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If you noticed blunt omissions, mis-interpretations or even out-and-out errors,
please let me know:
Arnold Rypens
Rozenlaan 65
B-2840 Reet (Rumst)
Artist: Percy Sledge
Author: Calvin Lewis/Arthur Wright
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1966
N°1 US. His producers Quin Ivy and Marlin Greene heard him in a club with this song, still entitled Why Did You Leave Me Baby? They thought it deserved better lyrics. Sledge neglected to claim part of the credits. All the royalty's went to bass player Calvin Lewis and organ player Arthur Wright. Since Michael Bolton's extra n°1 US, the worldwide Levi's commercial and the soundtracks to the films The Crying Game ('93) and When A Man Loves A Woman ('94), these guys can go fishing every day. Recorded at Quin Ivy's Norale studio in Sheffield, AL with Fame studio musicians including Spooner Oldham on Farfisa. Dan Penn allerted Rick Hall who gave the word to Jerry Wexler and the rest is chart history: the first southern soul song to cross over to #1 on the pop charts.
Covers:
Ketty Lester [as When A Woman Loves A Man]
Esther Phillips [idem]
Johnny Hallyday [as Quand un homme perd ses rêves]
Ricky Mason [as Tu prétends que tu m'aimes]
Manuela [as Wenn es Nacht wird in Harlem]
Jerry Butler [as When A Woman Loves A Man]
Laura Lee [as When A Woman Loves A Man]
Gregg Allman [outtake]
Michael Bolton [n°1 US; comment of the NME on Michael Bolton's cover: 'If he hates the man so much, then why didn't he went to Percy Sledge's house and murdered his children?']
Ben Saunders [n°1 NL]
If you noticed blunt omissions, mis-interpretations or even out-and-out errors,
please let me know:
Arnold Rypens
Rozenlaan 65
B-2840 Reet (Rumst)