Nathaniel Mayer - Why Won't You Let Me Be Black?

  by Daniel Cressey

published: 7 / 10 / 2009

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Nathaniel Mayer, who died last year, produced some amazing soul songs in the 60s, but drifted into relative obscurity before beginning to record again in the mid-2000s. 'Why Won't You Let Me Be Black?' is the last set of new recordings, laid down shortly before Mayer's death in 2008. It's a polished performance, ably assisted by Dan Auerback of the Black Keys and other solid American artists. Mayer's age though is painfully apparent on a number of tracks. The slow slur evident on 'Dreams Come True' has replaced the live wire performance of his greatest hit, 1962's 'Village of Love'. Most affecting are the two acoustic tracks recorded for a 2007 radio show. Mayer's rasping plea for someone to “be mine” on 'You Are The One' has an emotional impact that his feelgood heyday hits would have struggled to muster. What is evident though is that Mayer still has a way with a pop song and his new voice still glides smoothly. This is not necessarily to say that Mayer has mellowed. A sense of anger is also present, with an aggressive response to the IRS on 'Mr Tax Man', where his protestations that “my money is gone” is raged over a fine thunder of a guitar line. Ultimately, and perhaps most importantly, Mayer was clearly still having a blast. At eight tracks, this is an all to brief coda to a musician's life.

Track Listing:-

1 Dreams Come True
2 Mr. Tax Man
3 If You Would Be My Guide
4 Shes Bad
5 You Are The One
6 The Girl Next Door
7 The Puddle
8 What Would You Do?

Label Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/AliveNaturalsoundRecords
http://www.alive-records.com/
https://twitter.com/AliveRecords
https://instagram.com/alivenaturalsound/
https://www.youtube.com/user/JIMalive1

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