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{{Short description|English writer and singer}}
{{For|other people|David Nathan (disambiguation){{!}}David Nathan}}
{{For|other people|David Nathan (disambiguation){{!}}David Nathan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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'''David Nathan''' (born 15 February 1948) is a [[United Kingdom|British]]-born [[biography|biographer]], journalist, authority on [[soul music]], and singer. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was the co-founder of the [[Soul City Records (U.K. label)|Soul City]] record label and a contributing editor to ''[[Blues & Soul]]'' magazine. Living in the US between 1975–2009, he wrote several biographies of musicians as well as hundreds of articles and [[liner notes]], and founded the website www.soulmusic.com. He has also recorded and performed as a [[jazz]] and [[blues]] singer, both under his own name and as his ''[[alter ego]]'' '''Nefer Davis'''.
{{BLP sources|date=January 2021}}
⚫
'''David Nathan''' (born 15 February 1948) is an English-born [[biography|biographer]], journalist, authority on [[soul music]], and singer. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was the co-founder of the [[Soul City Records (U.K. label)|Soul City]] record label and a contributing editor to ''[[Blues & Soul]]'' magazine. Living in the US between 1975 and 2009, he wrote several biographies of musicians as well as hundreds of articles and [[liner notes]], and founded the website '''soulmusic.com'''. He has also recorded and performed as a [[jazz]] and [[blues]] singer, both under his own name and as his ''[[alter ego]]'' '''Nefer Davis'''.


==Life and career==
==Life and career==
He was born in [[London]], and at the age of 16 set up the UK's first [[fan club]] for singer [[Nina Simone]]. In 1966, with [[Dave Godin]] and Robert Blackmore, he established Soul City, in [[Deptford]], [[South London]], claimed to be the first record store outside the US specialising in American [[rhythm and blues]] and [[soul music]].<ref name=rocksbackpages>[http://www.rocksbackpages.com/writer.html?WriterID=nathan David Nathan profile at Rock's Back Pages]. Accessed 20 June 2011</ref> The shop also started a record label in 1968, to release US R&B singles in the UK.<ref name=soulcity>[http://www.georgwa.demon.co.uk/soulcity.htm Soul City Records at Ska2Soul]. Accessed 20 June 2011</ref>
David Nathan was born in [[London]], and at the age of 16 set up the UK's first [[fan club]] for singer [[Nina Simone]]. In 1966, with [[Dave Godin]] and Robert Blackmore, he established Soul City, in [[Deptford]], [[South London]], claimed to be the first record store outside the US specialising in American [[rhythm and blues]] and [[soul music]].<ref name=rocksbackpages>[http://www.rocksbackpages.com/writer.html?WriterID=nathan David Nathan profile at Rock's Backpages]. Accessed 20 June 2011</ref> The shop also started a record label in 1968, to release US R&B singles in the UK.<ref name=soulcity>[http://www.ska2soul.net/soulcity.htm Soul City Records at Ska2Soul]. Accessed 20 June 2011</ref>


In 1970, he began working in London for Contempo International, which owned ''[[Blues & Soul]]'' magazine. He moved to [[New York City]] in 1975 as contributing editor for ''Blues & Soul'', leaving the company in 1981 when the magazine's ownership changed. After a period working for [[Werner Erhard]] and Associates, he then moved to [[Los Angeles]] and worked as a freelance journalist.<ref name=rocksbackpages/> He wrote ''Lionel Richie: An Illustrated Biography'' (1985), as well as contributing to ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', ''[[USA Today]]'' and other magazines including ''Blues & Soul'' which he rejoined in the mid-1980s, and writing many CD liner notes. In the 1990s, he also worked as a producer of compilation reissues, and established a media coaching service. He wrote ''The Soulful Divas'', published in 1999, and ''Break Down and Let it All Out'', a biography of Nina Simone co-written with his sister Sylvia Hampton, in 2004.<ref name=rocksbackpages/> The book generally received mixed to negative reviews.<ref name=twsP19>{{cite news|author= Margaret Busby|title= Nina Simone: Break down & let it all hang out by Sylvia Hampton with David Nathan|newspaper= ''The Independent''|quote= This book aims to chart the terrain that led its author from being an awestruck 14-year-old, introduced to Nina Simone by her equally enthralled brother David Nathan (founder of the singer's first UK fan club), to feeling entitled to boast 40 years later of sharing a close friendship with "the high priestess of soul".|date= 16 April 2004|url= http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/nina-simone-break-down-amp--let-it-all-hang-out--by-sylvia-hampton-with-david-nathan-560080.html|accessdate= 2011-06-16
In 1970, he began working in London for Contempo International, which owned ''[[Blues & Soul]]'' magazine. He moved to [[New York City]] in 1975 as contributing editor for ''Blues & Soul'', leaving the company in 1981 when the magazine's ownership changed. After a period working for [[Werner Erhard]] and Associates, he then moved to [[Los Angeles]] and worked as a freelance journalist.<ref name=rocksbackpages/> He wrote ''Lionel Richie: An Illustrated Biography'' (1985), as well as contributing to ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', ''[[USA Today]]'' and other magazines including ''Blues & Soul'' which he rejoined in the mid-1980s, and writing many CD liner notes. In the 1990s, he also worked as a producer of compilation reissues, and established a media coaching service and since the mid-1980s, he has written or updated the music bios for [[Aretha Franklin]], [[Chaka Khan]], [[Lionel Richie]], [[Usher (singer)|Usher]], [[Whitney Houston]], [[Patti LaBelle]], [[Toni Braxton]], [[Prince (musician)|Prince]], [[Alicia Keys]] and hundreds of other artists, producers, songwriters, musicians and industry executives. He wrote ''The Soulful Divas'', published in 1999, and ''Break Down and Let it All Out'', a biography of Nina Simone co-written with his sister Sylvia Hampton, in 2004. He founded a website dedicated to soul music, [http://www.soulmusic.com SoulMusic.com], in 2001.<ref name=twsP26>{{cite news|title=Soulmusic.com |newspaper=Soulmusic.com |quote=The World Of David Nathan, founder of Soul Music.com |date=2011-06-16 |url=http://www.soulmusic.com/danapa.html |accessdate=2011-06-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614074909/http://www.soulmusic.com/danapa.html |archivedate=2011-06-14 }}</ref>
}}</ref><ref name=twsP21>{{cite web|author= Andy Whitman|title= American Music Is and Other Jazz Selections: Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan – 2.5 Stars|publisher= ''Paste Magazine''|quote= Sylvia Hampton and David Nathan, authors of Nina Simone: Break Down and Let It All Out, founded the Nina Simone fan club in Britain. Unfortunately, their biography reads like the breathless missives they probably sent out to club members.|date= Feb. 1, 2005|url= http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2005/02/american-music-is-and-other-jazz-selections.html|accessdate= 2011-06-16
}}</ref><ref name=twsP22>{{cite news|author= Christopher Loudon|title= Sylvia Hampton with David Nathan -- Nina Simone: Break Down & Let It All Out|newspaper= ''JazzTimes''|quote= ... fawning, fan-written biography. ... saccharine disservice to Simone's long, complex and utterly fascinating life we learn that co-author Nathan (who five years ago penned an equally effusive tome entitled The Soulful Divas) formed the very first Nina Simone Appreciation Society in 1965 ... revealing a lot more about themselves and their sadly disproportionate idolization than they do about Simone ... gushy, syrupy prose usually reserved for teenage girls' diaries.|date= December 2004|url= http://jazztimes.com/articles/15208-nina-simone-break-down-let-it-all-out-sylvia-hampton-with-david-nathan|accessdate= 2011-06-16}}</ref> He founded a website dedicated to soul music, ''SoulMusic.com'', in 2001.<ref name=twsP26>{{cite news|title= Soulmusic.com|newspaper= Soulmusic.com|quote= The World Of David Nathan, founder of Soul Music.com|date= 2011-06-16|url= http://www.soulmusic.com/danapa.html|accessdate= 2011-06-16}}</ref>


⚫
For a number of years, Nathan was Secretary and then an Advisory Board member of the [[Rhythm & Blues Foundation]].<ref>[http://www.rhythm-n-blues.org/board.php Rhythm & Blues Foundation: Board]. Accessed 20 June 2011</ref> He has received an award for his journalism from the International Association of African-American Music.<ref name="rocksbackpages" /> Nathan is a graduate of The Landmark Forum and has participated as senior coach in several of Landmark's programs in the US and the UK.
In the 1990s he released his first CD as a singer, ''Reinvention'', in 2003 on his own Nefer Music label. In 2007, he released his second album, ''Wistful Elegance'', with jazz/R&B group Pharaoh's Dream.<ref name=rocksbackpages/> In 2010, after returning to live in the UK, he began singing as Nefer Davis, a name derived from his interests in [[ancient Egypt]].<ref name=Reverbnation>[http://www.reverbnation.com/neferdavis Nefer Davis at reverbnation.com]. Accessed 20 June 2011</ref>


Since coming back to live in London, Nathan has established the label SoulMusic Records in association with Cherry Red and as of September 2017, SoulMusic Records has reissued over 150 CDs by popular soul, jazz/funk and Motown artists.
⚫
He was Secretary and is now an Advisory Board member of the [[Rhythm & Blues Foundation]].<ref>[http://www.rhythm-n-blues.org/board.php Rhythm & Blues Foundation: Board]. Accessed 20 June 2011</ref> He has received awards for his journalism from the International Association of African-American Music.<ref name=rocksbackpages/>

Nathan released his first CD as a singer, ''Reinvention'', in 2003 on his own Nefer Music label. In 2006, he issued a digital EP, ''Wlld Is The Wind: A Tribute To Nina Simone'' and In 2007, he released his second album, ''Wistful Elegance,'' produced by award-winning music man [[Preston Glass]].<ref name="rocksbackpages" /> In 2010, after returning to live in the UK, he recorded briefly as Nefer Davis, a name derived from his interests in [[ancient Egypt]],<ref name="Reverbnation">[http://www.reverbnation.com/neferdavis Nefer Davis at reverbnation.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110530032047/http://www.reverbnation.com/neferdavis |date=2011-05-30 }}. Accessed 20 June 2011</ref> before reverting to his birth name, issuing another digital-only album, ''I Used To Rule The World'' featuring covers of songs by Coldplay, The Bee Gees, Elton John, Dionne Warwick and others. Three contemporary R&B/soul music songs co-written with UK producer Amar Naik, have been released via Expansion Records and one of Nathan's earliest compositions, "Ain't Nothing Like The Love", has garnered much attention as a 1970s soul favorite in the UK (via the original [[John Simmons (conductor)|John Simmons]] recording), through his own version (released on a French label compilation), a vinyl release by Phillip Ballou and a cover by award-winning Canadian DJ/producer Pomo. His 2017 EP release, ''A Long Way From Blue'' features his original compositions with Indian violinist/producer/composer Aritra Bhattacharya.

Considered a soul music historian, Nathan has been featured in several documentaries including TV One's ''[[Unsung (TV series)|Unsung]]'' series and in interviews with BBC on radio and television as well as working on the [[Hitsville U.S.A.|Motown Museum]] expansion project in Detroit.


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* ''Lionel Richie: An Illustrated Biography'', 1985
* ''Lionel Richie: An Illustrated Biography'', 1985
* ''The Soulful Divas'', 1999
* ''The Soulful Divas'', 1999
* ''Nina Simone: Break Down & Let It All Out'', with Sylvia Hampton, 2004<ref name=twsP22/>
* ''Nina Simone: Break Down & Let It All Out'', with Sylvia Hampton, 2004


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
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*[http://www.soulinterviews.com/david-nathan-2012/ David Nathan 2012 Audio Interview at Soulinterviews.com]
*[http://www.soulinterviews.com/david-nathan-2012/ David Nathan 2012 Audio Interview at Soulinterviews.com]


{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->

| NAME = Nathan, David
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = 15 February 1948
| PLACE OF BIRTH = London
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nathan, David}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nathan, David}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English music writers]]
[[Category:English writers about music]]
[[Category:People from London]]
[[Category:Writers from London]]
[[Category:English blues singers]]
[[Category:English jazz singers]]
[[Category:English male songwriters]]

Latest revision as of 23:35, 15 April 2023

For other people, see David Nathan.

David Nathan (born 15 February 1948) is an English-born biographer, journalist, authority on soul music, and singer. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was the co-founder of the Soul City record label and a contributing editor to Blues & Soul magazine. Living in the US between 1975 and 2009, he wrote several biographies of musicians as well as hundreds of articles and liner notes, and founded the website soulmusic.com. He has also recorded and performed as a jazz and blues singer, both under his own name and as his alter ego Nefer Davis.

Life and career

[edit]

David Nathan was born in London, and at the age of 16 set up the UK's first fan club for singer Nina Simone. In 1966, with Dave Godin and Robert Blackmore, he established Soul City, in Deptford, South London, claimed to be the first record store outside the US specialising in American rhythm and blues and soul music.[1] The shop also started a record label in 1968, to release US R&B singles in the UK.[2]

In 1970, he began working in London for Contempo International, which owned Blues & Soul magazine. He moved to New York City in 1975 as contributing editor for Blues & Soul, leaving the company in 1981 when the magazine's ownership changed. After a period working for Werner Erhard and Associates, he then moved to Los Angeles and worked as a freelance journalist.[1] He wrote Lionel Richie: An Illustrated Biography (1985), as well as contributing to Billboard, USA Today and other magazines including Blues & Soul which he rejoined in the mid-1980s, and writing many CD liner notes. In the 1990s, he also worked as a producer of compilation reissues, and established a media coaching service and since the mid-1980s, he has written or updated the music bios for Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Lionel Richie, Usher, Whitney Houston, Patti LaBelle, Toni Braxton, Prince, Alicia Keys and hundreds of other artists, producers, songwriters, musicians and industry executives. He wrote The Soulful Divas, published in 1999, and Break Down and Let it All Out, a biography of Nina Simone co-written with his sister Sylvia Hampton, in 2004. He founded a website dedicated to soul music, SoulMusic.com, in 2001.[3]

For a number of years, Nathan was Secretary and then an Advisory Board member of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation.[4] He has received an award for his journalism from the International Association of African-American Music.[1] Nathan is a graduate of The Landmark Forum and has participated as senior coach in several of Landmark's programs in the US and the UK.

Since coming back to live in London, Nathan has established the label SoulMusic Records in association with Cherry Red and as of September 2017, SoulMusic Records has reissued over 150 CDs by popular soul, jazz/funk and Motown artists.

Nathan released his first CD as a singer, Reinvention, in 2003 on his own Nefer Music label. In 2006, he issued a digital EP, Wlld Is The Wind: A Tribute To Nina Simone and In 2007, he released his second album, Wistful Elegance, produced by award-winning music man Preston Glass.[1] In 2010, after returning to live in the UK, he recorded briefly as Nefer Davis, a name derived from his interests in ancient Egypt,[5] before reverting to his birth name, issuing another digital-only album, I Used To Rule The World featuring covers of songs by Coldplay, The Bee Gees, Elton John, Dionne Warwick and others. Three contemporary R&B/soul music songs co-written with UK producer Amar Naik, have been released via Expansion Records and one of Nathan's earliest compositions, "Ain't Nothing Like The Love", has garnered much attention as a 1970s soul favorite in the UK (via the original John Simmons recording), through his own version (released on a French label compilation), a vinyl release by Phillip Ballou and a cover by award-winning Canadian DJ/producer Pomo. His 2017 EP release, A Long Way From Blue features his original compositions with Indian violinist/producer/composer Aritra Bhattacharya.

Considered a soul music historian, Nathan has been featured in several documentaries including TV One's Unsung series and in interviews with BBC on radio and television as well as working on the Motown Museum expansion project in Detroit.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Lionel Richie: An Illustrated Biography, 1985
  • The Soulful Divas, 1999
  • Nina Simone: Break Down & Let It All Out, with Sylvia Hampton, 2004

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d David Nathan profile at Rock's Backpages. Accessed 20 June 2011
  2. ^ Soul City Records at Ska2Soul. Accessed 20 June 2011
  3. ^ "Soulmusic.com". Soulmusic.com. 16 June 2011. Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2011. The World Of David Nathan, founder of Soul Music.com
  4. ^ Rhythm & Blues Foundation: Board. Accessed 20 June 2011
  5. ^ Nefer Davis at reverbnation.com Archived 2011-05-30 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 20 June 2011
[edit]
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