Nathaniel Mayer

Now you vinyl nuts out there will understand that feeling when you finally bag a tune you've been after for a while.

Today the eBay fairy has been kind enough to let me get hold of a lovely little Nathaniel Mayer tune: "I Had A Dream" on the old Detroit label Fortune.

This concentrated sugar rush of garage soul 'n' R&B was issued in 1963 and is a fine fine FINE example of what Mr Mayer was capable of.

Wiry guitar riff. Wailing call and response vocal line. Brutally rhythmic drum track. What more could you ask for? His few recordings for this label had a wonderful raw energy and were just in a class of their own.

The Fortune studio is often quoted as being a garage pioneer as a few of its hits actually were recorded in one. On another Mayer song, "Leave Me Alone" I fancy I can almost hear the garage door rattling in sympathy to one of the loveliest guitar solos of all time.

Unfortunately Mayers tenure at Fortune records was short lived. His first song, "Village Of Love" was his biggest hit, making it into the Billboard top 40 in '62. After that his idiosyncratic and alarmingly forward-thinking take on R&B didn't get the same level of attention in the mainstream again.

Mayer parted company with Fortune on bad terms then kind of went off the map for many years. The good news is that the "Nay Dog" is performing again and has recorded new material for the Fat Possum label in Mississippi.

By all accounts his performances are something to behold. 40 years on his singing has more power than ever. All hail the Nay Dog! Could you come and play over here Mr Mayer? Please?