Some singers never lose their voice.  Everyone can think of a few that have.  Other voices were never great to begin with so it doesn’t matter so much when they start to go downhill.  Melvin Davis has never lost his great voice.  At Littlefield in Gowanus on Saturday, he sounded the same as he did on his great singles from the mid-60s, which I have to admit I wasn’t really familiar with.  It was a real joy to watch this thrilled, deeply gracious 71 year old guy talk about his life in music and sing his never-hits.  Davis has had in hand in so many different a) labels b) instruments in Detroit during its 60s musical hey day.  He recorded for the amazing Fortune label but was also Smokey Robinson’s drummer for two years, on hits like Tears of a Clown, etc.  Think about the thunderous drums on that track.  Maybe it’s because he didn’t only focus on singing that his voice never got shot.

Melvin Davis never made much money. “My values don’t start with money,” he said humbly with a smile. “Not that that it isn’t on my list.”  Adorable.  This is a big man we’re talking about.  Literally, the dude has gotta be at least 6’5 too. He thanked the popular Northern Soul movement from Blighty for appreciating all his obscure songs that didn’t make him any money at the time but that are in our hearts now.  He showed real gratitude that he could come out and play to excited audiences, because of this renewed interest.

The Brooklyn Rhythm Band backed Melvin with a super-pro vintage sound and authentic playing.  Completely complementary and not the slightest bit distracting,

Humbleness was the overriding theme of the night and it didn’t stop with the star of the show.  Afterwards, I noticed Norton Records co-honcho Billy Miller waiting in line with a crowd of fans who wanted to meet him.  Not only is Billy his personal friend of Melvin Davis — but he’s also reissuing some of his early work on Norton!  See below.  But he patiently waited with other fans get a word because above all Billy and his wife Miriam Linna are themselves big fans.  Also, Norton’s business  was recently savagely humbled by Frankenstorm Sandy, when their entire warehouse in Red Hook got destroyed — but they landed on their feet with the help of legions of fan volunteers.

This great show was brought to us by Brooklyn-based series called Dig Deeper. — and I reckon we should all stay on their list and keep an eye out for what else they have in store.  Barbara Lynn is teed up to play Littlefield in Mid-October

Update: Just saw that Dig Deeper posted a video clip of the first song Melvin Davis did at this show, which I missed.  It’s was Chains of Love, which I just saw The Dirtbombs do earlier in the day and probably their best known song. I did not know Melvin Davis did the original.