That Man” and “Movin’ In The Right Direction.” Timing is, indeed, everything! (Note: The transcript for the audio has been edited) DAVID N: Welcome everybody. I am so excited to have a conversation today with the incomparable Ms. Thelma Jones! She is about to have a new release, first release ever anywhere in the world of two recordings she has done. “Love That Man “and “Movin’ In The Right Direction.” It’s even more wonderful for me that they’re on Soul City Records, which is the label that I started with Dave Godin and Robert Blackmore, originally back in 1968. One of our first releases back then was also a recording by Thelma, “The House of Jack Built” and here we are all these years later, reuniting with Thelma for this brand new release. So welcome Thelma! THELMA J: Thank you so much. I’m so grateful to be here and I’m doing very, very well. DAVID N: Well, I’m sure people are going to want to know how this whole new recording came about. Share with us a little bit about the whole process that led to this release on Soul City… THELMA J: Well, it was actually the producer of this record and the writer is Mr. James Holvay. We were doing some music projects together and he was interested in putting together a promo or a theme song for President Obama at the time for his second re-election campaign [in 2013]. He came up with this song, “Movin’ In The Right Direction, and “Love That Man,” which will be the A side. That’s how we decided to do it. DAVID N: Did you have any plans for it being released at that time, when it was recorded? THELMA J: At that time, we did not. He was going to present it to the Obama campaign managers, and I don’t know that he ever had the opportunity to do that, but then he was at some point planning to release “Love That Man”, but it just never happened until now. DAVID N: And we can tell the story… I don’t mind us telling the story about how this came about. Because in the interest of transparency for everyone who will be listening to this, I have known Thelma personally as a dear friend for quite a few decades. I think how I recall that one of the people at Charly Records, was working with a gentleman you mentioned, James Holvay, and had this track and he wasn’t 100% sure who it was. He asked me to listen to it and I said, well, I’m not sure, I think it’s Thelma Jones. Then as you recall, Thelma, I believe I played it to you on the phone. I think that’s how I did it. THELMA J: You did. I had actually forgotten that we did that session. When I heard it and I said, ‘I’m not sure. Are you sure that’s me?’ It was quite comical because you said, ‘yes, Miss Thelma. I know your voice. I know the inflections, the way you phrase, that is you.’ After I listened to it, I went, ‘oh, yes. I remember recording this with James Holvay’. DAVID N: Yes. At that point, we had not heard “Movin’ In The Right Direction.” We only heard that one song, “Love That Man.” I remember what I did, actually, when I heard it… and I diDavid N’t know anything about James Holvay…and I went online and tried to see, ‘ Has this been something that Thelma did thatI diDavid N’t know about? I coulDavid N’t find it anywhere, of course, it haDavid N’t been released. Then, as you know how it’s all turned out, Chary Records working with Soul City label has been able to work it out to have it released. I’ve got to tell you, from my perspective, it sounds absolutely brilliant! To me, it has that kind of almost like a Chicago soul sound to it. So tell me about what you remember about the session. I mean, anything you want to say about the actual recording of it? THELMA J: Well, it’s very interesting that you mentioned that it has the Chicago soul sound, because that’s where James is from, Chicago. That is his musical background. Of course, R&B music, but he especially loved Curtis Mayfield. But he really, really loved that sound that is specific to Chicago. What I remember about the session was that I loved it, it was an easy going feeling in the studio, no pressure…it was just easy. I actually enjoyed it which I can hear that through the listening to the song afterwards. DAVID N: I have to tell you that I personally was a little torn between which I thought should be the A or B side because “Movin’ In The Right Direction” is as much a great recording as “Love That Man”. Do you want to say anything a little bit about “Movin’ In The Right Direction” because it seems kind of topical… given what’s going on in the world. I particularly noted that the flavor of it that would be reminiscent a little bit of Mavis Staples, I would say, in reference towards the end of the recording. THELMA J: Oh yes, oh yes. It is really interesting the times we’re living in and the message in the song that he was offering to the Obama campaign at the time. It is reminiscent a little Mavis. DAVID N: I know it’s been a while since you had a new record out, Thelma, so we want to catch people up a little bit about what you’ve been up to. I do recall specifically that you’ve had a couple of times coming to Europe, which has been quite amazing because I think both or three occasions that you have been over on this side of the pond, as they used to say. One was in Northampton, was very much a ‘Northern Soul’ event. I think it’s okay to tell people that, when we were there, it was really interesting how much those recordings that you made all the way back in the years, in the 60s, still resonate with that particular audience, songs like “Stronger.” I just want you to share with us a little bit about when that happened, what was your reaction to it? THELMA J: I was just really overwhelmed and amazed and so appreciative because that the fan base was still there and remembered the songs and was singing along with me. It was just wonderful. DAVID N: Then, of course, you and I got together again in Italy at Porretta, which is also very memorable to me because I recall that you treated us on a Sunday morning at a local church with an incredible rendition of “Take My Hand, Precious Lord, “which I know is very much a part of your gospel roots. I want to say a little bit about that too, because I think that’s also, for people who haven’t heard from you for a while, let’s give them some idea of your story in as much as it began in the world of gospel. You singing that song was very fitting, I think, on that occasion [in 2010]. THELMA J: That’s my roots, my base. That’s what I started out singing. The music was, of course, gospel. I think I remember the first time I ever sung a song in public was in the church. I was about five years old and my aunt bribed me into singing because she’s a very devout Christian. She came to visit and she heard me singing every blues song that was popular at the time and she said to me, ‘well, do you know any songs about Jesus?’ I remember that vividly, I said, ‘no, ma’am’ and she says, ‘well, if I teach you a song about Jesus, I’ll make a very pretty little dress. Will you sing it at church?’ I went, ‘oh, you know, being a little Taurean baby, I wanted that pretty dress!’ So I said, oh, yes, ma’am.’ She taught me this song, ‘I’ll Fly Away’ and I ended up singing it in church for the first time. The response was so overwhelming. I ended up becoming a member of the choir and singing gospel music for quite a long time. DAVID N: Well, what’s amazing is that you said you were five? THELMA J: Five. Four or five. I was very little. DAVID N: Yeah. I mean, do you have to stand on a little stool or something? THELMA J: Well, you know, that’s interesting. the acoustics in the churches in those days, you really didn’t need a microphone so they let me stand on the little platform just below the pulpit so everybody could see the little person that was singing. It was almost frightening to a certain degree because the people reacted so emotionally and everybody wanted to grab you and squeeze you. They were shouting, ‘Praise the Lord! That was kind of scary to me, but I wanted that little dress and I got it. DAVID N: So you

  4. Aug 17

    ARETHA: UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME...

    This post is part of my ‘Living Memoirs’ series On the 8th anniversary of Aretha Franklin’s transition, August 16th, I consider which of my precious memories of ‘The Queen of Soul,’ as a singular influence on my life, both musically and personally to share…and there are many. As a prelude to the specific reference in this title’s post, a few words about the origins of my association with Aretha that morphed in later years into a for-real, much-treasured mutually-respectful friendship… NINA SIMONE: “David, have you heard Aretha Franklin? She’s great!” I never imagined when Nina Simone first shared her name with me on a June Saturday at Heathrow Airport in 1965 after she and I (as the teenage founder of the first UK appreciation society/fan club for ‘The High Priestess Of Soul’) met for the first time that Aretha would figure so prominently throughout the decades that have followed: such is synchro-destiny! Not long after Nina’s reference to Aretha, noting that I should check out her music, I was at a Dionne Warwick/Shirelles fan club beach party in Littlehampton and on the battery-run record player, someone played a track from a prized US import LP: I literally gasped! ‘Who is THAT?’ I exclaimed. “Oh, that’s A-reth-a Franklin” was the reply, with a very English interpretation of the daughter of a preacher man’s name! The song? “Walk On By,” recorded by Aretha just months after Dionne’s big 1964 global hit, ironically with the same background vocalists, namely Dionne’s younger sister Dee Dee, aunt Cissy Houston and future Sweet Inspirations, Estelle Brown and Sylvia Shemwell. Thus my journey into the world of Aretha Louise Franklin began; soon after, I purchased Yeah!!!, the only one of the then-six Columbia LPs released in four years since the start of her secular recording career, aged 18, in 1960, that had been released in the UK; I still remember how much I loved the cover as much as I loved the collection of mostly jazz and pop standards contained therein - and smile fondly noting that the very same photo adorned the programme for her ‘celebration of life’ service on August 31st, 2018. THE LETTER, THE PHONE CALL AND THE MEETING… So many memories…writing two fan letters to Aretha in the spring of 1966 (one addressed to her in care of her father’s church) and getting a handwritten reply a few months later; then, calling to wish her a merry Christmas in December 1966, when she told me, shyly, I was the first person she’d ever spoken to in England and learning during the call that she was getting ready for her first recordings for Atlantic Records the next month: neither she nor I could have had any knowledge that a few weeks later at the now-famous/infamous one-off session in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Aretha’s destiny would change forever. Mine too, as it turned out when the lyrics of “I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)” became my as-lived experience with my first boyfriend, first name, ‘Franklin’: ‘You’re no good heartbreaker, you’re a liar and a cheat!’ I still remember singing along to it at a fan club party with all the soulfulness my English teenage voice could muster! Through the years that followed, Aretha and her music formed much of the tapestry of my life during my twenties. I finally got to meet her (at Gatwick airport with her sister Carolyn and then-husband/manager Ted White) in 1968 and took my mother and sister to see Aretha’s first London concert at Hammersmith Odeon at which my mother smiled, ‘She reminds me of that gospel singer Mahalia Jackson,’ a very wise observation on the part of Mrs. Nathan! MISTAKEN IDENTITY AND JERRY WEXLER’S NOTE… I wrote my first of what would be dozens of articles on Aretha in 1966 for “Rhythm & Soul USA,’ the short-lived UK magazine for Dave Godin’s ‘Friends Of Rhythm & Blues Society’: excited as I was, I was later deeply embarassed that CBS Records that sent us a photo of her sister Erma for the story and we had printed it in error. Oops… Subsequently, I expressed my passion for Aretha’s music, notably in 1967 for the UK Atlantic fanzine, ‘Uptight’an’Outtasight.’ earning me a personal typewritten letter from no less a luminary than Jerry Wexler, the wise executive who had signed Aretha to Atlantic in November 1966 (initially offering her contract to Jim Stewart at Stax Records who - in retrospect - thankfully passed on having her join the label’s roster). Along with his letter of thanks for me sharing about Aretha in print in the UK, Jerry had enclosed a promo copy of her then-forthcoming 45, “Baby I Love You”! Wow. It was the ‘B’ side, Aretha’s spine-chilling version of bluesman Howlin’ Wolf’s “Going Down Slow” that really did it for me. Going through my own personal blues with boyfriend number two, William, I remember playing it over and over again on the record player in his tiny bedroom, although he seemed oblivious to just why Aretha’s gospel-fused wail seemed to resonate so much with me at age 19… ALWAYS ON MY PLAYLIST… I could, but I won’t, detail every subsequent Aretha ‘event’ in my life and career from then on, some of which was detailed in the chapter of my 1999 book, The Soulful Divas (which you can download at my website.) Instead, I’ll focus on a particularly special time in Aretha’s career and life and in mine too… It’s September 7th, 1973, just a few weeks after Aretha’s completed another recording session in New York (which has been her home for some years) as part of what would become her February 1974 album, Let Me In Your Life. It’s a rare one-off date, inasmuch as Aretha is recording just one tune distinct from the usual three or four she cuts at the same time. Present are ‘A’ list musicians, such as Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie on drums, Chuck Rainey on bass, Hugh McCracken on guitar, Richard Tee on organ. Kenneth Bichel on synthesizer and ‘The Sweehearts Of Soul’ (Margaret Branch, Ann S. Clark, Pat Smith), Aretha’s touring background vocal group on hand with special guest, fellow Atlantic recording artist Donny Hathaway on electric piano. Atlantic’s masterful arranger Arif Mardin, concert master Gene Orloff and a string session, engineer Lew Hahn and Jerry Wexler (credited wirh Arif Mardin and Aretha as co-producers of the session). Aretha sets the tone on piano and as revealed many years later through vault research by yours truly, there’s a full demo of the song in which Wexler references the song as having a reggae-type beat, with that specific piece missing from the version of the demo released in 2012. Released as a single in November, just a few months later, “Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I'm Gonna Do),” is clearly intended to be the last addition to the Let Me In Your Life album most likely because the previous sessions for Aretha’s 13th Atlantic LP in 7 remarkable years don’t seem to have yielded an obvious hit. It turns out to be just that when it’s her biggest pop & R&B chartmaker in two years and a certified gold 45 to boot… A PHONE CALL FROM BACKSTAGE AT THE APOLLO THEATER, HARLEM… While I had written much about Aretha from 1966 on, I hadn’t conducted a ‘proper’ interview with her for Blues & Soul (the publication I had started writing for ‘officially’ in 1970) until 1973. Of note: I used an informal conversation she and I in her dressing room at the UK television show Top Of The Pops in July 1970 as a feature which became my first-ever cover story for the magazine! The opportunity to speak with Aretha arose ahead of the UK release of “Until You Come Back To Me” : I was more than delighted that the magazine’s founder and editor, John Abbey had ok’d it for me to conduct the interview which would be the cover story for the final year-end edition of Blues & Soul in 1973. The logistics of the transatlantic call were a little challenging: Aretha was in the midst doing some shows at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem and the only way to get it done, given the time difference between London and New York, was mid-evening when I was at home in the flat I shared in Willesden with my friend Angus. I still vividly recall that - way before any notion of a mobile phone - I had to wait by the dial-up phone in the hallway until the ‘magic’ hour when an international operator would connect us! With pen in hand (note: also the title of one of the tracks on Let Me In Your Life, retrieved from a 1971 recording session), I stood by the phone, waiting for the call. I can still picture myself anxiously waiting. No call at the appointed hour. My instructions were to call a number for the backstage phone at the Apollo if the time came and went without a ring-a-ding. I complied, explaining that I was calling from London as arranged to speak with Miss Franklin. “Hold on,” the unidentified responder said. “Let me check with her manager.” A minute or two later: “I’m sorry, you’ll have to call back. Miss Franklin is running a little late.” “Hi David, how are you? How’s everything in London?” The honeyed tones of Aretha thirty minutes later provided blessed assurance! A little banter and then, down to business. Talking about “Until You Come Back To Me,” Aretha noted, “Stevie [Wonder] and I are old friends, you know. He often drops material by at the studios for me – and this particular song was written with another old friend, Maurice Broadnax [and Clarence Paul].” Referencing her then-upcoming LP for Atlantic (with whom, Aretha said, she was “almost re-signed”), she shared further: “Now, let’s see. We’ve got some really funky tunes in there and some nice ballads… I am very happy with the finished product, actually…there’s the old Wilson Pickett song, ‘I’m In Love’, the Etta James hit, ‘At Last’, ‘Eight Days On The Road’ and at least on

  5. Aug 10

    Renewing My Faith In Music...

    (This is a much longer post than usual since it’s my first in a few weeks! Now, let me say from the jump that I have never lost my faith in music and in particular, soul music as the bedrock, tapestry and foundation of my current incarnation. It’s true that the R&B and soul sounds that nurtured me, provided comfort, frequently brought joy in the midst of pain, energized me, gave cause for celebration and was - more times than I can remember - the soothing balm for a love-gone-bad, a few sleepless nights and (not just) Tuesday Heartbreaks, with a nod to the ‘Wonder ‘Man - have decidedly changed, as have I. My life has been informed in many ways by songs that are embedded deep into my ‘interesting’ psyche! Randomly…“You’re Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else” (The Jones Girls), “Be Thankful For What You Got” (William DeVaughn), “Payback Is A Dog” (The Stylistics), “Optimistic” (Sounds Of Blackness), “Tired Of Being Alone” (Al Green), "Surrender” (Diana Ross), “Baby Hang Up The Phone” (Carl Graves), “I Know You I Live You” (Chaka Khan), “Giving Love” (Voices Of East Harlem), “Make Me A Believer” (Luther Vandross), “Can’t Hide Love” (EW&F) and “Until You Come Back To Me” (Aretha Franklin) are just a miniscule ‘glimpse’ into the treasure trove of tunes that have been my musical ‘companions’ through these many decades of my as-lived experiences… and I ain’t ashamed to say so! Which, dear reader (with apologies to Bridgerton fans for ‘borrowing’ from Lady Whistledown!) brings me fortuitously to the title of this post. True that in the last decade, there hasn’t been a whole lot of music by legendary or contemporary artists that held my attention for more than a little while which may have as much to do with how my own life path has changed, just like everyone else’s! Nothing, as Benard Ighner so eloquently stated, ‘stays the same’. It’s the nature of our human journey that we change and if we resist change, it makes no difference anyway and often makes the pathway harder and tougher. A wise man once noted that it’s best to ride the horse in the direction it’s going! Forgive the brief ‘tangent-izing’ as I like to call it: essentially, there have been some bright spots in the music I’ve heard and the shows I’ve seen but not what I’d call a tidal wave of songs or performances that have fuelled my fire like music from the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and a little of the ‘90s. Then…somewhat unexpectedly in the last few weeks, my attention has been drawn to two recordings and one video that have brought much enthusiasm and renewal to my essential love and passion for music itself - and in all these specific instances - not what you ‘might’ think my ‘British Ambassador Of Soul’ moniker would be enchanted by! MADONNA: GOOD FOR THE SOUL I’m fessing up: I lived in New York City when Madonna’s arrival on the music scene, with all the hype that surrounded it, basically left me mucho disinterested. I knew she’d worked with my good friend Reggie Lucas, something that in the world of ‘really?’ we had in common (since Reggie and musical partner Mtume had actually produced a full-on - never released - recording with me as soulful vocalist). Some of her early recordings were bouncy and breezy (“Holiday,””Borderline”): I ‘may’ have even smiled at “Like A Virgin” (a state that was just a vague memory for me in 1984!). Through all that the world of Madonna offered in the years that followed, I paid scant attention, although in the interests of transparency, I was quite happy to work with a few of the artists as a media coach and bio writer that were signed to her Maverick Records label in the ‘90s including N-Phase and Dalvin DeGrate. One album, 1998’s “Ray Of Light” piqued my interest, signalling what seemed like a personal and musical transformation for Madonna: that the track “Shanti/Ashtangi” was sung entirely in Sanskrit was a particular revelation and it remains a favourite, if truth be told, not on my regular playlists. For the most part, I never paid heed to what ‘Lady’ Madonna was up to - or as far as recording went, not up to. Politely and not personally, she was not on my radar until my dear friend, colleague and fellow Substack-er Tim Dillinger, with whom I have regular conversations, mentioned the release of “Confessions II,” the first new album by Madonna in seven years. I ‘confessed’ to Tim, with no pun intended, that I was somewhat surprised that Madonna was an artist he had any particular affinity for or interest in, given his deep love for gospel/soul and related genres. In his recent Substack post, “Madonna: The Gospel/CCM Connections,” Tim shared that as a child of the 1980s, her music remains important to him. When Tim started to wax lyrical about “Confessions II,” I listened. I value his opinions when it comes to music. Anyone who shares a passion, as do I, for artists such as Laura Nyro and Teena Marie knows a thing or twenty about real, when it comes to music! Tim suggested I give the new Madonna album a try, explaining that, given my years in New York in the mid-’70s through the early ‘80s and in particular the many Saturday nights-into-early-Sunday-mornings spent at clubs like the famed Paradise Garage, I just ‘might’ enjoy some of the dance-flavoured tracks on “Confessions II”. I listened to the entire album a couple of times over and had to ‘confess’ that it really resonated with me, as Tim had suggested it might. Now, It takes something for me to add a new recording to my ‘Liked Songs’ playlist which consists of classics like “Blessed” (The Emotions), “At The Concert” (Roberta Flack & Michael Henderson) and “Same Ole Love” (Anita Baker). “Good For The Soul” hit the spot. Given my deep interest in ‘matters of the Soul,’ I was drawn in, no surprise given that the track begins with ‘everything begins with consciousness,’ a quote from French philosopher Albert Camus. Lyric lines like ‘Echoes of voices recalling the time, we will be one, we will be divine, time is a river we cannot unwind,’ along a propulsive rhythm almost had me dancing on a London bus when it came up on my playlist! When I shared my enthusiasm with Tim on our next call, he was not surprised: I told him that the lyrics on “Good For The Soul” in particular along with other songs on the album seemed to reflect Madonna’s own personal journey and he agreed. The album is a potent reminder that any judgement we may form about the creative journey of an artist who has stood the test of time (no easy endeavour in this fast-paced digital age) is worthy of review. Indeed. MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO & CYNTHIA ERIVO: I KNEW YOU WERE WAITING (FOR ME) Yes, the second biggest pop hit that The Queen Of Soul, my dear Aretha Franklin had in her illustrious recording career, the first being her anthemic reading of Otis Redding’s “Respect” in 1967, as a duet with George Michael some two decades later, was the subject of another recent conversation with my friend Tim! He had written another Substack post, "1986: I Want to Be in the Mainstream II” in which he shared how the song was - and I quote -’a testimony of survival and victory that summarizes, in some ways, Franklin’s own climb back to the top.’ When Tim and I were talking further about the recording, I recognized that Clive Davis at Arista was indeed astute at suggesting the song to Aretha given whatever personal challenges she had faced in the few years before she recorded it with George. With 1985’s “Who’s Zoomin’ Who” platinum album and the hit singles therein, Aretha was enjoying a major resurgence and teaming her with George Michael was a brilliant move. Unbeknownest to either Tim or I when we were having the conversation in late May, another artist - with a connection to the afore-mentioned Madonna since her debut album was released on Maverick Records a few decades ago - had recorded a version of “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” for her forthcoming album, Synonym. Indeed, slowed down as a duet with Cynthia Erivo and released as the first track from the album of collaborations with a star-studded list of artists and musicians, “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)” has immediately been added to my ‘Liked Songs’ playlist, a sign of just how much I love Meshell and Cynthia’s hypnotic take on the song. As I noted in my chat with Tim, the lyrics of the Aretha-George duet are powerful; heard in this new reimaging of the song resonates in a whole new way for me personally. Meshell Ndegeocello has had a remarkable career, no doubt. A cursory glance of the Wikipedia entry on her reveals that her 1993 set, Plantation Lullabies was considered by some as heralding the ‘birth of neo-soul,’ a statement that in hindsight seems debatable. Not for any particular ‘reason’ but Meshell’s work hasn’t often been on my radar and in doing some research on her extensive discography, I discovered that she had recorded an entire album in 2012 in dedication to Nina Simone who, for those of you know my history are aware, jumpstarted my own lifelong passion and dedication to Black music as a teenager in 1965. Checking it out in hindsight, I note that Meshell’s repertoire choices for Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone, recorded for the Paris-based Naive label, indicate a real awareness of the depth of Nina’s catalogue and include some fascinating choices, such as “Either Way I Lose,” “Don’t Take All Night,” “Real Real” and “Turn Me On.” When it comes to Nina, Meshell clearly knows her stuff! While I get regular emails from a prominent UK publicist informing me of various festivals, events and new releases, not all of them are relevant to my particular musical leaning. That said, the pr

  6. Jul 4

    MISS LORRAINE ELLISON STOPPED ME IN MY TRACKS ONE DAY IN MY KITCHEN...

    I was in the kitchen in my modest abode in London and as is often the case, I like to listen (and often singing along with) tracks from a Spotify playlist I created some time ago entitled ‘David Nathan’s ‘60s Uptown Soul Favourites.’ While cutting up some cabbage and garlic bulbs (both organic, of course!) to steam for my evening meal, I joined in with Maxine Brown (“One Step At A Time”), Dee Dee Warwick (“I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”), The Radiants (“Voice Your Choice”) and Irma Thomas (“It’s Starting To Get To Me Now”), all reminders of my youth, each song serving up a particular memory from the time when I first began to treasure real soul music... Soul music has ALWAYS been an ‘as lived’ experience for me since the day I heard. and instantly fell in love with, Dionne Warwick’s heart-breaking ode, “Walk On By,” when I was 16 and smitten in deep unrequited for Marilyn Wolff who said she only went out with older boys. It is still my favourite recording of all time…. SINGING ALONG WITH…LORRAINE ELLISON? AN ‘ACQUIRED’ TASTE… Back in my kitchen: the greens and garlic are ready and the playlist is still on. It’s natural for me to keep on singing along but it’s time to eat…until THAT voice, the unforgettable cut-you-to-the-core-emotion-beyond-emotion sound of Miss Lorraine Ellison bringing every shred of deep intensity to her version of a no-chance-in-a-million-possibility-of-being-hit-recording of “You Don’t Know Nothing About Love,” previously recorded by another unheralded soul music hero, Carl Hall in 1967. Lorraine Ellison’s vocal style is an acquired taste, not as Brits like to say, ‘everyone’s cup of tea.’ Like me, when it comes to love and romantic partnerships. I am, unashamedly, ‘an acquired taste’. A friend of mine in Los Angeles once remarked - when I asked why he never introduced me to prospective guys to date - ‘You’re not the marrying kind.’ I was highly offended at the time and I knew truth when I heard it: for much like the super-soulful Lorraine Ellison at her stratospheric best, an acquired taste, indeed. The result was minimal popularity other than with ‘those in the know’ (think the iconic Laura Nyro, Patti LaBelle and a few other discerning folks including her longtime producer Jerry Ragovoy), Lorraine didn’t find compromise easy when it came to being true to her art and fully being herself. RANDY’S RECORDS, “I DIG YOU BABY” AND “PLEASE DON’T TEACH ME TO LOVE YOU” I first came across Lorraine Ellison’s name sometime in late 1965 or early 1966. I don’t have any idea how I discovered the existence of Randy’s Records, a shop in Gallatin, Tennessee that specialized in mail order and shipped 45s to the UK.... Among my prized possessions to this day are the very same singles I purchased back in ‘66 still intact - two 45s on Mercury Records by the ‘mysterious’ Miss Ellison… About six months after Lorraine’s second Mercury single was released (with a brilliant ‘B’ side, “Please Don’t Teach Me To Love You,” penned by the ever-amazing Van McCoy with a lyric to which I could relate as a lovelorn teen!), a new recording emerged on Warner Brothers, seemingly ‘out of nowhere’. As I would discover eight years later in my first full-on interview with Ms. Ellison, it was hardly that... “Stay With Me” was written by Ragovoy with George David Weiss (known for such standards as “What A Wonderful World,“ “Lullaby Of Birdland”) and there are few words that can describe the dramatic nature of the song. Suffice to say that Lorraine Ellison brought all the power and emotion of her years as a gospel singer with the family group, The Ellison Singers to the 3-minute-plus opus: no surprise that Janis Joplin and Bette Midler were among the high-powered vocalists who delivered their own ‘take’ on the song after Lorraine’s definitive original. Lorraine, 1974: I remember that first session on “Stay With Me” particularly vividly. Jerry called up and told us we had the studio for three numbers — because Frank Sinatra had cancelled one of his sessions. Well, Garry Sherman was the arranger for the session and he had a huge orchestra assembled…for Frank Sinatra! No one told them that he’d cancelled and that I was going to be recording instead and it was real funny watching them go over the scores for the songs we were doing. When the time came’ for me to come out to record, the guys just fell apart — Frank sure had changed! “WHO IS THAT?” AND A CHANGE OF MIND… The first time I heard “Stay With Me” was a month or so after its release in America in October 1966. I was staying at the home of Dave Godin, the ‘Godfather Of R&B’ in the UK: it was during a time when he and I were working on the plans for what would be Soul City, the record store we created (with Dave’s friend Robert Blackmore) which opened on December 10, 1966. Dave regularly received promotional copies from Pye Records in the UK, who were at the time the British licensees for Warner Brothers Records. After the postman delivered a package from Pye, Dave put on Lorraine’s 45. I was in the room I slept in when I heard “Stay With Me” and I vividly remember my reaction! “Who is THAT?” I yelled. Dave played the record a second time, which was unusual for him. He would only do that if a particular disc was of interest. I was stunned by the sheer emotion imparted by Lorraine on the record. Dave seemed to concur. It was the essence of what we would come to know as ‘deep soul’ and initially, he thought “Stay With Me” was amazing.... REVERENCE FROM LAURA NYRO AND OTHER NOTABLES… Lorraine became revered among pop and rock luminaries such as Van Morrison and Laura Nyro (who loved her work and had planned to write a song for recordings Lorraine was doing with photographer-producer Stephen Paley - see photo below) Mass appeal evaded her, no doubt because Lorraine’s vocals were so ‘outside’ the usual approach that female artists took at the time. While Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle (another Philadelphia native) were known to praise Lorraine’s recordings, the fact that she did almost no live performing was a detriment although she continued to record (mostly with Jerry Ragovoy) for Warners, only switching producers - after a less-than-successful sessions with Paley in Muscle Shoals in 1970 - and then, finally, Warners’ executive Ted Templeman who masterminded her final self-titled LP, released in July 1974 which was the catalyst for my lengthy phone interview with her for Blues & Soul, the most extensive article on her to ever appear in print. SWEET & SOULFUL SISTER LOVE… Such is the synchro-destiny of my life: in October 1974, when I visited America for the first time, I took a day or so for a whirlwind trip to Philadelphia during which I got to met Lorraine Ellison in person! The circumstances remain a little hazy and it may well have been that I visited her a second time after I began my tenure writing for Blues & Soul in America in the early months of 1975. What remains forever fixed in my memory banks was her kindness and warmth. She invited me to stay over at her home in Philly with her husband Sam and children, including Tonya, who remarkably, I met when I lived briefly in the city in 2008 when we took a trip to the very house (whose address I had memorized from when I first went there!). That was two years after I had spoken with Tonya and Lorraine’s granddaughter Sidny on the phone after the folks at Rhino Records gave me the amazing opportunity to create “Sister Love,” a 3CD compilation of all of Lorraine’s Warner Brothers’ including a whole disc of unreleased demos, many of which featured Lorraine accompanying herself on the piano without any other instrumentation. It was the second reissue compilation I had created from Lorraine’s over 60 recordings for Warner Brothers, the first an Ichiban Soul Classics 23-track CD thanks to my friend John Abbey, who was the editor and owner of Blues & Soul for many years and without whom I may never have had the chance to write for the magazine in the US in 1975, let alone begin my own reissue label twenty years later. More synchro-destiny… Like so many of the greatest artists that I’ve ever had the pure joy to meet after relishing and bathing in the magnificence of their work, Lorraine never got the public acclaim, recognition and acceptance her unique talent deserved…and yet, I muse, if she touched just one soul - and I know she did, speaking directly and personally - then there’s a quiet assurance that she got her divine job done. Please do listen to this playlist I created of some of Sister Love’s work but a warning: please don’t try sing along! DAVID NATHAN: JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING... is a reader-supported publication. If you’ve enjoyed this post, please consider subscribing and if you are already a free subscriber - thank you and it’s cool to upgrade if you are moved to do so! © 2026, David Nathan, All Rights Reserved. Get full access to DAVID NATHAN: JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING... at davidnathan.substack.com/subscribe

  7. Jun 21

    REVISITING: FISH & CHIPS...AND CHICAGO SOUL ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON...

    This post is part of my ‘Living Memoirs’ This post was originally published on March 4, 2024. I’ve revised it for many of the subscribers who have graciously signed up since then and added audio. It seems fitting given this is Father’s Day in the US (June 21st 2026) Today’s been a different kinda Sunday. I had what my Dad used to say was a ‘lie-in’. My father Mark Nathan worked on Saturdays from early morning when he would prepare the big pans from the massive vats of oil for frying fish and chips until it was time for the shop above which we lived on Kilburn High Road in NW London to open. He’d take a break in the mid-afternoon when the shop and restaurant that was part of the popular eaterie (frequented by pop stars of the day and future music legends who would record at Abbey Road and Decca studios in the area - think Beatles, Rolling Stones, etc.) was closed. Think of a siesta without the attendant sunshine! By 5pm, he’d be back behind the counter, making piping hot chips (and not the skinny ‘French’ fries that became popular in the years that followed but the original chunky kind) and frying fish to perfection… The record player on which I would wear out my favourite R&B and soul 45s and LP tracks - Dionne Warwick, Martha & The Vandellas, Lou Johnson, Baby Washington, Ketty Lester and others - was originally in my parents’ bedroom. Sunday mornings, out of respect for my hard-working Dad’s need for extra sleep and a ‘lie-in,’ I would refrain from blasting tunes although I have a very strong memory of asking him if I could play tracks from one of my then-most treasured possessions, the high-priced import LP, “Forbidden Fruit” by Nina Simone, just a few months before I started the UK appreciation society for her… “I really like the jazz on that record,” my Dad responded, listening to Nina’s soothing tones on tunes like “I’ll Look Around,” “No Good Man” and “I Love To Love.” I smiled and flipped the LP over for more Simone stylings, “Where Can I Go Without You,” “Just Say I Love Him,” “Memphis In June” as my father rested from the late Saturday night where more than a few less-than-sober guys from the Irish pub next door had kept the shop open till midnight… Fast forward to today’s Sunday ‘lie-in’ many decades later which ended around noon. Time to do some house chores and then the lurking question: do I give in to hankering for some fish-and-chips on this particular Sunday? I kept telling myself that I have enough food in the flat but the desire for the very British dish is too strong: ‘Temptation ‘bout to get me…’ I walk part of the way to the shop in Victoria, earpods in, letting Spotify jump through my “‘60s Uptown Soul Favourites”. Love singing along a tune or two much to the likely bewilderment of those walking down Vauxhall Bridge Road since all they can hear is my melodic melismas with no idea of what I’m listening to! My yearning for fish and chips (not quite as amazing as my Dad’s from back in the day) is now satisfied after I reach one of London’s better fish-and-chip shops. The playlist has settled on a slew of amazing R&B anthems that just ‘happen’ to have originally been recorded in Chicago. Algorithms being what they are, a few other Windy City classics recorded at or for Chess Records are also providing a soul serenade for me on this Sunday leisurely stroll. “There ain’t room enough for two, in sharing your heart with someone new, whatever I do, it’s getting mighty crowded, I’m telling you!” opines Betty Everett with a song that provided her with a UK mid-sized pop hit in early 1965. Her erstwhile duet partner, ‘The Iceman’ Jerry Butler is pouring his cool-but-emotive feelings into “I Can’t Stand To See You Cry,” and I’m singing along with a tear-in-my-voice. Worth noting: both songs were penned by the super-brilliant Van McCoy who must have had more than a few heartbreak moments in his life given his lamenting lyricism… Mood change. Some of my absolute all-time and forever faves that were cut at Chess follow. I remember well that some of the songs I’m grooving to were included on a 1966 Chess/Checker LP, “Sing A Song Of Soul.” Billy Stewart’s been “Sitting In The Park,” Jackie Ross talkin’ “Selfish One,” Mitty Collier declares “I’m Satisfied” and then two choones that are ever and ever dear, The Radiants with “Voice Your Choice.” The Knight Brothers’ “Temptation ‘Bout To Get Me.” It still does… As I head towards the bus stop, Major Lance shares… “Walking through the park, it wasn’t quite dark, there was a man sitting on a bench…” And in sync with him, I too sing out, ‘Um, Um, Um, Um, Um’… I realize just how totally brilliant so much of this Chicago soul music of the ‘60s is and how it shaped my teen years and beyond. The wonderful arrangements, the amazing vocals and production. I end my Sunday mid-afternoon journey with Gene Chandler’s unbelievable vocal masterpiece “I Fooled You This Time” (to which I do not sing along!) and a ditty from Johnny Nash, “Love Ain’t Nothing (But A Monkey On Your Back)”… It might have been the lure of fish and chips and the ‘sense’ memory such a dish evokes of my father and his Sunday ‘lie-ins’ but give me a meal of Windy City soul classics anytime and it will surely provide satisfaction beyond, beyond… DAVID NATHAN: JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING... is a reader-supported publication. As you can tell, I love writing these posts! Your support makes a difference! Please consider becoming a subscriber. © 2026, David Nathan. All Rights Reserved Get full access to DAVID NATHAN: JUST MY SOUL RESPONDING... at davidnathan.substack.com/subscribe

  8. May 30

    REVISITED: 'SOUL' HAS NO COLOUR

    In the autumn of 1962, a 23-year-old Dusty Springfield was on a visit to America en route to Nashville to make a country music album with the folk/pop trio, The Springfields with brother Tom and Tim Feild. The group had achieved success with the single, “Silver Threads And Golden Needles” which was the first single by a British group to reach the top 20 of the US Hot 100. “The Exciters sort of got you by the throat...out of the blue comes blasting at you ‘I know something about love’…” Springfield reportedly declared, “That’s what I wanna do” During a stopover in New York, per Wikipedia, while taking a late-night walk by the Colony Record Store on Broadway, Dusty heard a record that have a major impact on her musical direction: “Tell Him” by the group The Exciters was playing and she’d recall, “The Exciters sort of got you by the throat...out of the blue comes blasting at you ‘I know something about love’…” Springfield reportedly declared, “That’s what I wanna do” and by the time she began her solo career a year or so later, Dusty Springfield focused on making music with a pop-and-soul flavour. I recall a conversation with my dear friend Carl Bean some years ago during which he shared how he met Dusty during one of her first few visits to New York at a time when he was singing with the famed gospel group, The Alex Bradford Singers who were performing in the off-Broadway musical, “Black Nativity,” the same show that brought Madeline Bell to Britain in 1962. Carl had a vivid memory of taking Dusty (who he likely met through Madeline) to Harlem and specifically to The Apollo Theater and how she was thrilled to witness R&B hitmakers in action. 1963 was a pivotal year in my teenage ‘discovery’ of the popular music of the day. The Beatles were everywhere and I knew that to be ‘included’ with my classmates at Kilburn Grammar School in N.W. London, my slowly-growing LP collection - subsidised by my pocket money from working at a sweet shop with the too-friendly-with-his-hands son of the family who owned it - might have to shift from film soundtracks that my parents bought (“West Side Story,” “South Pacific” and my all-time favourite, the 1956 epic, “The King And I”) and a few classical albums (Holst’s “The Planets,” Saint-Saens’ “Danse Macabre” and likely on an EP at the time, Ravel’s poignant “Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte”) to less-lofty lilts like “All My Loving” and “Love Me Do”! The first two LPs by The Beatles included a plethora of cover versions of American R&B hits: “Please Mr. Postman” (The Marvelettes), “Money” (Barrett Strong), “Chains” (The Cookies), “You Really Got A Hold On Me” (The Miracles), “Twist & Shout” (The Isley Brothers) and “Baby It’s You” (The Shirelles), all providing Brit youngsters like me with the opportunity to hear music that the Fab Four themselves loved at a time when UK record companies did little to promote (or even release) the original recordings they licensed from the US labels who owned them. In some ways, I could ‘credit’ John, Paul, George & Ringo with ‘introducing’ me to R&B through their covers of US R&B hits and in hindsight, it’s not accidental that my first experience of a live show was at the venue next door to where I lived in October 1964 when their special guest was one, Mary Wells! I shared about the experience on a previous Substack post. In November 1963, “I Only Want To Be With You,” Dusty’s first single as a solo artist, was released and I recall how quickly it became one of my personal favourite records of the day. As a fifteen-year-old, I was experiencing ‘puppy love’ and infatuation over red head Marilyn Woolf, a pupil at the girls’ school across the street from Kilburn Grammar School: I would dote on her when I would see her walking down the street (future shades of a Hal David lyric that would be the catalyst for my embrace of soul music just months later….think Dionne, “Walk On By”)… By April 1964, “A Girl Called Dusty” was beginning its ascent up the UK album charts while afore-mentioned Dionne Warwick’s “Walk On By” was also starting its journey as a British pop hit - and as noted in my last Substack post (“60 Years Ago I Bought A Records”), my ‘official’ journey into the world of American R&B and soul music began. You can check out Dusty's first solo album here It’s amazing looking at the list of twelve tracks on the British version of that first Dusty Springfield LP: it’s entirely made up of Dusty’s versions of a range of US hits such as “Mama Said” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” both originally recorded by The Shirelles; “When The Lovelight Starts Shining Thru His Eyes” (from The Supremes); “You Don’t Own Me” (Lesley Gore); “Mockingbird” (by Inez & Charlie Foxx); and no less than three compositions from Burt Bacharach & Hal David, “Wishin’ & Hopin’” and “Anyone Who Had A Heart,” both originally cut by Dionne (less, we might add, than a few months after the famous UK ‘chart battle’ between Dionne and Cilla Black!); and “Twenty-Four Hours From Tulsa” which had been a UK Top 10 hit for Gene Pitney in January 1964. The only track on “A Girl Named Dusty” that doesn’t seem to have been recorded by any other artist was “Nothing” which we can surmise - from comments on various interviews about Dusty’s early visits to New York - was a song she got from songwriters at the famous Brill Building, ‘home’ for tunesmiths like Carole King & Gerry Goffin and afore-mentioned Burt & Hal. Dusty’s ability to bring her innate soulfulness to her music was often downplayed in the UK, in particular by ‘purists’ who always contended that ‘the original is always the best.’ While I was often on the side of the contingent who felt like UK artists were not bringing the same authentic feeling to their cover versions of American R&B tracks (think The Moody Blues’ “Go Now” versus original by Bessie Banks, The Rolling Stones’ “It’s All Over Now” versus The Valentinos and, of course, The Animals’ “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” written for and first recorded by Nina Simone), I clearly felt Ms. Springfield was different, even in 1964! Indeed, I was referencing Dusty in the same ‘breath’ as Dionne and using the term ‘soul’ which may indeed have been my own first published penning of the word! This extended unplanned Substack piece on Dusty was prompted by a BBC radio interview I did on Sunday (May 19th, 2024) celebrating the 60th anniversary of the release of her first LP - alas with a somewhat unprepared broadcaster who referenced her having been the first British artist signed to Motown, a fact I had to correct live on the air by informing him that she was signed to Atlantic Records, home to one of her musical idols, Aretha Franklin. (Research reveals that she met Aretha in early 1969 when Dusty was doing new vocals for her Atlantic debut, “Dusty In Memphis” which contained “Son Of A Preacher Man,” a song originally intended for Aretha who initially rejected it and subsequently did a version after Dusty’s became a US Top 10 hit - go figure!). I shared during my brief BBC interview about the only time I met Dusty Springfield in person. It was circa the late ‘80s when she was living in West Hollywood and I was living in the mid-Wilshire area of L.A.: I remember having my hair cut at a unisex salon by a friend of mine in a small street off of Melrose Avenue and in conversation, she mentioned that there was another British person having their hair done at the same time. “I think she’s a singer….her name is Dusty something” were the words my hair stylist was uttering! I immediately asked her to stop cutting my curly locks! I was on the left side of the salon and Dusty Springfield was on the right. I was nervous about saying hello to her - which may seem strange when I reflect that I had spent hours upon hours over the preceding years in the homes of Aretha, Dionne, Luther, Maurice White and others and by 1987 or thereabouts, I had established myself as bonafide scribe in the world of R&B and soul music. I gingerly walked to where Dusty was sitting: “Excuse me, Miss Springfield,” I proffered timidly, “I’m also from Britain and I just want to let you know that I grew up listening to your music!” While she might have been a little taken aback by being acosted in a hair salon by a ‘fan,’ she smiled. “Really?” I quickly added that I’d known Vicki Wickham (her longtime friend and oftimes manager) for many years - in fact from 1965 when I first went to the studios of “Ready Steady Go!” with Nina Simone - and Dusty beamed. “You know Vicki? “ I might have gushed a little in letting Dusty know that my all time favourite recordings of hers included “Some Of Your Lovin’” and she remarked that it was also one of her own favourites - although my reason had much to do with the slow dance I did with my then-new boyfriend William on our second date in the summer of 1967! I mentioned her cover version of the Randy Newman song, “I’ve Been Wrong Before” (from her second UK LP, “Ev’rything’s Coming Up Dusty”) which had also been recorded by Cilla Black in 1965. She nodded, maybe a sign of recognition that we both might have found some validity in the title and lyrics of the song. Conscious of our surroundings and both of us were in mid-hair-cut, I told her my name and asked her if she would let Vicki know we’d met before I bade her a fond farewell. When I look back, I think of the countless conversations we might have had about our mutual love for R&B and soul music; about how she had played a significant role in my personal journey with mid-‘60s recordings like “I Wish I’d Never Loved You” (still an all time fave), “In The Middle Of Nowhere” and “All Cried

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With six decades-plus as a renowned scribe and author as 'The British Ambassador Of Soul,' David Nathan offers reflections, reminiscences and ruminations on soul music and matters of the soul and spirit... davidnathan.substack.com

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