| By David Nathan
October 15, 2004 was another day on
the planet. Soldiers and civilians in Iraq were dying in war, George
Bush and John Kerry were bickering as a nation decided what
direction it would take in the crucial next four years, a new film
with Jennifer Lopez opened throughout the U.S.A., Britain's Tony
Blair faced overwhelming criticism for taking the nation to war and
Ciara hit the top of the American singles charts. And yet, it was
also a day to remember the immense contribution of Dave Godin,
affectionately referred to as the 'Godfather of R&B in the UK,' the
man who first uttered the term 'Deep Soul,' who gave birth to the
phrase 'Northern Soul' and someone who was a part of my life for the
past forty years. Dave passed away on Friday morning after a period
of ill health and while I was are that he had been dealing with
health issues for some years, I was unaware of the exact nature of
his illness. Thus, learning of his passing was initally quite a
shock. But once I had time to take it in, all I could was reflect on
the high jinx that surrounded the early years starting Soul City
(the very first record store in Europe dedicated entirely to sale of
R&B), the funny stories, the precious moments and the long history
we shared together as soul music devotees.
I first met Dave around the time I
had begun an appreciation society (read, 'fan club') for the great
Nina Simone. The year was 1965 and my initial passion for the music
of Black America had been fueled by the likes of Dionne Warwick,
Martha & The Vandellas ("Heatwave" was my first Motown 45!) and
others whose careers were in their infancy. Word of Dave and his
Tamla Motown Appreciation Society (or TMAS) had trickled down to me
through my membership of the Dionne Warwick/Shirelles Fan Club and
Scepter-Wand Appreciation Society run so ably by the late Gloria
Marcantonio. Gloria spoke with much reverence of Dave, explaining to
me that he had really been the one responsible for bringing
awareness of the music of Motown to the British media. He had
campaigned for Berry Gordy Jr. to bring the Motortown Review to the
U.K. and while that initial trip was far from being a moneymaker, it
afford curious British music buyers their first glimpse of the
purveyors of the fabulous sounds emanating from Detroit. Dave was
instrumental in this process, reflecting his unending passion for
the music. While he supported the hits that Motown was churning out,
it was the "B" level of acts at the label that drew him in: Hattie
Littles, Brenda Holloway, Kim Weston, these were the 'real' stars
for Dave and his love for records that were the embodiment of what
would became known as 'deep soul' was evident from the first time we
met.
I was, I confess, a little
intimidated when Gloria first took me over to his home in
Bexleyheath. I was all of 17 years old, still attending Kilburn
Grammar School, somewhat shy and not well practiced in social
skills. I was being granted an 'audience' with the eminence gris of
soul music in Britain and my first reaction was that Dave was just a
little eccentric - in manner and tone. I had never met anyone quite
like him and I confessed to Gloria that I was a little afraid!
Some of the fear melted when he insisted on playing records like
"Giving Up" by Gladys Knight & The Pips and "Every Little Bit Hurts"
by Brenda Holloway; fortunately, Dave was impressed by my love for
Nina Simone, an artist who had earned the right to occupy a place in
the pantheon of R&B of the day by virtue of her original recording
of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" which had been mercilessly
covered by the British group The Animals and had become (as did most
UK recordings of R&B songs of the day) a massive hit for the
Newcastle-based group. Dave was understandably indignant that
Nina's original had been lost without a trace when released in
Britain and my championing her cause made he and I instant comrades
in the fight to bring awareness of great R&B to the unsuspecting
British record-buying public!
Transitioning from his leadership of
the Tamla Motown Appreciation Society to the creation of his own
magazine, "Rhythm & Soul USA," Dave gave me a chance to write a
feature on Nina; he also gave me my first 'assignment' as a
journalist, writing a piece on Dee Dee Warwick, Dionne's younger
sister. Gloria Marcantonio set it up and I thought it went well,
even though I was quite nervous! Dee Dee later complained to Gloria
that I had spent way too much time asking questions about her elder
sister but the bottom line was that my first real interview saw the
light of day in "Rhythm & Soul USA"! It would mark the very
beginning of my 'career' as a music journalist: I finally had found
a way to marry my love and passion for music with my ability to
write, another passion that first gained expression when I starting
writing love stories at the age of six!
From that first fateful opportunity,
Dave Godin's path and mine became inextricably bound for what would
be at good five years or so. He knew of my experience in working in
record stores (at first just a way of earning pocket money while I
soaked up the sounds of R&B on Saturday mornings) and he felt that a
record store specializing in R&B would fulfill a void for the small
but ever-growing number of faithful soul music fans in London and
beyond. With his friend Robert Blackmore, we started Soul City in
the autumn of 1966. The true story behind how we came up with the
initial funding (a hilarious story of great intrigue!) will make far
better reading in a future book I definitely intend to write but to
suffice it to say, it was the start of a wonderful adventure for all
three of us. Launched at 21 Deptford High Street in South London
with parts of both my and Dave's record collections, the shop made
an initial impact. But Dave's vision was that we could reach far
more people if we moved uptown - or more specifically to the West
End. 17 Monmouth Street would become our home for the next few
years and it would take pages and pages (all to be revealed in that
future tome I'm promising to write) to tell the whole story!
Suffice it say that we had many adventures! The 'state' visit of
Big Maybelle, the constant battles to keep the store in business by
begging our suppliers to give us credit, the time we were hired to
help promote the UK launch of Sly & The Family Stone, the launch of
the Soul City label, the run-ins with U.S. record executives, the
drama with recording artists when we decided to release original
product, the crazy plan to start the Deep Soul label and all manner
of personal drama much of which may never be revealed!
The folks I met...Vicki Wickham, Dave
Kapralik, our faithful importers Mr. & Mrs. Shapiro...the times we
had - Nina Simone's visit, the call telling us that Aretha Franklin
and then-husband-manager Ted White wanted to know our store hours so
they could come buy some records! The Christmas bonus that led me
to speak with Aretha in December '66 and Dave to speak with Big
Maybelle that same day. Working in the shop, helping to do the
release sheets and publicity for the records we released by such
folks as The Staple Singers, Thelma Jones, Erma Franklin, The
Emotions and Roy Hamilton while keeping creditors at bay was all
part of the rough and tumble of life at Soul City but as the
pioneering team we were, we didn't mind for it was all in the cause
of the music that had so touched our very souls.
Dave and I had our differences -
including a contentious fight over the authenticity of Lorraine
Ellison's over-the-top emoting on her classic "Stay With Me" which
he considered 'contrived' and I considered 'real'! We weren't of
the same mind on many subjects such as his strict vegetarianism and
atheism and we had our share of arguments and disagreements - like
the time he locked my sister Sylvia and I out of Soul City claiming
we were trying to maneuver a takeover of the shop with then "Blues &
Soul" editor John Abbey. But all was forgiven and much forgotten as
Dave took the lead in writing wonderful columns for "Blues & Soul,"
giving honor and exposure to so many of the obscure and little-known
artists whose music had been such a vital part of what we had
created at Soul City and through the Soul City and Deep Soul
labels. Of course, our paths would diverge, Dave moving to the
North of England where his status as a legend on the scene had been
set from the day he first gave a name to "Northern Soul" as a
specific genre of music, I making the trek westward to live in New
York.
During those early years after I had
moved to the U.S. in the '70s, we didn't have much contact but as
the '80s and '90s rolled around and once e-mail became an essential
mode of communication, Dave and I were in touch much more
frequently. I was heartened to see that he was finally getting his
due for the tireless work he had done as a champion for black music
from back in the late '50s by virtue of the great series that he did
for Britain's Ace Records, the appropriately-titled "Deep Soul
Treasures - Taken From The Vaults," the fourth of which was just
issued in the U.K. weeks ago. It was brilliant that with the
creation of CDs, Dave got to use his unlimited knowledge and
life-long love for the music once more in bringing back the precious
music of folks like Loretta Williams, Jean Stanback, Jimmy & Louise
Tig, Toussaint McCall, Bessie Banks, Jaibi, Doris Duke and Jean
Wells.
I had the privilege of contributing
to the liner notes of Volume 3 in the series and I quote myself in
saying "thank you" to my good friend Dave Godin for introducing me
to the great artists who gave birth to the music that has become my
own lifeblood and helped give me my career in the biz. Fortunate
are those who know the contribution they have made to others during
their lifetime and there is no question that Dave Godin knew the
impact he had made through his work as a writer, reissue producer
and historian, a man who helped put R&B and soul music on the map in
Britain and beyond. I remember now with much humor and fondness: he
was truly one of a kind and it gives me much pride and joy (to quote
Mr. Gaye) to say that I could call him a soul-to-soul lifelong
friend.
David Nathan, Los Angeles, October
17, 2004
Original tribute by David can by found on his site:-
www.soulmusic.com/EYS-DaveG.htm. |