Southern soul, country soul
Pieter | Johannesburg | 07/11/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"He may not have been the most prominent soul singer of the 1960s and 70s but Percy Sledge had a distinctive country soul or southern soul style and a pleading voice with spiritual undertones. He made a lovely, flowing type of R&B with his stirring vocals and exceptionally melodious songs like the timeless When A Man Loves A Woman, Dark End Of The Street, Take Time To Know Her and Out Of Left Field.
This is authentic music from the heart, full of yearning and romanticism expressed in gripping imagery. The backing is similar to the sound of the great Stax artists, and his voice is often framed by lovely female vocals. These songs are all tuneful and moving compositions demonstrating the prowess of the Muscle Shoals musicians.
Highlights on this compilation include the aforementioned masterpieces plus Put A Little Lovin' On Me, Warm And Tender Love, True Love Travels On A Gravel Road, Push Mr Pride Aside and Cover Me. Worst of the omissions are My Special Prayer and Keep Your Arms Around Me.
This Platinum Collection is a good introduction to Sledge, but people who are really into deep soul are advised to investigate further as he was a prolific artist and there are many more, lesser known, but equally excellent tracks available elsewhere. Together with a couple of legendary artists on the Stax/Volt label, Sledge was the best exponent of this gripping type of country-soul, and his voice gave him the edge!
It Tears Me Up: The Best of Percy Sledge"
"I'm Gonna Stop Wasting Time...I'm Hanging Up My Heart For Y
Mark Barry at Reckless Records, Lon | UK | 04/20/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
""The Platinum Collection" is essentially Rhino's 1992 compilation "It Tears Me Up: The Best Of..." minus one song ("That's The Way I Want To Live My Life"). The track running order has been rearranged, there's new cheaper artwork and it's now at a budget price.
This remastered reissue (from the original tapes) is part of a slew of releases to celebrate Atlantic's 60th Anniversary (see full list below) and for a paltry few dollars in stores (even less online), you get 22 slices of gutsy, classic 60's soul.
Sledge released 4 albums on Atlantic and many non-album 7" singles sides too - both A's & B's - seven of which appear on this set (they're listed below). But the trade off for the budget price is that the well-annotated 18-page booklet of the original is now an informationless slip of paper - so here's a detailed breakdown of what's on what...
"When A Man Loves A Woman", June 1966 US Stereo LP, Atlantic SD-8125
(CD Tracks 1, 12 and 13)
"Warm And Tender Soul", November 1966 US Stereo LP, Atlantic SD-8132
(CD Tracks 2, 3, 4, 14 and 21)
"The Percy Sledge Way", August 1967 US Stereo LP, Atlantic SD-8146
(CD Tracks 5 and 17)
"Take Time To Know Her", May 1968 US Stereo LP, Atlantic SD-8180
(CD Tracks 6, 9, 10, 11 and 16)
Non-Album Single Sides...
Track 7 is "True Love Travels On A Gravel Road", 1969 USA 7" single on Atlantic 2679 [B-side of "Faithful & True"]
Track 8 is "Stop The World Tonight", 1970 USA 7" single on Atlantic 2826 [A]
Track 15 is "Bless Your Sweet Little Soul", 1968 USA 7" single on Atlantic 2594 [B-side of "My Special Prayer"]
Track 18 is "Kind Woman", 1969 USA 7" single on Atlantic 2646 [B-side of "Woman Of The Night"]
Track 19 is "Push Mr. Pride Aside", 1971 USA 7" single on Atlantic 2719 [B-side of "Too Many Rivers To Cross"]
Track 20 is "It Can't Be Stopped", 1967 USA 7" single on Atlantic 2396 [A]
Track 22 is "Rainbow Road", 1971 USA 7" single on Atlantic 2848 [A]
Possessed of a great voice, but unable to pen a tune himself, when Sledge got his hands on good material he was the equal of many more famous and revered names. The song-writing geniuses Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham gave him the wonderful "It Tears Me Up", while Don Covay co-wrote the cleverly worded 'run around' message song "I'm Hanging Up My Heart For You". Bobby Robinson's "Warm And Tender Love" is delivered with a slinky organ wrapped around Sledge's pleading vocals - and the speakers literally rattle with the bass and drums of the slow but stunning "Bless You Sweet Little Soul" - all great stuff.
"When A Man Loves A Woman" will forever be his signature song of course, but like the equally underrated Arthur Conley who was lumbered with "Sweet Soul Music" - it seems that 'one' strong song is all that Percy Sledge and Arthur Conley are remembered for - when there was so much more to enjoy. And this is a great place to start - and for absolute fiscal peanuts too.
Highly recommended.
PS: the other Atlantic artists in "The Platinum Collection" series are: LaVern Baker (see REVIEW), Archie Bell & The Drells (see REVIEW), Brook Benton (see REVIEW), Booker T & The M.G.'s, Ruth Brown, Solomon Burke, Clarence Carter (see REVIEW), The Clovers (see REVIEW), Arthur Conley (see REVIEW), Don Covay, The Detroit Spinners, Eddie Floyd, King Curtis, Barbara Lewis (see REVIEW), The Mar-Keys, The Persuasions, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, (Big) Joe Turner (see REVIEW) and Betty Wright
"
Track Listings (22) - Disc #1