Nathan Jones (song)#Bananarama version

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".

"Nathan Jones" is an unusual entry among the Supremes' singles repertoire for several reasons: 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.{{original research inline |date=May 2010}}

Released as a single on April 15, 1971, with "Happy is a Bumpy Road" as its B-side, "Nathan Jones" peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and number eight on the Billboard R&B chart.{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |year=2004 |publisher=Record Research |page=558}} Overseas, the single reached number five on the UK Singles Chart. "Nathan Jones" was the most successful single released from the Supremes' 23rd studio album, Touch.

• Lead and background vocals by Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson, Cindy Birdsong
• Additional vocals by Clydie King
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers
• Arranged by Jerry Long and David Van De Pitte
• Engineering by Cal Harris
• Mixed By Russ Terrana

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{{certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Supremes|title=athan Jones|nocert=yes|salesamount=1,000,000|salesref={{cite book|author=Joseph Murrells |title= Million Selling Records from the 1900s to the 1980s: An Illustrated Directory |isbn=0-7134-3843-6|publisher= B.T. Batsford |location=London|date= 1984 |page=337 }}{{cite book|author=J. Randy Taraborrelli |title= Motown: Hot Wax, City Cool & Solid Gold |isbn=9780385197991 |publisher= Doubleday |date= 1986 |access-date= 23 January 2020 |page=105 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=N9vhAAAAMAAJ&q=floy+joy+million+seller}}}}

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{{Infobox song

| name = Nathan Jones

| cover = Banana_nj.jpg

| alt =

| border = yes

| type = single

| artist = Bananarama

| album = Greatest Hits Collection

| B-side = Once in a Lifetime

| released = November 7, 1988

| recorded = August 1988

| studio =

| genre = Pop

| length = 5:12 (album version)

| label = London

| writer =

• Kathy Wakefield
• Leonard Caston

| producer = Stock Aitken Waterman

| prev_title = Love, Truth and Honesty

| prev_year = 1988

| next_title = Help!

| next_year = 1989

| misc = {{External music video|type=single|{{YouTube|iSSpPkMlb98|"Nathan Jones"}}}}

}}

"Nathan Jones" was covered in 1987 by English girl group Bananarama on their album Wow!, and was released in 1988 as the second single from their first compilation The Greatest Hits Collection, on which it appears in a different version from the previous album's one.

There are three distinct versions of Bananarama's rendition of the song.{{Cite web |title=A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 38: Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi to Nathan Jones on Apple Podcasts |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/ep-38-je-ne-sais-pas-pourquoi-to-nathan-jones/id1565879477?i=1000579102006 |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=Apple Podcasts |language=en-AU}}

The first version was released on their 1987 album Wow!, with their original line-up. This version was also featured on the soundtrack to the 1988 film Rain Man. Some of the vocals were sampled on their "I Heard a Rumour" B-side song "Clean Cut Boy".

After Siobhan Fahey was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan, Bananarama re-recorded the song (with completely new vocal and instrumental arrangements), dubbed the Psycho Mix. This new version was initially included on vinyl and cassette issues of Greatest Hits Collection. It was then remixed and released as a single, peaking at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. This version is considered the "official" version of the song, and is the version used for the accompanying music video.

A third version of the single, the Dave Ford Mix, while similar to the Psycho Mix, opens with a staccato synthesiser instead of the single-note of the Psycho Mix, and includes more prominent synthesiser 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 Greatest Hits Collection, 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).

All three versions have 12″ remixes available.

Upon the single release Jerry Smith of British magazine Music Week expressed the assurance that Stock Aitken Waterman treatment of one of finest hits of "The Supremes as the most successful all girl group" will continue the success of "Nana girls."{{cite magazine|author=Jerry Smith|date=19 November 1988|title=Bananrama: "Nathan Jones" (London NANA(X) 18)|magazine=Music Week|department=Singles Reviews|page=23|publisher=Pensord Press Ltd.|location=Gwent|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1988/MW-1988-11-19.pdf#page=31|via=World Radio History|issn=0265-1548|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230806013550/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1988/MW-1988-11-19.pdf|archive-date=6 August 2023|access-date=22 October 2023}}

Retrospectively, in 2021, British magazine Classic Pop ranked the song number 12 in their list of 'Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs'.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.classicpopmag.com/2021/08/stock-aitken-waterman-songs/|first=|last=|title=Top 40 Stock Aitken Waterman songs|magazine=Classic Pop|date=18 August 2021|accessdate=14 August 2023}}

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.{{cite AV media |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131022203914/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOFbFgeLtr0 |archive-date = 2013-10-22| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOFbFgeLtr0 |title = YouTube, a Google company |website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}

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 British Video of the Year at the 1989 Brit Awards, but lost to Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal".

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.

• 7-inch single / Japanese 3-inch CD single

1. "Nathan Jones" – 3:18
2. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:05

• 12-inch single

1. "Nathan Jones" (Extended Version) – 5:12
2. "Nathan Jones" (Instrumental Dub Mix) – 3:18
3. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:05

• US 12-inch single

1. "Nathan Jones" (Psycho Mix) – 6:27
2. "Nathan Jones" (Instrumental Dub Mix) – 3:18
3. "Nathan Jones" (Bass Tone Mix) – 5:07
4. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:05

• UK CD single / Japanese CD mini-album

1. "Nathan Jones" (Extended Version) – 5:11
2. "Venus" (Extended Version) – 7:25
3. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:04

• Japanese CD mini-album (remix)

1. "Nathan Jones" (Psycho Mix) – 6:24
2. "I Want You Back" (Extended European Version) – 7:55
3. "Once in a Lifetime" – 4:05

• Sara Dallin – vocals
• Jacquie O'Sullivan – vocals
• Siobhan Fahey – vocals
• Keren Woodward – vocals, bass guitar

"Nathan Jones" has also been remade by:

• Paul Davis (album Cool Night, 1981)South Bend Tribune 11 April 1982"Musicnotes" by Harmen Mitchell p.36
• Nicolette Larson (album All Dressed Up and No Place to Go, 1982).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

{{Reflist}}

{{The Supremes}}

{{Bananarama}}

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Category:1971 singles

Category:1971 songs

Category:1988 singles

Category:Bananarama songs

Category:London Records singles

Category:Motown singles

Category:Nicolette Larson songs

Category:Paul Davis (singer) songs

Category:Song recordings produced by Frank Wilson (musician)

Category:Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman

Category:Songs about fictional male characters

Category:Songs written by Kathy Wakefield

Category:Songs written by Leonard Caston Jr.

Category:The Supremes songs