Mark McIver’s gut-bucket funk has so much soul that Henry Stone could only release it in Miami, or else the whole Earth would crumble underneath its force. The Dade Records release of “Soul Thing” never took off on the charts, but now the original is a collector’s item so rare that fans in England have created an entire mythos for it. Some say McIver was a Scottish rebel of mixed heritage who grew up in a Florida barroom. Others claim he was a traveling preacher who sang at sin filled juke joints all over the south just to pay the bills. Suffice to say, in the UK he is a King of crooners, and the holy grail of his recordings is the original 45rpm slab of “Soul Thing” that Henry Stone put out on his Dade Records label during the golden age of soul music.

The record is backed with “The Tic of The Clock.” Both songs are penned by McIver, whose intense vocal energy seemingly contains the powers of both Sam and Dave in one man. Pleasing chord changes, lock tight syncopated instrumental backing, and simple, catchy lyrics have made the record a dance floor magnet  for over five decades, and a certified hit in the UK’s northern soul scene. The original record is exceedingly difficult to find, and fetches hundreds of dollars at auction. But more importantly, the music on it is priceless, and so is McIver’s commitment to the song, which is brimming over with such emotion that it nearly jumps off the wax and into the very core of the listener’s being. Make sure to check it out!!