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Nathaniel Mayer was a giant of Detroit’s almost forgotten Soul history.  He is best remembered for his scorching vocals on a hit he recorded for Fortune Records when he was just eighteen years-old, “Village of Love.”  The record was licensed to United Artists for national distribution and sold well, which makes it one of the easiest records to find on the Fortune Records label.  Sadly after recording a number of records that didn’t do nearly as well as “Village of Love,” partially due to the lack of major distribution, he faded into obscurity and hardship on Detroit’s east side.

There was a happy ending to Mayer’s story however.  He performed at a Detroit “Legends” concert in 2000 and eventually put out a new record on Fat Possum in 2004, “I Just Want to be Held.”  He had no access to the Internet and had no clue that he had a substantial following, including some members of the Midwestern Blues and Garage revival.  Members of the Black Keys and the Detroit Cobras played on his last two records; his last album was “Why Don’t You Give It to Me?” released in 2007 by Alive.  Both records are well worth searching out, but don’t expect to hear the bombastic tenor of “Village of Love”; his voice had turned into a unique rasp over the years and the overall sound on the records runs the gamut of the Blues and R & B spectrum.

Mayer suffered several strokes on April 13th and has struggled since in a nursing home in Detroit.  He passed away at age 64 on Saturday, but his music lives on here in the Village of Love.

Village of Love

Dancing Mood