Mel Britt - Northern Soul Icon

Mel Britt - Northern Soul Icon

The Day We Met Mel Britt

With the passing of Mr Mel Britt I thought it timely to remind ourselves of a very special day in his company. In a strange quirk of fate I almost missed this day as I’d visited Motown a few times in previous years and had enjoyed a tour of the building prior to its refurbishment as a museum with Mrs Esther Gordy-Edwards and contemplated keeping that memory fresh rather than see it “all polished up” so to speak and it was only due to Sam Robert’s insistence that I don’t miss the trip and my wife Bev’s adamant “We’re going…end of story” that I found myself in amongst a busload of great friends with a butty box and that heavy eyelid, early morning feeling that comes with having a great night followed by an early call! Here’s what occurred that day…

On a cold windy morning on Tuesday 10 March 2009, a bus full of UK/US SoulTrip USA soul fans stopped off at an Interstate service area at Battle Creek Michigan, just off the I-94. We were en route to Detroit to visit the Hitsville Motown Museum and have lunch with a number of soul stars who had provided the musical backdrop to most of our lives. Our host Kev Roberts left the bus and made a phone call. He came back on the bus and relayed that we’d be here about 15 minutes as we were awaiting the arrival of a special guest. Now I’ve met a few of Kev’s special guests over the years and have enjoyed the company of a number of my musical heroes due to Kev’s SoulTrip events and so I knew this was gonna be something special. The buzz went round the bus as people started guessing who it could be, Lamont Dozier, Jack Ashford, Dennis Coffee, were just some of the names mentioned. NOTHING could have prepared us for the arrival of a man who, for many of us, would rank in the top 3 people we would wish to meet.

As the cab pulled up next to the bus, a bearded, rather disheveled black man, wearing a wooly hat pulled over his head and wrapped up in a large winter coat to keep out the biting wind, emerged from the back seat. Tension mounted on the bus as Kev escorted his guest, who, with the aid of a walking stick made his way up the steps of our bus. “Ladies and gentlemen please welcome… Mr. Mel Britt!”, were Kevs next words and they were met with a massive spontaneous round of applause and cheering! We were taking Mel Britt to West Grand Boulevard — Hitsville - Motown!! Now that was special moment!

As we arrived at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, (now renamed Berry Gordy Jnr Boulevard), Kev asked if Bev and I would keep an eye on Mr. Britt as he had other host duties to take care of? Keep an eye on him? Was he kidding! Man, it would be a privilege! Once we signed Mel in at the museum entrance and convinced him to leave a message for future visiting fans, we escorted him around the Motown building at his own pace, listening to him tales of the people he worked with and eventually ended up in the Snakepit itself where we all met Dennis Coffee who relayed his stories of his tenure as one of the Funk Brothers and Mel spotted a few familiar faces amongst the photos on the walls, he had worked with over the years. He relayed to us the work he did with Norman Whitfield between ‘84 and ’92. His respect for Mr. Whitfield knew no bounds as he constantly referred to the late great producer as a ‘genius’. He also recounted his time as a member of The Visitors (Bashie/Minit Records) and his pride at having sung on the late great Mary Well’s last 45.

Mel, Bev and Dave

After many photos, handshakes and hugs with everyone we made our way back to the bus and continued on to a venue called The Memphis Smoke in Downtown Detroit. There we were met and enjoyed a fantastic few hours in the company of Frances Nero, Lorraine Chandler, Clay MacMurray and his lovely wife Karen Pree, Laura Lee, Annette and Rosalind (Of The Vandellas), The Capitols (Including Donald Storball), the enigmatic Spyder Turner, Sylvester Potts (Of The Contours) Little Carl Carlton and a host of others. As we enjoyed a great lunch the artist’s songs were introduced over the sound system to rapturous applause. Many photos, autographs and sleeves signed were the order of the day.

Scan of She'll Come Running back - FIP

And then it happened… a moment that should have been frozen in time and placed in the Smithsonian Institute of Soul should there ever be one ….As Mel Britt was signing a sleeve for my copy of his iconic FiP 45 — She’ll Come Running Back” Kev started the opening refrains of the song.

What happened next will stay with many of us for the rest of our lives:

As Mel recognised the opening bars of his song he turned round to see over 200 people providing a handclap beat to the song, cheering and singing along! He physically grew 4 inches in height! The crowd just kept going not missing a single heartbeat for the entire two and a half minutes of what is one of the most revered soul songs ever! Even the artists had now realized they were witnessing a huge outpouring of love for someone special and they too joined in! As the atmosphere intensified people came up and hugged him, shook his hands and said thank you for his song and he responded with a huge massive smile that relayed the fact that he had at last understood what his song had meant to so many people over the years. As the final bars of the song faded the applause was deafening. Mel was a little overcome and the crowd too had realized that they had been touched by Mel and his song in a way that very rarely happens. Grown men wiped the tears from their eyes and no one could speak for a few minutes as we absorbed the atmosphere and inwardly acknowledged that we had all been part of something very, very special. After over 30 years of collecting records, attending concerts, meeting artists I have enjoyed some wonderful moments as a soul fan. But nothing…and I mean NOTHING compares to that 5 minutes in the Memphis Smoke Lounge in Detroit that left me speechless!

Video