Ive been asked a few times recently about Nabay who I met way back in 1991. I interviewed him at the home he shared with his Mum, and later interviewed his brother in California. I also interviewed his friend who co wrote with him. 

Dont wanna say too much coz I do intend to publish his story, so dont wanna pre empt the impact of that (pardon the pun lol). He was a lovely humble guy and his Mum was great too. They made me and my girlfriend at the time Jaqui Kavanagh so welcome.

He was good friends with Bob Babbitt, and was known locally in his Detroit neighbourhood by the nickname ‘Horse’ because of his strength and awesome street fighting abilities apparently. Another great talent let down by the exploitative music industry.

So here it is, as far as I know, the first photo of him our scene has ever seen; remember you saw it here first. I keep hearing and reading so much speculation about him; I thought it was time to show this. I have other photos in colour, but thought this black and white one was a good one for here.

Enjoy

Tim

Brilliant, I never thought I'd ever see a photo of him. 

👍🏽

8 minutes ago, colouredman said:

 

So here it is, as far as I know, the first photo of him our scene has ever seen; remember you saw it here first.

Hi Tim,

When Was It Made? Looks Like The Early 80s - Do You Have A Date?

Z

I took this photo in 1991 at his house.

Wow!!! Great stuff, thank you...Rob

Yre very welcome; happy to share.

Tim - without going into much detail - did he fully understand the appreciation from the soul scene about his music

thanks for sharing - topman

Well, I found myself in this awkward situation many times interviewing people Id tracked. They find it hard to distinguish between the interest of a specialist music scene, and tht UK music/chart scene etc. Its hard to explain that although a lot of people love and admire the record; its still statistically very small interest overall nationwide; in other words 20,000 Northern fans might love it and want to buy it, but thats not the same as chart action and a million selling number one. I had to lower expectations with that; he was disappointed but understood. Its heartbreakin to tell someone like Nabay how much his so g is loved and at the same time tell him theres no money in it for him. Dont forget, most Americans hve never been to UK and think its the size of a 50p piece! , and therefore also think that something popular means tbe whole of our tiny country.

what a great record,   with a great story

It really is Ian, especially when yre told his close friend was Detroit guitar legend Bob Babbitt.

Consider telling more stories Tim, you did it and discovered more records than Roy Castle. Things need to be documented (facts) before loose inaccurate words become the so called facts. Your experience is a gold mine. Remember you met one half of Detroit and I met the other half but away from that you did so, so much more. Its not only their legacy it's yours too. 

                                                                           Gilly 

Cheers Gilly; likewise bro. We should collaborate on a book, but not sure if we’d ever have time to finish it, lol.

6 minutes ago, colouredman said:

Cheers Gilly; likewise bro. We should collaborate on a book, but not sure if we’d ever have time to finish it, lol.

Right -on brother 

On 28/10/2018 at 16:28, colouredman said:

Ive been asked a few times recently about Nabay who I met way back in 1991. I interviewed him at the home he shared with his Mum, and later interviewed his brother in California. I also interviewed his friend who co wrote with him. 

Dont wanna say too much coz I do intend to publish his story, so dont wanna pre empt the impact of that (pardon the pun lol). He was a lovely humble guy and his Mum was great too. They made me and my girlfriend at the time Jaqui Kavanagh so welcome.

He was good friends with Bob Babbitt, and was known locally in his Detroit neighbourhood by the nickname ‘Horse’ because of his strength and awesome street fighting abilities apparently. Another great talent let down by the exploitative music industry.

So here it is, as far as I know, the first photo of him our scene has ever seen; remember you saw it here first. I keep hearing and reading so much speculation about him; I thought it was time to show this. I have other photos in colour, but thought this black and white one was a good one for here.

Enjoy

Tim

Interesting stuff Tim... I remember you telling me this story in the early hours at a nighter. He does look a handful though, look at the size of his fist and forearm ! 

Very nice,look forward to the full story

Martin

Great story Tim ,did he just cut the one 45 ? And did he have any insight into why it is such a rare record ? Hope you are keeping well mate ..

Hi Eddie, hope yre well mate. He cut other things but not as ‘Nabay’ and earlier.... not our genre. 

Yes Nabay has a theory about why it never did anything.... a very interesting one which Ill go into when i publish.

On 31/10/2018 at 14:17, Dysonsoul said:

Interesting stuff Tim... I remember you telling me this story in the early hours at a nighter. He does look a handful though, look at the size of his fist and forearm ! 

Eh up Andy? U ok? Yeah yre right about that fist and forearm; it’d be a sure fire knock out.... just like his record lol.

Brilliant Stuff Tim, and I totally agree your vast knowledge & record hunting story's (along with Gilly's and others) must be published, I personally never tire of such things👍 Go for it!

Paul

When you are asked to put forward a record that ' could be definitive NS' Nabay is up there!

Did the record have any local success?

Great label for one offs...and quality tracks.

Thanks for the story ( so far) ..

Ed

Cheers guys👍🏽

On 28/10/2018 at 20:42, colouredman said:

Cheers Gilly; likewise bro. We should collaborate on a book, but not sure if we’d ever have time to finish it, lol.

You guys need to get this out fully documented as time is running out with every year!

To add a bit more I found thisRW-1967-09-23-OCR-Page-0010.pdf

Love it..... ‘the swing in these grooves’ lol.

Nice find Gilly👍🏽