Mitty Collier, I Had A Talk With My Man | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 100th edition of Throwback Vibez (2025), we recollect and reflect on “I Had A Talk With My Man” by Mitty Collier.   

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 100^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2025), we recollect and reflect on “I Had A Talk With My Man” performed by Mitty Collier.

“I had a talk / With my man last night / He reassured me everything / Was still alright.” That is excellent, Mitty Collier (1941 – ). Sometimes, we need reassurance, particularly from a significant other.  The doubts of the former soul singer (she became a pastor and gospel singer) are alleviated with this reassurance on her ace-in-the-hole, “I Had A Talk With My Man”: “My blues got bright / He made me know / I was the star of the show.” Aww, the feels! The love! The romance! “I Had A Talk With My Man” appeared on her 1965 album, Shades of Genius.  Currently, it is most accessible via the compilation, Talking With Her Man: The Chess Singles 1961 – 1968.  Billy Davis and Leonard Caston wrote it in its secular form. According to Secondhand Songs, “I Had a Talk With My Man” was adapted from “I Had a Talk with God”, written by the late, great gospel music legend, James Cleveland (1931 – 1991). Classy and refined, “Talk” does have some gospel sensibilities given the meter, harmonic progression, and the robustness of Collier’s voice. “Talk” peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, just missing the top 40. This marked the highest charting song of Collier’s career.

“I said I sat down, and had / A talk with my man last night,” Collier continues enthusiastically, “ He filled my heart with pure delight.” Sweet! Also sweet is the gorgeous instrumental backdrop that accompanies her. There is a sublime blend of orchestral touches (French Horn, strings, etc.) and the traditional rhythm section. Beyond the orchestration, the musical underpinnings, the harmonic progression shines.  It’s not simply I, IV, and V chords! There are some colorful chord choices, including an epic B-flat minor 7 flat 5 (an altered ii chord with a dramatic effect).  Still, Mitty Collier is the star, bringing the tuneful melodies and her loving relationship with ‘her man’ to life. “He told me that he needed me / More than words could ever say,” she asserts. What a heart-melting moment!  “I Had A Talk With My Man” also closes sensationally:

“I began to cry

He kissed my tears

From my weeping eyes

Oh, yes, he did, yes, he did

Yes, he did, oh, yes

I had a talk with my man last night.”

Simply put, they don’t make songs like this anymore. Classic, classic, classic!