When a Man Loves a Woman
Percy Sledge was working as an orderly at an Alabama hospital when he improvised the melody to "When a Man Loves a Woman" during a local club gig. Brought into Norala Studios, Sledge was backed by the tight Muscle Shoals rhythm section, featuring Spooner Oldham on a mournful Farfisa organ and Roger Hawkins on drums. The track was a revelation. Sledge delivered the vocals with a desperate, pleading intensity that bordered on sobbing, pushing his voice to the absolute breaking point. It became a massive hit for Atlantic Records, cementing the deep emotional power of the Alabama soul movement.
The floating-verse lineage for this recording (who else recorded it, where the melody or lyric traveled, and how it was adapted) is still being mapped. This section will trace the song's DNA across the archive.
Contributions welcome at OlMrRead@ccblues.com.