Soul icon remembered: Recently passed Detroiter Nathaniel Mayer memorialized at live club event

Nathaniel Mayer, the Detroit rock and R&B singer, died earlier this month following months of health problems. Mayer had been a hitmaker in the early 1960s, when his "Village of Love," recorded with the Fabulous Twilights, hit No. 22 on the Billboard chart, and he'd recently releasing new music on Fat Possum Records with a new generation of rockers like the Black Keys.

Writing about Mayer in The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made ("Village of Love" was No. 265), Dave Marsh wrote, "Devora Brown, who owned Fortune Records with her husband Jack, swears that Nathaniel Mayer was a sweet-tempered and well-mannered young man. But on this forgotten masterpiece, he simply sounds crazed and demented, at least as unleashed as Little Richard... You want wild and bizarre, Mayer's 'Village' is as good a vacation spot as you'll find."

A memorial and benefit for Mayer will take place 5 p.m. - midnight on Nov. 30 at Northern Lights (660 W. Baltimore, in Detroit's New Center) featuring Gino Washington, Black Murda, Cody Black, Kenny Martin, Ultimate Ovation,Scott Morgan, Spyder Turner, the Fondas, Danny Dollrod, Mick Collins, Mike Hurtt and more. Mr. Fine Wine and Brad Hales will be spinning records.