Spooner Oldham

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Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham (born June 14, 1943 in Center Star, Alabama ) is an American songwriter and studio musician ( piano , organ , keyboards ). He wrote several successful hits and accompanied numerous well-known rock musicians in the studio and on tour.

biography

Even during his school days, Oldham played the piano in various bands. He broke off his studies to make music in the FAME studios . As a member of the studio band, he accompanied a. a. Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin ( I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You) ). His best known work is the accompaniment on the Farfisa organ in When a Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sledge .

In 1967 he went to Memphis , Tennessee , where he started working for the American Sound Studio . With Dan Penn he wrote such well-known hits as "Cry Like a Baby" ( The Box Tops ), "I'm Your Puppet" ( James & Bobby Purify ), "A Woman Left Lonely" and "It Tears Me Up" (Percy Sledge). Then Oldham moved to Los Angeles . Here he worked in the studio with Arthur Alexander , Bob Dylan , Delaney Bramlett , Willy DeVille , Joe Cocker , the Hacienda Brothers , Linda Ronstadt , Jackson Browne , the Everly Brothers , Dickey Betts , JJ Cale and Frank Black .

Oldham often worked with Neil Young ; B. during his recordings for the album Harvest Moon (1992). Oldham can be seen in Young's concert film Neil Young: Heart of Gold . In 2006 he accompanied Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young on their "Freedom of Speech" tour. He was involved in the comeback album Lonely Just Like Me by country soul pioneer Arthur Alexander. Spooner Oldham played the piano and organ on it. He is also listed as a co-author of Alexander's Genie in the Jug . The two had already made music together in the 1960s. In 2007 Oldham was with the Drive-By Truckers on their "The Dirt Underneath" tour, in 2008 he played on the album Last Days at the Lodge by Amos Lee and in 2011 he accompanied Pegi Young on a tour of California.

Honors

On April 4, 2009, Spooner Oldham was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a sideman for his contributions to the development of Southern soul and R&B sound . Oldham had u. a. starred in Percy Sledges When a Man Loves a Woman , Wilson Picketts Mustang Sally , Arthur Alexander's You Better Move On, and Aretha Franklin's I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You) .

Discography (selection)

  • 2015: Complete Duo Recordings - Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham Live ; Audio CD with 14 tracks plus concert DVD with 22 tracks from the summer of 2006, recorded at St. James Church, London (Proper Records, H'ART)

Sideman for Arthur Alexander

  • 1962: You Better Move On ( Dot Records )
  • 1993: Lonely Just Like Me (Elektra)

Sideman for Neil Young

  • 1978: Comes A Time ( Reprise Records )
  • 1985: Old Ways ( Geffen Records )
  • 1992: Harvest Moon (Reprise Records; Oldham can also be seen in the accompanying music video)
  • 1993: Unplugged (Reprise Records)
  • 2000: Silver and Gold (Reprise Records)
  • 2005: Prärie Wind (Reprise Records)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Allmusic, see web links
  2. ^ Richard Younger: Get a Shot of Rhythm and Blues: The Arthur Alexander Story , Tuscaloosa, 2000, p. 37.
  3. ↑ Liner Notes on Lonely Just Like Me: The Final Chapter , HackTone Records LLC, 2007.
  4. ↑ Spooner Oldham Biography
  5. ↑ Harvest Moon , Official Video © 2012 WMG.
  6. ^ Neil Young Info - Spooner Oldham .
personal data
SURNAME Oldham, spooner
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Oldham, Dewey Lindon; Oldham, Lindon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American songwriter and studio musician
DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Center Star, Alabama