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Opal Louis Nations (born 1941) is a British-American-Canadian writer, music historian, critic, record producer, musician and visual artist from Brighton, England.
In the 1960s Nations was the lead singer with Decca recording artists The Frays. The group is best known for its cover version of Jerry Butler & The Impressions’ hit "For Your Precious Love". The session featured Nicky Hopkins on piano and John McLaughlin on guitar. [1]
Nations also sang in Alexis Korner's short-lived gospel quartet and opened as a soloist for Wilson Pickett at the Flamingo Club in London in 1965 on Pickett's first tour of the U.K. He made guest appearances on the Long John Baldry Show at London's Marquee Club.
Nations recorded for Decca in 1966 as a solo artist under the moniker Martin Hummingbird. He was backed by a female vocal group and a full orchestra at Decca’s Soho Studios. [2]
In the early 1970s Nations collaborated with Genesis P-Orridge. They formed the Global Infantilist Movement and designed a passport that allowed babies to travel anywhere in the world. At public events, they gave out pacifier prizes to the cutest babies.
Nations collaborated with artists such as Felipe Ehrenberg and Robert Amos, and poet David Bromige and writer and artist Allen Fisher.
Nations is the author of more than 600 short works of fiction and criticism published in journals and publications such as
Nations is the author of more than 60 books of experimental fiction and artwork. His first published work, an experimental piece inspired by William S. Burroughs, appeared in 1969 in Michael Moorcock's New Worlds science fiction magazine in England.
Between the years of 1970 and 1980 Nations was the editor of Strange Faeces , a journal of experimental fiction, poetry and artwork that ran for 20 issues featuring works of John Giorno, Ron Padgett, Joe Brainard, Anne Waldman, Bernadette Mayer, Larry Fagin, Clark Coolidge, Andrei Codrescu, Keith Abbott, Glen Baxter and David Mayor. Strange Faeces also published translations of French writers such as Tristan Tzara, Paul Eluard, and Rene Char, among others.
Nations has worked extensively on the history of Gospel Music and Rhythm and Blues. He is the author of over 130 sets of liner notes including:
Nations is the author of Sensational Nightingales: The Story of Joseph “Jo Jo’ Wallace And the Early Days of the Sensational Nightingales, published by Black Scat Books in 2013
Many of his manuscripts are housed in the Opal Louis Nations Collection in the Archives of African American Music and Culture at Indiana University in the United States. [3]
The Opal Louis Nations Black Gospel Collection of musical recordings, books and photographs were donated to Baylor University in Waco, Texas on September 1, 2023 to become part of The Black Gospel Music Preservation Project. [4]
Nations is a regular feature writer for the British magazine, Blues & Rhythm, with articles on blues and gospel artists such as Chick Willis, Wynona Carr, Johnny Heartsman, Linda Hopkins, The Staple Singers and Wings Over Jordan Choir.
He is the co-producer and appears in the music documentary How They Got Over: Gospel Quartets and the Road to Rock and Roll directed by Robert Clem in 2013.
In 2013 Nations was extensively interviewed for the German television documentary Soul Power.
Nations hosted weekly R&B and world music shows on KPFA in Berkeley, California, United States for 14 years, and also hosted and did numerous appearances on KUSP in Santa Cruz, KPOO and KALW in San Francisco. [5]
Nations married Ellen Nations in 1970. They live in Oakland, California in the United States.
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African-American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening, where U.S. record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa. It also had a resurgence in the mid-to late 1990s with the subgenre neo-soul, which added modern production elements and influence from hip-hop.
Louis Thomas Jordan was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "the King of the Jukebox", he earned his highest profile towards the end of the swing era. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an "early influence" in 1987.
Gennett Records was an American record company and label in Richmond, Indiana, United States, which flourished in the 1920s and produced the Gennett, Starr, Champion, Superior, and Van Speaking labels. The company also produced some Supertone, Silvertone, and Challenge records under contract. The firm also pressed, under contract, records for record labels such as Autograph, Rainbow, Hitch, Our Song, and Vaughn; Gennett also pressed records for the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Gennett produced some of the earliest recordings by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke, and Hoagy Carmichael. Its roster also included Jelly Roll Morton, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Gene Autry.
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian and American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer whose unique "sweet jazz" style remained popular with audiences for nearly five decades.
African-American music is a broad term covering a diverse range of musical genres largely developed by African Americans and their culture. Its origins are in musical forms that developed as a result of the enslavement of African Americans prior to the American Civil War. It has been said that "every genre that is born from America has black roots."
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and electric guitar. She was the first great recording star of gospel music, and was among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm and blues and rock and roll audiences, later being referred to as "the original soul sister" and "the Godmother of rock and roll". She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and also later guitarists, such as Eric Clapton.
Memphis soul, also known as the Memphis sound, is the most prominent strain of Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, guitar, bass, and a driving beat on the drums.
Peacock Records was an American record label, founded in 1949 by Don Robey in Houston, Texas, United States.
Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues, country, early R&B, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern black churches. Bass guitar, drums, horn section, and gospel roots vocal are important to soul groove. This rhythmic force made it a strong influence in the rise of funk music. The terms "deep soul", "country soul", "downhome soul" and "hard soul" have been used synonymously with "Southern soul".p. 18
Albert L. Murray was an American literary and music critic, novelist, essayist, and biographer. His books include The Omni-Americans, South to a Very Old Place, and Stomping the Blues.
Blues from Laurel Canyon is a 1968 album by John Mayall, featuring British blues music. It was his first album after the breakup of his band the Bluesbreakers in May 1968, although others claim it was on 14 July 1968. It was also his last album with Decca before moving to Polydor.
Traditional black gospel is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding African American Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music. It is a form of Christian music and a subgenre of black gospel music.
Chicago, Illinois is a major center for music in the midwestern United States where distinctive forms of blues, and house music, a genre of electronic dance music, were developed.
Michael Pickett is a multiple award-winning Canadian blues and roots singer, guitarist and harmonica player.
"Hey Lawdy Mama" is a Piedmont blues song recorded by Buddy Moss in 1934. The song became popular among jazz musicians with early recordings by Count Basie and Louis Armstrong. In 1943, a version recorded by Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy, with vocals by June Richmond, was a hit, reaching number four on the Billboard R&B chart.
Nashboro Records was an American gospel label principally active in the 1950s and 1960s.
Black gospel music, often called gospel music or gospel, is the traditional music of the Black diaspora in the United States. It is rooted in the conversion of enslaved Africans to Christianity, both during and after the trans-atlantic slave trade, starting with work songs sung in the fields and, later, with religious songs sung in various church settings, later classified as Negro Spirituals.
The Indiana University Archives of African American Music and Culture (AAAMC), established in 1991, is a material repository covering a range of African American musical idioms and cultural expressions from the post-World War II era. The collections highlight popular, religious, and classical music, with genres ranging from blues and gospel to R&B and contemporary hip hop. The AAAMC also houses extensive materials related to the documentation of Black radio.
TV Gospel Time was an American Sunday morning television gospel music show that ran for three years on NBC network from 1962 to 1965. The show was based out of Chicago, with running time of 30 minutes. TV Gospel Time was the first television show designed to appeal to black audiences, according to Billboard Music Week October 20, 1962, when it launched in six television markets, New York, Washington DC, Augusta, Charleston, Columbus, and Baltimore. The number of cities carrying the show had grown to 20 by January 1963, and 50 markets by 1965. TV Gospel Time was the first television broadcast dedicated to gospel music airing one year before a similar gospel theme broadcast Jubilee Showcase started to air also from Chicago, on ABC network in 1963. TV Gospel Time was also the first TV broadcast of music performed exclusively by black musicians.
George "Teacho" Wiltshire was a Barbadian-born American R&B pianist, bandleader, arranger, A&R man, and songwriter, who had success in the 1950s and 1960s with musicians including Annie Ross, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Isley Brothers and the Drifters.
