Cart 0

News — rare soul

Holding onto the Past, and New Directions - E. Mark Windle.

1960s Carolina E. Mark Windle Georgia nashville northern soul R&B rare soul Redwal music publishing rhythm and blues soul southern soul Store news

Holding onto the Past, and New Directions   -   E. Mark Windle.

The home page of A Nickel And A Nail emphasizes that its wider purpose, beyond being a commercial entity and serving readers interested in exploring the history of soul and R&B, is to contribute to the preservation of that music history through a variety of means, including reviews, blogs, biographies and supporting self-publishing authors. Preservation is not just about holding onto what we know soul music's past. It also requires effort to obtain new insights into past events, to add context, debunk myths and get the stories straight. This is achieved admirably by a number of writers and researchers on...

Read more →


Summer 2019 release - The Tempests: A Carolina Soul Story

1960s beach music Carolina E. Mark Windle northern soul R&B rare soul rhythm and blues soul southern soul Store news

Summer 2019 release - The Tempests: A Carolina Soul Story

(A book by E. Mark Windle. Publication date 15 July 2019. Pre-order facility available now). I doubt it was just a moment-in-time thing. Thirty years on, my memory of first hearing Someday echo across the dancefloor at an all-nighter and stopping this young teenager dead in his tracks has not faded. It wasn’t a recording which necessarily broke the mould upon ‘rediscovery’ on the early 1980s northern soul scene. The new open-minded approach and healthy appreciation for musical diversity had already seen to that, whether it be mid tempo, beat ballads, latin soul, early R&B or others  - and the...

Read more →


The Tempests: A Carolina Soul Story (April 2019 book update) - E. Mark Windle.

1960s beach music Carolina northern soul R&B rare soul rhythm and blues soul soul labels southern soul

The Tempests: A Carolina Soul Story (April 2019 book update) - E. Mark Windle.

It's a bit of a tradition these days for me to provide progress reports of writing projects at particular milestones, partly to inform of course but also for personal reflection on the process and to praise contributing individuals who help 'make it happen'. So then, here we have the Spring update now that The Tempests book is nearly complete. On the whole, the majority of the book is there and the main text has now been proof read. Still-to-dos include some final image copyright permissions and heaps of boring stuff (indexing, pagination etc). The manuscript will be heading to the...

Read more →


Sir Ted Ford - Right Now / I Can't Give You Up (Diggin' Deep Records) PRESS RELEASE

1960s crossover northern soul R&B rare soul rhythm and blues songwriter soul soul labels

Sir Ted Ford - Right Now / I Can't Give You Up (Diggin' Deep Records) PRESS RELEASE

NEWS - The boys at Diggin' Deep Records are now taking pre-orders their latest release, including an unissued southern soul recording by Sir Ted Ford. Sean Hampsey reveals all: "....The latest 45 is an astounding double-sider that Diggin’ Deep are extremely proud to be able to bring to you. Two slabs of pure southern soul from Muscle Shoals! Both are classic ‘Muscle Shoals’ tracks, emanating from the legendary FAME studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama. This latest release came about via a chance conversation with the world’s leading soul music dealer, John Manship, where we learned that Sir Ted Ford had previously...

Read more →


MD Records - Fun and Funk Family (previously unreleased 7" vinyl).

1970s funk northern soul rare soul soul soul labels

MD Records - Fun and Funk Family (previously unreleased 7" vinyl).

As regular site visitors will be aware, we don’t only present reviews, biographies and other aspects of a literary nature. A Nickel And A Nail is also keen to support other hardworking independent enterprises in the soul music world who provide worthwhile contributions to the scene through vinyl, CD and digital releases; keeping soul music history alive with previously unissued and quality reissued releases. To that effect, this month sees a great second 7” vinyl release by the Fun & Funk Family, via up and coming MD Records. Label owners Mark Anderson and Des Parker fill us in on the...

Read more →