NATHANIEL MAYER - Steady Bloggin'

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

This is a sadly posthumous follow up to Mayer's excellent Why Don't You Give It To Me (I posted that one a little while ago here). It collects more tracks from the same sessions, juxtaposing Mayer's gruff warbling baritone with a psychedelic soul-rock backing. Its in fact a bit more consistent in sound than the predecessor, there are no detours into funk or reggae. The album is nothing but dark bluesy echoey distorted laments on love, money (mostly lack of it), and drugs. And that's pretty much all I want from it, because it does those things so damn well. So far I think I'm ranking this as the second best soul album of the year, right behind Lee Fields.

There is a nice bit about the title that came with the press description: "It has to do with the food he kept being served while on tour in Europe. When Nate finally became frustrated with the countless plates of cheese and French bread that awaited him backstage at every gig, he shouted "Why Won't You Let Me Be Black?". He agreed that it sounded like a good title for his next album. "