“Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” (Frank Wilson/Bruce Springsteen

Today’s little-known classic soul song of the day is “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do),” originally released by Frank Wilson and most recently covered by the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen.

Frank Wilson was a songwriter and producer for Motown Records in the ’60s and ’70s. In 1965 he was recruited, along with a handful of others, by Berry Gordy to set up a West Coast Motown office in Los Angeles. After they got that office going, Berry asked Wilson to relocate to Detroit, where he had success writing and producing records for the Four Tops (“Still Water (Love)”), the Temptations (“All I Need”), the Supremes (“Love Child,” “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me, “I’m Livin’ in Shame,” “Up the Ladder to the Roof,” and “Stoned Love”), Brenda Holloway (“You’ve Made Me So Very Happy”), and more.

Along the way, Mr. Wilson took the time to try his hand at being a recording artist himself, and recorded “Do I Love You,” a tune he had written, for Motown’s Soul label. Berry Gordy didn’t particularly like it, however, and liked even less that one of his producers might have a successful recording career, so he pulled the release. (The single was originally scheduled to be released on December 23, 1965.) Only 250 demo 45s were pressed and all but a half-dozen or so were believed to have been destroyed.

Several years later, one of those test pressings somehow found its way to the Wigan Casino nightclub in England, one of the hubs of the burgeoning Northern Soul movement in the 1970s. The success of the single, when played at the club, encouraged Motown to officially release the single on the Tamla label in 1979 and again in 2004.

That said, few outside of the Northern Soul scene had ever heard the record. One of those few was a guy from New Jersey named Bruce Springsteen. The Boss was putting together an album of soul covers, called Only the Strong Survive, for release in November of 2022. He decided to do a cover of “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do),” and his version was one of the highlights of what was a very enjoyable album. In my opinion, Bruce’s version surpasses the original, to which it was quite faithful; he’s a better singer than Frank Wilson and the backing musicians (and Bruce) really tear into it. It’s a fun performance that ought to get your feet tapping. I like to put it on “repeat” and listen to it over and over, it’s that kind of song.

Frank Wilson stayed with Motown until 1976, when he struck out on his own. He became a born-again Christian and a minister but also continued to be involved with music production. He passed away in 2012 of prostate cancer, aged 71.

That Springsteen guy had a few hits before he recorded “Do I Love You.” He’s getting pretty old, though, so who knows if he’ll have any more. I mean, the guy is 73—how long can an old guy keep playing that rock and roll music?