CELEBRATING
THE BLUES
The “S.O.B.” video is an hom-
age to the Blues Brothers’ per-
formance of “Jailhouse Rock”
over the credits of their classic
1980 movie. “I grew up watch-
ing The Blues Brothers all the
time,” Rateliff says, adding that
it would be fun to cover one of
their songs, which were them-
selves covers—tributes to the
performers who inspired John
Belushi and Dan Aykroyd to
don the Joliet Jake and Elwood
Blues personas. But he’s con-
cerned that his first choice
might not resonate today. “I
would love to do “Rubber Bis-
cuit,” but I don’t know how
many younger people know
that song.”
Nathaniel Rateliff (center) and the Night Sweats.
Nathaniel Rateliff has finally found his voice. And suddenly, America is listening. Rateliff and
his band the Night Sweats might seem
like an overnight sensation. Since they
performed the soul-stirring single
“S.O.B.” on The Tonight Show last summer, the song has gone platinum and
topped the adult alternative charts,
and the self-titled album broke the top
20 on the Billboard 200.
Yet for Rateliff—who returns to
the Newport Folk Festival this July
as a major attraction—success was a
long time coming. In his first band in
rural Missouri, he was too shy to sing
and foisted vocal responsibilities onto
friend Joseph Pope (still in his band).
He and Pope moved to Denver and
built a strong following, first for the
rock band Born in the Flood, and later
for acoustic folk with the Wheel. Yet
a national audience and record sales
proved elusive.
Then, in 2013, Rateliff shifted styles
once more. He wrote old-style R&B and
soul tunes and formed the Night Sweats,
with a formidable horn section. Cutting loose with emotional vocals and
dynamic arrangements led to a signing
by Stax Records, former home to stars
like Sam & Dave and Isaac Hayes.
Ironically, the hit single—which is
a foot-stomper yet features dark and
deeply personal lyrics about facing delirium tremens while drying out—nearly
got left behind.
“I was skeptical of recording it,”
Rateliff says. “I thought there were
other songs that were more interesting,
but I’ve been wrong about this stuff my
whole career.”
When everyone he knew insisted
there was something special there,
the band laid down the track after
the rest of the album was done. Now,
after a year of touring with this set
around the world, Rateliff is looking
forward to introducing new material
and eventually to recording another
album.
“Our show will change when we
come back to the States because we
want to challenge ourselves and keep
things interesting for our audiences,”
says Rateliff. “We’ve been writing new
material on the road and even have
recorded a little.”
His next album will feature more
collaboration from the band, which
has grown ever tighter on the road. But
don’t expect perfection—he likes to
leave stray notes and other mistakes
in his recordings to avoid a slick, ster-
ile sound and to capture the organic
energy of live performances. For
Rateliff, it’s also a reminder that you
never know how things will turn out.
—Stuart Miller
Soul Throwback
NATHANIEL RATELIFF TURNS TO OLD-SCHOOL SOUL
AND FINDS HIS GROOVE
