Nathaniel Mayer

Detroit-area soul singer Nathaniel Mayer had his biggest hit at age 18 with 1962's raw "Village of Love" on Fortune Records (co-written by Devora Brown, the label's owner). The record took off nationally and merited Mayer an appearance on American Bandstand (1952). His follow-up records, although selling well in the Michigan area, failed to measure up to the success of his first, and he left Fortune Records in 1966. Not much was heard of him after that, although he apparently did some touring and recorded a single in 1980, called "Raise the Curtain High" (it didn't raise high enough; nothing came of it). In 2002 a small label named Norton Records released a 1968 recording of Mayer's called "I Don't Want No Bald-Headed Woman Telling Me What To Do", and its limited success inspired Mayer to stage a comeback. His voice had matured with age, and the raw, highly emotional shouting of his early records had morphed into a much mellower, smokier growl, and got him a string of club and festival gigs. His live shows were well-received, and two years later he went back into the recording studio and emerged with an album called "I Just Want to Be Held", released on Fat Possum Records. which specialized mostly in blues singers. Two more albums were released in 2007 and 2009. Mayer toured Europe in 2007, but shortly after returning to the US he suffered a series of strokes. He died of complications from the strokes on November 1, 2008, in Detroit.