Nathaniel Mayer - Why Don't You Give It To Me? (2008)

40 years on from his chart-topping hit "Village of Love" and Fortune Records classics "I Had a Dream" and "I Want Love and Affection (Not the House of Correction)", Detroit soul legend NATHANIEL MAYER's new album "Why Don't You Give It to Me?" sounds like the record he should have made in 1970. Following his critically acclaimed comeback album "I Just Want To Be Held" (Fat Possum 2004), Nathaniel accepted an invitation to tour as the opening act for the Black Keys, with a backing band comprised of guitarist Matthew Smith (Outrageous Cherry), bassist Troy Gregory (Dirtbombs), and drummer Dave Shettler (SSM). One evening in New York, on the Black Keys' night off, Nathaniel headlined at the Knitting Factory with guitarist Dan Auerbach joining the group on stage for a wild, memorable performance. After the gig, they all agreed that this lineup needed to play on Nate's next album. Months later, everyone convened in Detroit for several days of relentless non-stop jamming, writing, singing, grooving and howling which were captured on 8-track reel-to-reel tape. Production was the team effort of Matthew Smith, Dan Auerbach, and Dave Shettler, all simultaneously turning knobs, grabbing faders, and switching various boxes on and off. The result is soul music with a psychedelic rock n' roll heart that has as much in common with the Stooges and MC5 as it does with Nathaniel's R&B contemporaries like Jackie Wilson, Marvin Gaye, and the Miracles. "Why Don't You Give It to Me?" ought to flip a few wigs, new and old. It's somehow in the same bag as the Stooges' "Raw Power", early Funkadelic, and the psychedelic Temptations. It is also the sound of the streets of modern-day Detroit, the sound of good vibrations amid the rampant chaos.