Fred Williams recorded his only single back in 1968 before disappearing from the funk and soul universe for ever. But what a single!

There’s a reason the name for Northern Soul records is Rare Groove. Because some of these obscure singles were one-off recordings by artists who vanished soon after, never to return.

Fred Williams & The Jewel Band (or possibly Jewels Band) are one of those – a short-lived blink-and-you-missed-’em Sixties soul band from Wichita, Kansas.

There’s next to nothing about them on the net and they don’t seem to have made any other records aside from this one. But what a record it is!

Fred formed the band with his soul brothers – Tommy Morgan on guitar, James Miles on bass and drummer Robert Barker – in Wichita in 1968.

That’s where they recorded their solitary single Tell Her – backed by The Dance Got Old – for the Solo label.

I can’t help wondering what Fred and the other Jewels did after this. Quite possibly they ended up working in the aviation industry which made Wichita the “Air Capital of the World” – and, one hopes, continuing to perform in the city’s bars and clubs.

Both sides of the single have subsequently become dancefloor favourites after being unearthed by some Northern Soul fanatic somewhere long after their release.

And its new-found fame led to it being sampled in 2007 by hip-hop artist Talib Kweli on his tune Listen! I advise you to do exactly that.