Natural Four: Soul, if only for a moment

By way of the Bay Area, it’s Chicago’s own Natural Four.  They signed to Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom Records in 1972, after five years without a hit, and within a year they gave us this blue light basement classic: “Can This Be Real.” 

Inexplicably, the Natural Four never reached the success they deserved, dissolving in 1976.  Robert Pruter, author of the book Chicago Soul, pointed out that they most likely suffered from the trend of doo-wop style vocal groups succumbing to the age of Disco, which mainly favored solo artists.  But the Natural Four shone brightly, if only for a moment.  Jive On.