In the early seventies, Oregon guitarist, Hank Swarn (who played guitar for the Oregon jazz trio, Billy Larkin and The Delegates) collaborated with Shirley Nanette on a project called “Never Coming Back“.
At the time Swarn had been on the road for five years, lending his guitar-backing talent to Earl Grant and his band. Whilst on tour he wrote some songs that were ultimately released on Shirley Nanette’s 1972 “Never Coming Back” album. This was an LP that was recorded in mostly one or two takes, impressively in just over a week and, whilst the album saw very little exposure, it remains to be one of those hidden gems revered by many a soul fan who stumbles upon it.
Personally for me, however, I like the raw funk edge of All Of Your Life and was disappointed to discover that the rest of this album is nowhere near as edgy or raw, which is a shame… But All Of Your Life is worth sharing and I love the way the deep bass groove throughout contrasts perfectly with Nanette’s sparkling vocals.
The whole album was remastered and reissued in 2012 by Brooklyn label Truth & Soul and as far as I can gather Shirley Nanette is still recording and performing