When a Man Loves a Woman (song)
When a Man Loves a Woman is the title of the first and most successful single by soul singer Percy Sledge from 1966.
History of origin
The original title was Why Did You Leave me, Baby? about a partnership ended by the girlfriend, performed by Percy Sledge and his companion group The Esquires Combo at the Elks Club in Sheffield, Alabama . When Sledge thought about his past love during this gig and got sentimental, he asked his backing band to start a slow blues. He improvised a text that matched the melody structure and thus delighted the audience.
The region around Muscle Shoals (Alabama) was known for its soul music . This is where Rick Hall's famous FAME recording studio is located, and it was barely able to cope with the upcoming order volume. That is why the former FAME employee and copywriter Quin Ivy founded Norala Sound Studios in neighboring Sheffield (Alabama) in 1965 ; they took over the order backlog that FAME could not manage. The initial studio equipment was used ( Ampex 351), the trumpeter and guitarist Marlin Greene was hired as sound engineer . The first single from the new recording studio was created for Jeanie Fortune with the title Angry Eyes (January 1966).
Quin Ivy heard about the promising piece with unknown singer Percy Sledge and asked Sledge to change the title and lyrics. That happened spontaneously during the recording session. However, Sledge is not registered as the writer of When a Man Loves a Woman because he had transferred the rights to Calvin Lewis (bassist) and Andrew James Wright (keyboards) as members of his backing band Esquires combo . Sledge later regretted this in view of the enormous success.
On February 17, 1966 came under the supervision of Marlin Greene and Quin Ivy Percy Slede (Singing) When a Man Loves a Woman / Love Me Like You Mean It (Atlantic 2326) in the occupation Marlin Greene (guitar), Don Srygley (rhythm guitar ), Larry Cartwright (bass), Spooner Oldham (organ) and Roger Hawkins (drums). Jack Peck (trumpet), Billy Cofield / Don "Rim" Pollard (tenor saxophone) served as the wind section. The quiet organ work on a Farfisa was the model for A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum . The haunting organ gives the passionately performed text its gospel-like tension. In the song, descending bass lines from Johann Pachelbel's Canon and Gigue for 3 violins with thoroughbass (PWC 37, T. 337, PC 358) are used, which has often served as a model in popular music. Since the brass section was clearly out of tune, Jerry Wexler requested a new take from Atlantic Records . This was mixed up when shipping, so the old take was sent back to Atlantic Records . When the song became the number one hit , Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records assumed the song had been re-recorded and was surprised that the original version, which sounded wrong, was released anyway.
Publication and Success
The sensitive love ballad was released on April 16, 1966 and hit both the pop and rhythm & blues charts in the US charts . It stayed at number 1 for 2 weeks (Pop) and for 4 weeks (R&B) and was therefore an enormous crossover success as a number one hit in both the Pop and R&B charts. On July 15, 1966, she was awarded the gold record by the RIAA . By mid-August 1966, over a million copies had already been sold without any special advertising effort. In the UK, it came to fourth place in 1966. When it appeared in a Levi’s advertisement, its re-release in February 1987 even reached second place. On May 2, 1966, the answer song When a Woman Loves a Man by Esther Phillips (Atlantic 2335) was released (rank 26 R&B, 74 pop). The original received a BMI award . Percy Sledge's single was the first independent and successful studio production for Norala. This was followed by Warm and Tender Love (recorded on May 18, 1966).
Cover versions
There are at least 80 cover versions in total . Mention should be made of the Spencer Davis Group (LP Autumn '66 ; September 1966), Elgins (October 1966), Johnny Hallyday (French title: Quand un homme perd ses rêves ; October 1966), Johnny Rivers (LP Whiskey A-Go-Go Revisited ; 1967), Marianne Rosenberg (1966) and Manuela each with the German title Wenn es Nacht wird in Harlem (text by Gisela Zimber; December 1967) sung. This brought Manuela to number 16 in the German charts. Other versions are by Art Garfunkel (LP Lefty ; March 1988) and Bette Midler (December 1979). Michael Bolton covered the song very successfully in September 1991, as he also reached first place in the pop charts, the adult contemporary singles charts and 8th in Great Britain (November 1991) and received a Grammy Award for it . Barbara Mandrell released a country version on September 24, 1991. The song reached number 54 in the list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time of Rolling Stone magazine.
When the Colombian telenovela Café con aroma de mujer ("Coffee with a woman's aroma ") came on television about a coffee plantation worker on November 30, 1993, the Spanish version of When a Man Loves a Woman was number 1 in the charts across Latin America after 160 episodes . In the movie of the same name ( When a Man Loves a Woman - An almost perfect love ; US premiere: April 29, 1994), the original recording by Percy Sledge appears.
Individual evidence
- ^ Andy M. Musso, Setting the Record Straight , 2008, p. 269
- ↑ Maury Dean, Rock 'n' Roll: Gold Rush , 2003, p. 204
- ↑ Abbreviation from Northern Alabama
- ^ Richie Unterberger, Music USA: The Rough Guide , 1999, p. 153
- ↑ Marlin Greene's wife
- ↑ Richard Crouse, Who Wrote the Book of Love? , 2012, p. 92
- ↑ Craig Hansen Werner, A Change is Gonna Come: Music, Race, And the Soul of America , 2006, p. 77
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 232
- ^ Hugh Gregory, Soul Music AZ , 1993, p. 116
- ↑ Manuela - When night falls in Harlem. Retrieved March 25, 2013 .