Fortune Records came a lot later to my frame. You see, Devora Brown's one track mind still pisses me off. Fortune must be the only legendary label from those times that still has a few proper and official reissues... Go figure, the crudest and at the same time more soulful label of them, remains still in the hands of bootleggers. And luckily enough, thank God for these mofos. If they weren't around, personally i wouldn't have the chance to catch and fell in love with legends like Nolan Strong, Andre Williams, Nathaniel Mayer and... Melvin Davis!
The last one's one of the few SO multi-talented figures I've ever crashed. Producer and a drummer, songwriter and performer, label owner and arranger! He was the staccato snare on the Miracles' "Tears of a Clown". He was the one that penned Norther Soul triumph, "Chains of Love" (for J.J. Barnes) and had in his many bands members like David Ruffin and Wayne Kramer! Not bad credits, right?
After all these years of diggin' and record hunting, Melvin's along with Andre and Gino Washington my absolute favorites, when it comes for "forgotten" heroes.
That's his Fortune single. It was credited to Melvin and the Nite Sounds. The Nite Sounds was the band behind Fortune's hit, "Mind Over Matter" by GREAT Nolan Strong. They played also on Nathaniel Mayer's "Leave Me Alone" among many other. Excellent n' passionate soulful vocals, memorable bass lines and pounding drums on both sides of this single! The bass back up vocals are courtesy of Jay Johnson of the Diablos (!) and the sax played by a white boy named Nick Malamas and yes he was a Greek! Please let me have some proud here, cause we Greeks have not so many chances to fanfare 'bout Rock & Roll or R&B...
Hear this gem and understand for yourself why even with a lot of time distance, Melvin Davis is up there with thee best of the city's music parade...
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