Artist Guide

Nellie "Tiger" Travis #5 The New Generation Southern Soul

#5 ranked Southern Soul Artist

"Mr. Sexy Man"

Nellie "Tiger" Travis #5 The New Generation Southern Soul

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February 1, 2021: Daddy B. Nice's Profile

The music business is dominated by men, and southern soul music is even more male-dominant. In spite of wreaking havoc upon traditional values in its songs and lyrics, the culture of southern soul music (or "grown folks music") glorifies the woman's traditional place in the home, not onstage. From an early age males are "engineered" for the tunnel vision and monomaniacal determination it takes to achieve an artistic brand. But for a woman? It may be relatively easy for a really talented woman to release a song or two, maybe even an album or two. But to do it again and again over a sustained period? Very few female singers make that happen---even less since the heyday of Peggy Scott-Adams, Shirley Brown and Denise LaSalle.

Nellie "Tiger" Travis is the exception to the rule. No day job, child-rearing or career-pausing domesticity for her. "I'm stronger than you'll ever know," she sings in "I'm A Woman". "I've got the brains to get through any door."

Like her only real rival in contemporary southern soul, Ms. Jody, Nellie "Tiger" Travis has not only achieved fame and fortune in the male-dominated music business but currently reigns as the foremost diva in southern soul. Travis has achieved that lofty status on the basis of two signature songs, one in the first decade of her career ("If I Back It Up") and the other in the second and present decade of her career ("Mr. Sexy Man"). Together, they just happen to be the two greatest "woman-comes-on-to-a-man" songs in 21st-century southern soul.

It could have been so different. Born in Mississippi but raised in Chicago, Nellie "Tiger" Travis could have been a blues singer in the northern sense, following the career path of her childhood idol, Koko Taylor, and hewing to the blues as it was practiced in the early to mid-twentieth century. And indeed, portions of Travis' life, beginning with her early years, have focused on being the heir to Koko Taylor, a position she's filled masterfully with a vocal power and swagger worthy of "Wang Dang Doodle".

But for fans of southern soul music, the most fortuitous development in Travis's career has been her collaboration with Chicago-based, Southern Soul composer/producer Floyd Hamberlin. (See "About Artist" below.) One of the last of the great, turn-of-the-century, southern soul songwriters, Hamberlin had written for Artie "Blues Boy" White, Tyrone Davis, Stan Mosley, Charles Wilson, Lee Morris, Cicero Blake and others, and in late 2005 he was ready to produce a record with a new-generation artist. He approached fellow Windy City artist Travis and the CD Wanna Be With You with the single "If I Back It Up" came out on the Floyd Hamberlin/DA Man label.

This was the heyday of songs about "backing it up" (L.J. Echols) and "bagging it up" (Nathaniel Kimble), expressions as familiar to chitlin' circuit audiences of that time as Pokey Bear's "sidepiece" is to fans today.

Hamberlin began the instrumental track with a "Florida sound"-derived, horn hook from KC & The Sunshine Band's "Boogie Shoes," transforming the disco era band's mere fillip into a soulful, ecstatic groove, drawing out and prolonging the horns through the the usual eight-bar instrumental introduction and then going another entire eight bars that made anyone listening froth at the mouth waiting for the lead vocal. The southern soul swagger and sass in that drawn-out, brass section hook seemed to indicate anyone could have succeeded at singing the song. But not like Nellie.

Listen to Nellie "Tiger" Travis singing "If I Back It Up" on YouTube.

"Oh yeahhh," Nellie drawled in a husky, city-of-big-shoulders voice-over, and from there her vocal took over the record, emanating power, sexuality and experience. Has a better female-to-male come-on ever been recorded?

"I've been dancing
In this club
All night long.
You've been over there,
Staring at me
Like something's wrong."

"Staring at me/Like something's wrong" was the perfect lyrical motif.

"I heard you holler,
'Back it up,'
And you gave me
That sexy smile.
You sure look
Good to me,
And I like your style."

And thence, onto the refrain:

"If I back (which sounds like "bag") it up,
What you gonna do?
If I put it on you,
What you gonna do?"

Approximately a half-dozen years after "If I Back It Up," a period during which she dabbled with varying success with other producers (Carl Marshall, Simeo Overall), Travis re-united with Floyd Hamberlin. This time the song---"Mr. Sexy Man"---preceded the album, coming out in 2013 (it notched the #2 slot, second only to J-Wonn's "I Got This Record," on Daddy B. Nice's Top 25 Southern Soul Songs of the Year) while the album ("Mr. Sexy Man: The Album") didn't arrive until four years later, 2017.

The single "Mr. Sexy Man" was greatly aided by the appearance in 2014 of the "Official Video," one of the best southern soul music videos ever published on YouTube, in which Nellie and her outfitted lady friends ride a limo to one of the fanciest clubs in Chicago, full of (Nellie announces to cheers in the limo) the "most sexiest men".

Listen to Nellie "Tiger" Travis singing "Mr. Sexy Man" (The "official" video) on YouTube.

But what put the song over---once again---was the instrumental track and its unconventional hook, a blistering lead guitar run that emanated more funk than soul. The sound was, from a traditional blues perspective, uncompromisingly profane. It was hard to listen to if you were looking for Johnnie Taylor-style soul, but once its hook broke through the defenses of what you formerly considered was southern soul, it demolished everything in its way. It rocked, it rolled.

Once again, lyrically, Nellie was in the "club". Once again, she was hunting for a man. Once again, she was "coming on".

"I saw you when you
Stepped into the club.
The way you walked,
The way your body moved.
I was out there
Dancing on the floor,
I was out of step
'Cause I was watching you.

"You're one fine, sexy-looking man.
Standing over there,
With that Hennessy in your hand.
I'm looking at you.
You're looking at me.
I'm thinking of the possibilities."

And thence, onto the chorus:

"Hey Mr. Sexy Man,
What yo name is?
Hey Mr. Sexy man,
What yo name is?"

Like a 100-year flood, "Mr. Sexy Man" crept into media outlets long known for ignoring southern soul music. It was called in many quarters the "number-one song" in America. Even Medea (aka comedian Tyler Perry), boasted that the song was her favorite during a guest stint on The Steve Harvey show. One of the keys to the song's popularity was the line in the chorus, "what-yo-name-is?" (which Medea mimicked perfectly), proving once again that good English grammar ("What is your name?") just doesn't make sense in the world of blues.

Watchan an animated video of Nellie Travis singing "Mr Sexy Man" Starring Puddin Afterthought on YouTube.

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For the latest updates (including biography, discography, album sellers, CD reviews and contemporaneous reports) on Nellie "Tiger" Travis, scroll down this page. To automatically link to Nellie "Tiger" Travis' charted radio singles, awards, CD's and other citations on the website, go to "Nellie 'Tiger' Travis" in Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index.
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Note: Nellie "Tiger" Travis also appears on Daddy B. Nice's
Top 100 21st Century Southern Soul (2000-2020). To read Daddy B Nice's commentary on Nellie "Tiger" Travis prior to 2021, click here.
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--Daddy B. Nice

About Nellie "Tiger" Travis #5 The New Generation Southern Soul

Nellie Travis was born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Although reportedly a "tomboy" growing up (she was also a Homecoming Queen), she didn't pick up the nickname "Tiger" as a youth. That came later, as a result of a decision by Nellie to add something memorable to her performing name in the fashion of artists like Koko Taylor, Big Time Sarah, Big Cynthia and Little Kim Stewart.

One night (the story goes) while brainstorming the idea with her cousin, Nellie came up with the nickname "Angel." Nellie's cousin immediately rejected it. "How about 'Tiger'?" she asked. "Nellie 'Tiger' Travis?" It had a special ring and rhythm to it, and the nickname "Tiger" stuck.

As a child, Travis sang in church and local competitions throughout Mississippi, graduating to lead vocalist of a regional group called SSIPP, fronting touring R&B headliners, before moving to Chicago in 1992.

In Tyrone Davis' Windy City--and on overseas trips--Travis honed an act that featured classic blues and R&B favorites like Koko Taylor's "Wang Dang Doodle," Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind" and Tina Turner's "Proud Mary," material that amply showcased Travis' own powerful and gritty style. Her debut CD, an out-of-print blues-dominated disc titled I Got It Like That, appeared in 2000.

(Out-of-print copies of I Got It Like That (Tiger Belle 2000) can still be purchased at Amazon.com.)

Travis also published a collaborative blues CD in Japan called Heart And Soul (Bluesox 2000)

In those early blues-covering days, Travis performed with close-cropped, natural-colored hair, unrecognizable to current fans accustomed to her perpetually bleached and braided, stunningly long locks.

See a video of Nellie performing early in her career.

For Southern Soul fans, the most fortuitous development in Travis's career was her collaboration with Chicago-based, Southern Soul composer Floyd Hamberlin. Hamberlin had established a reputation as one of the most unique and prolific of the current generation of songwriters, having written everything from Artie "Blues Boy" White's classic "I Can't Afford To Be Broke" to Will T.'s "Mississippi Boy," along the way writing major portions of the Southern Soul catalogs of Tyrone Davis, Stan Mosley, Charles Wilson, Lee Morris and Cicero Blake.

Hamberlin was ready to produce a record and he approached Nellie "Tiger" Travis, and in late 2005 the CD Wanna Be With You came out on the Floyd Hamberlin/DA Man label.

Filled with first-rate Hamberlin songs executed by Travis in a strong and distinctive Southern Soul style, one track after another found favor with chitlin' circuit audiences, giving the album a high profile through 2005 and the entirety of 2006.

Besides garnering Nellie "Tiger" Travis a slew of awards, the album's depth and quality established Travis as one of the most visible young artists on the Southern Soul circuit.

Noteworthy singles included "If I Back If Up," "You Gone Make Me Cheat," "Baby Mama Drama," "Super Woman," "What You Won't Do" and "Who's Fooling Who?" But the song that cemented Travis' reputation was "If I Back It Up". Hamberlin sampled the horn refrain from KC & The Sunshine's Band "Boogie Shoes." He also slowed it down and drew out the notes, giving them a totally different complexion. Hamberlin also appropriated the bass line from Bruce Springsteen's "Fire" for Travis' "M.O.D. (Man On Drugs)" from the same album. In both cases, he simply looked to the inexhaustible history of R&B for his initial inspiration.

Travis was signed by the then-fledgling, Southern California label, CDS Records, for her next album, I'm A Woman (2008). The CD featured another series of memorable, Floyd Hamberlin-written tracks--"I'm A Woman," "Slap Yo Weave Off," "I Saw It On Oprah," "Man on Drugs" and "Don't Talk To Me"--all of which raised Travis's profile even more in the Southern Soul genre.

But the partnership between Travis and Hamberlin ended abruptly after the I'm A Woman CD, with neither party ever going on record with the reasons for the fall-out. CDS-associated producers Dylann DeAnna, Carl Marshall and Simeo Overall took over the musical direction of Travis's career, and Travis herself seemed to favor a return to the more mainstream blues market, culimnating in her tribute single to Koko Taylor, "Queen Of The Blues."

The single appeared on 2009's I'm In Love With A Man I Can't Stand (CDS), and in no less than two Koko-themed tracks in 2011's I'm Going Out Tonight (Benevolent Blues).

(The I'm Going Out Tonight CD was re-issued in 2012 in slightly-different form under the title There's A Queen In Me (CDS), and Nellie Sings The Blues appeared on Aviara in 2014.

By 2013, however, Travis had returned to her southern soul roots with the long-awaited sequel to her club anthem, "If I Back It Up". The song, "Mr. Sexy Man," was composed and produced by her longtime Chicago songwriter, Floyd Hamberlin, although the hard-edged disco hook that propelled the tune was a brash experiment. Nonetheless, it captured Daddy B. Nice's "Best Club Song Of The Year" and became a cross-over hit single in many markets. An "official video" came out on YouTube in 2014, bolstering the song's cachet and making it Nellie "Tiger" Travis' most popular single ever.

Mr. Sexy Man: The Album followed in 2017 on the Wegonsee label (Floyd Hamberlin). Widely regarded as Travis' finest album since WANNA BE WITH YOU, the collection boasted a series of singles that kept Travis in rotation on deejay turntables for at least two years: "All The Lovers," "Textual Harassment," "Spacey Love," "Cold Feet," "Walking In The Rain In Memphis" and "Fix A Flat". (Scroll down to Tidbits #1 for Daddy B. Nice's five-star CD Review.)

I'm a Tiger: I'm a Woman (Deluxe Edition) was published by CDS Records in 2020. The set included new singles, "Slap Yo Weave Off," "Mama Didn't Raise No Punk," "Before You Grab This Tiger By The Tail" and "Tornado Wrapped In Fire". A single produced by Louisiana producer Beat Flippa---"Kept Yo Man At Home"---also appeared in 2020.

Tidbits

1. Daddy B. Nice Reviews Nellie "Tiger" Travis' MR. SEXY MAN: THE ALBUM

October 1, 2017: Re-Posted from Daddy B. Nice's New CD Reviews

September 25, 2017:

NELLIE "TIGER" TRAVIS: Mr. Sexy Man: The Album (Wegonsee Records) Five Stars ***** Can't Miss. Pure Southern Soul Heaven.

The only unfortunate aspect of Nellie "Tiger" Travis' new, hit-laden MR. SEXY MAN: THE ALBUM is that it took so long to appear. The iconic single that lends its name to the title came out in 2013--yes, four long years ago--when it notched the #2 slot (2nd only to J-Wonn's "I Got This Record") on Daddy B. Nice's Top 25 Southern Soul Songs of the Year.

I thought I could never grow tired of this dance jam, but I must admit that while listening to the "Mr. Sexy Man" opening track I recalled the disco scene of the 80's, when just the opening bars to Kool & The Gang's "Celebration"--played as many as three or four times a night--would drive me from the dance floor groaning, "Enough! Enough!" And yet, a hit is a hit is a hit. Check out the link to "Celebration's" YouTube video and you'll find over 100 million (!) views, and "Mr. Sexy Man," although not as well-known (3 million views), is just as irresistible and club-addictive.

Listen to Nellie "Tiger" Travis singing "Mr. Sexy Man" on YouTube.

So why the delay? Because Chicago-based (like Nellie) Floyd Hamberlin, the writer and producer behind MR. SEXY MAN: THE ALBUM, is an unrepentant one-man show, eschewing almost any help in bringing his musical concoctions to fruition, and that takes time.

Hamberlin is a musical genius legendary in southern soul circles for composing and in many cases producing songs like Will T's "Mississippi Boy" (the original version), Artie "Blues Boy" White's "I Can't Afford To Be Broke," Earl Duke's "Salt In My Sugar Bowl," Stan Mosley's "Man Up" and Cicero Blake's "Waiting On You," not to mention the many hits ("If I Back It Up," etc.) he's penned for Ms. Travis. Indeed, when it comes to inspirational, career-building material, Floyd Hamberlin's done it for Nellie "Tiger" Travis in the same way the late Jimmy Lewis used to do it for Peggy Scott-Adams.

So many songs from MR. SEXY MAN: THE ALBUM, have charted at SouthernSoulRnB, it would be a crime not to give the CD a five-star rating. Stingy as I've been with five-stars this year (only Jeter Jones' TRAILRIDE CERTIFIED scored one) I can only find two possible objections to putting MR. SEXY MAN: THE ALBUM in similarly "southern soul heaven" status.

One possible criticism: the songs are so melodically accessible and pop-like that they may lack some of the depth fans associate with southern soul. The second possible criticism: the production, though panoramic in scope, is keyboard-synthesizer-based, which could deter some adherents of live-instruments-only productions. (See, for example, Sweet Angel's recent, all-live-instruments CD CAN'T WALK AWAY.)

But the latter criticism--synthesizer-based productions--has never discouraged avid southern soul music fans (nor disco fans before them) as long the music "swung," and the former criticism--too "pop"--is like calling out the homecoming queen for a freckle.

If you want to hear Nellie going deep-soul on this album, proceed directly to "Walking In The Rain In Memphis," a sober, stately-tempo-ed ballad with a Travis vocal that recalls Etta James in its emotional solidness.

The four songs that begin this CD, beginning with our beloved "What yo' name is? What yo' name is?," constitute a quartet of the most humm-able, dance-able, likable tunes you could wish to hear--a background soundtrack for an intimate party, for example. They've all charted, and here's what your Daddy B. Nice said:

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .

-------DECEMBER 2016-------

…3. "All The Lovers In The House"-----Nellie "Tiger" Travis

If this song hadn't come from composer/producer Floyd Hamberlin, I might not have made it past the first few bars: flowery and flaccid, hinting of elevator music. Then Nellie starts singing. A Southern Soul vocal just doesn't get any better. She transforms it into an anthem so powerful you can visualize how it's going to play out in concert, with the fans all swaying slowly from side to side with their hands in the air. It's so positive--full of warmth, love and community. Check out the early Sir Charles Jones production effects.

Listen to Nellie "Tiger" Travis singing"All The Lovers In The House" on YouTube.

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .

-------AUGUST 2017-------

...2. "Textual Harassment"-----Nellie "Tiger" Travis

Sure, the words are timely, funny and apropos, but it's the musical groove and horn section riff (courtesy of producer Floyd Hamberlin) that really hooks you. From Nellie's new MR. SEXY MAN: THE ALBUM CD.

Listen to Nellie "Tiger" Travis singing "Textual Harassment" on YouTube.

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .

-------SEPTEMBER 2017-------

...4. "Spacey Love"-----Nellie "Tiger" Travis

"Ground control to Major Tom..." Nellie "Tiger" Travis storms the chart for the second month in a row with her romantic, synth-engulfed anthem, "Spacey Love". From her new CD, Mr. Sexy Man: The Album.

Listen to Nellie "Tiger" Travis singing "Spacey Love" on YouTube.

...To which I would only add now that the "timely, funny and apropos" lyrics in "Textual Harassment" are too good not to share. For instance:

"I met this man the other day.
Gave him my number.
Girl, he seemed okay.
But the minute we started talking on the phone,
I knew that he was Mr. Wrong.
Girl, the man wasn't talking about nothing at all,
So I just stopped taking his calls.
Then he started blowing up my line,
Kept on texting me like he lost his mind.
Textual harassment,
Textual harassment..."

And near the end of the song Nellie even gives out the guy's name...

"Tell the police
His name is Bobby MacAvee."

In stressing the quality of these four or five stand-out tracks from Nellie's new album, I don't mean to imply there are no other songs of note. "Tired Of Being Alone," with the delicate lyrical aside--

"We can lay in bed
Late on Saturday,
Or we can watch TV--
That would be okay."

--is another such microcosm of real life, rendered with both wisdom and romantic yearning.

Listen to Nellie "Tiger" Travis singing "Tired Of Being Alone" on YouTube.

Another tune, "Cold Feet," poses a riveting story of a woman who, tired of her lover's infidelity, lines up a tryst with an "old friend". She has a few drinks to "get up her courage" and they arrive at the motel, only for the woman to get "cold feet in a warm bed," and make apologies that she can't do it.

"Fix A Flat" is a mean double-entendre that, guaranteed, no man wants to have directed at him.

"Boy, you were doing real good
Until your tire went down.
You can't do nothing with that.
You need a can of Fix-A-Flat."

Great melodies, witty lyrics, powerful vocals, creative arrangements....There's not much more you can ask from a recording artist, unless it's my opening lament that it takes so many years to compile. MR. SEXY MAN: THE ALBUM is a CD for the ages, and one of Nellie "Tiger" Travis' best.

Sample/Buy Nellie "Tiger" Travis' MR. SEXY MAN: THE ALBUM at CD Baby.

Sample/Buy Nellie "Tiger" Travis' MR. SEXY MAN: THE ALBUM at iTunes.

July 23, 2017:

New Album Alert!

Sample/Buy Nellie "Tiger" Travis' MR. SEXY MAN, THE ALBUM at CD Baby.

Track List:

1. Mr Sexy Man

2. All the Lovers

3. Textual Harassment

4. Spacey Love

5. Tired of Being Alone

6. Smile

7. I Use to Run to You

8. Fix a Flat

9. I Woke up in Love

10. Walking in the Rain in Memphis

11. Keep on Movin

12. Cold Feet

Watch the official video of Nellie "Tiger" Travis singing "Hey Mr. Sexy Man" on YouTube.

Listen to Nellie "Tiger" Travis singing "All The Lovers" on YouTube.

Listen to Nellie "Tiger" Travis singing "Cold Feet" on YouTube.

Daddy B. Nice notes: MR. SEXY MAN, THE ALBUM includes the three songs above, all of which have charted here. (See Comprehensive Index to automatically link to their citations). "Mr. Sexy Man," of course has been written about countless times here, and with the publication of the new album--Floyd Hamberlin writing and producing--your Daddy B. Nice believes it's time to finally give "Mr. Sexy Man the nod over "If I Back It Up" as Nellie's top-rated song. (See right-hand column "Recommended Singles" on this page.) Mr. Sexy Man" seems to have eclipsed "If I Back It Up" in the minds of not only recent but longtime fans.