Nathan Jones (song)

"Nathan Jones" is a hit single recorded by The Supremes, released in spring 1971 (see 1971 in music) on the Motown label. Produced by Frank Wilson and written by Leonard Caston - a.k.a. Leonard Caston, Jr. - and Kathy Wakefield, "Nathan Jones" was one of eight Top 40 hits the Supremes recorded after its original frontwoman, Diana Ross, left the group for a solo career.

"Nathan Jones"
Single by The Supremes
from the album Touch
B-side"Happy (Is a Bumpy Road)"
ReleasedApril 15, 1971
RecordedHitsville U.S.A. (Studio A): December 17, 1970
GenreR&B, soul, pop
Length3:04
LabelMotown
M 1182
Songwriter(s)Leonard Caston
Kathy Wakefield
Producer(s)Frank Wilson
The Supremes singles chronology
"River Deep – Mountain High"
(1970)		 "Nathan Jones"
(1971)		 "You Gotta Have Love in Your Heart"
(1971)
Touch track listing
10 tracks
Side one
  1. "This Is the Story"
  2. "Nathan Jones"
  3. "Here Comes the Sunrise"
  4. "Love It Came to Me This Time"
  5. "Johnny Raven"
Side two
  1. "Have I Lost You"
  2. "Time and Love"
  3. "Touch"
  4. "Happy (Is a Bumpy Road)"
  5. "It's So Hard for Me to Say Goodbye"

Overview

The song centers around a woman's longing for her former lover, a man named Nathan Jones, who left her nearly a year ago "to ease [his] mind." Suffering through the long separation ("Winter's past, spring, and fall") without any contact or communication between herself and Jones, the narrator is no longer in love with Jones, remarking that "Nathan Jones/you've been gone too long".

Supremes version

"Nathan Jones" is an unusual entry among the Supremes' singles repertoire for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that all three members of the group (Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson, and Cindy Birdsong) sing the song's lead vocal in unison. Clydie King was asked to sing along with the group to give the song a fuller vocal sound. While working on the song, producer Frank Wilson had in mind a rock music style of phrasing for the song, resulting in the unison vocals. The unison vocals would repeatedly be dubbed to create a layered harmonic tone. In addition, Wilson had his engineer, Cal Harris, use what can (now) be considered classic studio sensibilities to take The Funk Brothers' backing tracks for "Nathan Jones" and give them a phase shifting sound at various points during the song. This was accomplished by either using a second recorder (as the Beatles would have done) or (less likely) an outboard processor such as the blue faced MXR flanger.

Released as a single on April 15, 1971 with "Happy is a Bumpy Road" as the B-side, "Nathan Jones" peaked at number sixteen on the Billboard Pop Singles chart, number-eight on the Billboard R&B chart.[1] Overseas, the single went to number five on the UK Singles Chart. "Nathan Jones" was the most successful single released from the Supremes' fourteenth regular studio album, Touch.

Personnel

Charts
Chart (1971) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 16
U.S. Billboard R&B Singles 8
UK Singles Chart 5
Canadian Singles Chart (RPM) 15

Bananarama version
"Nathan Jones"
Single by Bananarama
from the album Wow!, Greatest Hits Collection and Rain Man: Original Soundtrack
B-side"Once in a Lifetime"
Released7 November 1988
RecordedAugust 1988
GenrePop
Length5:11 (Album Version)
3:19 (Single Version)
3:03 (Psycho 7-inch Edit)
LabelLondon Records
Songwriter(s)Leonard Caston
Kathy Wakefield
Producer(s)Stock Aitken Waterman
Bananarama singles chronology
"Love, Truth and Honesty"
(1988)		 "Nathan Jones"
(1988)		 "Help!"
(1989)

"Nathan Jones" was covered by British girl group Bananarama. There are three distinct versions of Bananarama's rendition of the song.

1. Bass Tone Version. They first recorded it on their 1987 album Wow! with their original line-up. This version was also featured on the Rain Man soundtrack. Some of the vocals were sampled on their "I Heard a Rumour" B-side song "Clean Cut Boy". This version also appears on the US Greatest Hits album, with a timing of 3:02. An extended version appears here:[2]

2. Psycho Mix. After Siobhan Fahey was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan, Bananarama re-recorded the song (with completely new vocal and instrumental arrangements). This new version was initially included on vinyl and cassette issues of their Greatest Hits Collection. It was then remixed and released as a single, peaking at number fifteen on the UK singles chart. This version is considered the 'official' version of the song, and is the version used for the group's BRIT-award-nominated music video. It has a running time of 3:19.[3]

3. Dave Ford Mix. A third version of the single, while similar to the Psycho Mix, opens with a staccato synthesizer instead of the single-note of the Psycho Mix, and includes more prominent synthesizer throughout. It uses the vocals from the Psycho Mix, although brought more to the front of the instrumentation. This mix appears on the Canadian version of the Greatest Hits album, and is the version which most closely resembles how it is heard when Bananarama plays live. (This mix is alternatively known as the “Analogue” mix, as it was never issued on CD until the “Megarama” compilation in 2015). This version has a running time of 3:30. There is currently available a remix on social media which samples all three versions, with the Dave Ford version beginning at the 10:35 mark.[4]

All three versions have 12" remixes available (multiple remixes in the case of 1. and 2.)

Music video

The music video, directed by Andy Morahan, featured the girls performing the song with vogue-style choreography with four male dancers dressed in British-style suits, hats, and umbrellas. Their performance is interspersed with shots of them strutting down a fashion catwalk in three different outfits, reflecting the three different seasons mentioned in the song (winter, spring, fall/autumn), and performing the main choreography in yet a fourth change of wardrobe. Sara and Keren are seen sharing the same black-with-copper-coloured-leaves jacket throughout.[5]

Individual shots of the girls are accompanied by floating images of fruits and art objects, such as vases and statues.

The video was nominated for best music video at the BRIT Awards, but lost to Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal".

Performances

The group performed the song on several popular shows of the day, including Top of the Pops, The Great Big British Pop Machine, at the 1988 Royal Variety Performance in the presence of The Queen Mother and, famously, on the Terry Wogan show, in which Keren is seen doing the first verse choreography during the second verse. None of these appearances feature live vocals.

Remixes
U.S. 12-inch single 886 481-1
  1. "Nathan Jones" (Psycho Mix) - (6:27)
  2. "Nathan Jones" (Instrumental Dub Mix) - (3:19)
  3. "Nathan Jones" (Bass Tone Mix) - (5:33)
UK CD single NANCD 18
  1. "Nathan Jones" (Extended Version) - (5:12)
  2. "Venus" (Extended Version) - (7:23)
  3. "Once in a Lifetime" (Album Version) - (4:06)
UK 12-inch vinyl NANX 18
  1. "Nathan Jones" (Extended Version)
  2. "Nathan Jones" (Instrumental Dub Mix)
  3. "Once in a Lifetime" (Album Version)
Japanese 3"-inch CD single P13L-37010
  1. "Nathan Jones" (Psycho Mix) - (6:27)
  2. "I Want You Back" (Extended European Version) - (7:56)
  3. "Once in a Lifetime" (Album Version) - (4:06)
Other versions

Personnel

Charts
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[6] 59
Dutch Singles Chart 73
New Zealand Singles Chart 22
UK Singles Chart 15

Other versions

"Nathan Jones" has also been remade by Paul Davis (album Cool Night/ 1982)[7] and by Nicolette Larson (album All Dressed Up and No Place to Go/ 1982).[8]

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 558.
  2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqfs6WQikYM
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJH33L6Xs90
  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q_97S1Xzjw
  5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOFbFgeLtr0
  6. "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2014-01-17". imgur.com. Retrieved 2015-09-19.
  7. South Bend Tribune 11 April 1982"Musicnotes" by Harmen Mitchell p.36
  8. Tampa Tribune 5 November 1982 "All Dressed Up and, Finally, Somewhere to Go: it's going to take a lot of spunk, but Nicolette Larson is on the rebound" by David Okamoto p.10
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