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.
