Percy Sledge Sings Country

A re-post by request:

If the connection between deep southern soul and country music hasn't been evident to up to now then YOU have not been paying attention my friend.

Percy rocked the world with "When A Man Loves A Woman" in 1966, but he quickly screwed himself ala Little Willle John by becoming known as an irresponsible fuck-up while on tour. There was no quicker way to loose the respect of your peers than to repeatedly allow your vices to screw with the show.

 By the time of this 1979 album Percy had largely vanished from the public eye. When I got to chat with him in the late 90's this was one of the unknown albums that he mentioned with pride.

For some reason every mention of this album has only 9 tracks, even the CD version on CD Universe. Well I haven't the faintest idea where my copy comes from but I have 14 tracks so HELL YEAH! Don't care where they came from!

"Sings Country album by Percy Sledge was released Mar 18, 2008 on the Gusto label. Percy Sledge's fate and fame will forever rest on the shoulders of his massive 1966 hit, the forlorn ballad "When a Man Loves a Woman." With its funeral pace and churchy organ, coupled with Sledge's pleading, compassionate vocal, "When a Man Loves a Woman" is one of the most fascinatingly desperate songs in pop history. Sings Country music CDs Although he was one of Southern soul's greatest singers, Sledge never got that near the sun again, at least not commercially. Sings Country songs This collection, recorded with some of Nashville's best session players in 1979, finds Sledge going straight honky tonk, covering Johnny Cash's "I Still Miss Someone," Lefty Frizzell's "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time," and a pair of Merle Haggard songs, "Today I Started Loving You Again" and "Mama Tried," with an easy and comfortable assurance. Sings Country album It may be country, but that doesn't mean it isn't soulful. Sings Country CD music A nice, if understated, set. ~ Steve Leggett"

If you get a kick out of this one, be sure to check out Dirty Laundry

Percy Sledge - The Atlantic Recordings (Rhino Box)

A relode for those who missed it - RIP Percy.

Percy got no love first time around; this time I'm coming back with the mother-lode Rhino box! They dug deep for this 4 disc set, but they seem to have used a better strategy than on some previous sets; even the 4th disc is worthwhile! Two things are clear: Sledge's Atlantic output was pretty consistently top shelf, and no other southern soul singer spent more time straddling the country/r&b line than Percy.

"Percy Sledge worked in a series of blue-collar jobs in the fields in Leighton, Alabama before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid 1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.

Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages."

"When a Man Loves a Woman" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. The song's inspiration came when Sledge's girlfriend left him for a modeling career after he was laid off from construction job in late 1965. Because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached #1 in the U.S. and went on to become an international hit. "When A Man Loves A Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching #6 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at #2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (Covered by UK songstress Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her" (his second biggest U.S. hit, reaching #11 and written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".

Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and has become an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent, and South Africa in particular.

Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s once "When a Man Loves a Woman" re-entered the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #2, behind the reissued Ben E King classic "Stand By Me", after being used in a Levi's commercial.

In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced his new album, Blue Night, for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.

In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album which led to his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax.

In December, 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a 4 CD retrospective "The Atlantic Recordings" which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the US. What makes this limited edition release frustrating is that many of the mono tracks on discs 2, 3 and 4 have previously been issued in stereo (disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs which were not recorded on stereo equipment).

In October 2011 Sledge featured on the Cliff Richard album Soulicious, also appearing live on stage in the tour of the same name, reprising his top hit "When A Man Loves A Woman" as well as dueting with Sir Cliff.
Awards

Sledge was an inaugural Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award honoree in 1989. He won the W.C. Handy Blues Awards in 1996 for best Soul/Blues album of the year with his record Blue Night. In 2005, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In May 2007, Percy Sledge was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame for his contributions to the state's music. Sledge is also an inductee of the Delta Music Museum in Ferriday, Louisiana.

In November 2004, Percy Sledge was inducted into the Carolina Beach Music Hall Of Fame.

Among the many notable performances of Sledge's career was a cabaret appearance in 2005 alongside Liverpool's infamous "Steam Packet" at The Pumphouse, Albert Dock."

Percy Sledge - The Percy Sledge Way

Hey everyone!  I just want to take a moment of your time, while I have your attention.  I have had a crazy couple of months, and various events have brought me to a new viewpoint where blogging is concerned.  Rather than bore you to death, I will neatly summize...  I will be re-upping ALL of my Chitlins posts and hosting them permanently.  I will be moving away from digital collections, and towards single vinyl albums. Secondly, I want to get back to the thing that brought me into blogging in the first place;  vinyl sourced FLAC rips.  Going forward all of my output will be in FLAC.  For those of you who prefer mp3, DL a small program call Trader's Little Helper.  It has a wonderful conversion tool which is easy and quick, yet fully comprehensive. 

So... back to the music!!!  And what wonderful music we have on this one.  Infact, this is by far my favorite Percy Sledge side.  It's an album of covers, but he subtlely makes them his own.  You may find you prefer his treatment over some of the originals.  He does however, set his sights really high.  Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Solomon Burke... you get the picture?  Sledge went for the biggest and brightest, somewhat risky but ultimately rewarding. 

Aside from each song, what makes this one special for me is the overall vibe - the tracking is perfect, assumably we have producers Quin Ivy and Marlin Greene to thank for this.  Some of these early soul albums can have that "thrown together" sound as singles were what really drove the recording industry at the time.  Rest assured The Percy Sledge Way is one homerun after another with no break in the mood.  Fellas, this one gets my seal of approval if its panties you are trying to remove, or maybe just a heart in need of melting.  PS is relentless in his romantic delivery, as is the band.

This was ripped from my excellent condition LP.  This original mono Atlantic has the faint hint of analog-ness, not enough to distract your listening, but enough to remind you of the vinyl goodness that it's paired with.  I won't remove noise at the cost of the music.  Frankly this rip is in keeping with most of the digitally sourced material we have been listening to here at Chitlins.  Ripped at 24/44.1 wav and dithered to 16/44.1 FLAC... enjoy!!