Here’s a sweet slice of Northern Soul to warm the cockles of the heart on the longest night of the year. Listen carefully and you can hear the guitar of future Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch.

The Seven Souls began life in Los Angeles as a doo wop group called Ivory Hudson and the Harlequins, while the musicians went by The Versatiles and used the vocal talents of The Fifth Dimension.

The two groups joined forces to form The Seven Souls in 1964, with Welch joining on guitar, and entered a Battle of the Bands competition in the hope of winning a record contract.

They lost out to a rival up-and-coming funk band called Sly And The Family Stone, who won the prize of a deal with Epic Records. On another occasion they performed at Jordan High School in LA for the Motown debut of another new band, The Jackson 5.

The Seven Souls released a single called I’m No Stranger in 1967 but it failed to make any impact. But the B-side, I Still Love You, has since become a Northern Soul anthem with copies of the original 7-inch, on the legendary Okey label, changing hands for hundreds of pounds.

Welch moved to Paris after that and formed an equally unsuccessful trio called Head West, “living on rice and beans and sleeping on the floor. In 1971 he crossed the Channel to audition for Fleetwood Mac as replacement for guitarist Jeremy Spencer, who had famously disappeared during a US tour to join a religious cult, The Children Of God.

Welch would make five albums with Fleetwood Mac during his spell with the band from 1971-75, writing songs such as Hypnotised, Revelation, Bright Fire and Sentimental Lady, which gave him a big solo hit when he re-recorded it five years later.

Meanwhile, The Seven Souls toiled away without reward, with an ever-changing roster of LA musicians including Bobby Watson and Tony Maiden, who would later join forces with Chaka Khan to form the group Rufus.

Despite working with big name producers Johnny Guitar Watson and Larry Williams, they released only one further single, Groove In / Got To Find A Way on Venture Records in 1968, and went their separate ways the following year.