Percy Sledge

Biography

Percy Tyrone Sledge (November 25, 1940 – April 14, 2015) was an American R&B, soul and gospel singer. He is best known for the song "When a Man Loves a Woman×When a Man Loves a Woman1966 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1When a Man Loves a Woman2:53A2Adorable One2:44A3Put a Little Lovin’ on Me2:39A4Love Me All the Way2:34A5When She Touches Me (Nothing Else Matters)2:32A6You’re Pouring Water on a Drowning Man2:25B1Thief in the Night2:25B2You Fooled Me2:28B3Love Makes the World Go Round2:39B4Success2:59B5Love Me Like You Mean It2:26", a No. 1 hit on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts in 1966. It was awarded a million-selling, gold-certified disc from the RIAA.
After working as a hospital orderly in the early 1960s, Sledge achieved his greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a series of emotional soul songs. In 1989, Sledge received the Rhythm and Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

Early career

Sledge was born on November 25, 1940, in Leighton, Alabama. He worked in a series of agricultural jobs in the fields near Leighton, before taking a job as an orderly at Colbert County Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama. Through the mid-1960s, he toured the Southeast with the Esquires Combo on weekends, while working at the hospital during the week. A former patient and mutual friend of Sledge and record producer Quin Ivy introduced the two. An audition followed, and Sledge was signed to a recording contract.

Sledge's soulful voice was perfect for the series of soul ballads produced by Ivy and Marlin Greene, which rock critic Dave Marsh called "emotional classics for romantics of all ages". "When a Man Loves a Woman×When a Man Loves a Woman1966 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1When a Man Loves a Woman2:53A2Adorable One2:44A3Put a Little Lovin’ on Me2:39A4Love Me All the Way2:34A5When She Touches Me (Nothing Else Matters)2:32A6You’re Pouring Water on a Drowning Man2:25B1Thief in the Night2:25B2You Fooled Me2:28B3Love Makes the World Go Round2:39B4Success2:59B5Love Me Like You Mean It2:26" was Sledge's first song recorded under the contract, and was released in March 1966. According to Sledge, the inspiration for the song came when his girlfriend left him for a modelling career after he was laid off from a construction job in late 1965, and, because bassist Calvin Lewis and organist Andrew Wright helped him with the song, he gave all the songwriting credits to them. It reached No. 1 in the US and went on to become an international hit. "When a Man Loves a Woman" was a hit twice in the UK, reaching No. 4 in 1966 and, on reissue, peaked at No. 2 in 1987. The song was also the first gold record released by Atlantic Records. The soul anthem became the cornerstone of Sledge's career, and was followed by "Warm and Tender Love" (covered by British singer Elkie Brooks in 1981), "It Tears Me Up", "Take Time to Know Her×Take Time to Know Her1968 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracksA1Take Time to Know Her3:06A2Feed the Flame2:28A3Sudden Stop2:49A4Come Softly to Me2:56A5Spooky2:55A6Out of Left Field3:32B1Cover Me2:51B2Baby Help Me2:33B3It's All Wrong but It's Alright3:00B4High Cost of Leaving3:04B5Between These Arms2:44B6I Love Everything About You2:17" (his second biggest US hit, reaching No. 11; the song's lyric was written by Steve Davis), "Love Me Tender", and "Cover Me".
Sledge charted with "I'll Be Your Everything" and "Sunshine" during the 1970s, and became an international concert favorite throughout the world, especially in the Netherlands, Germany, and on the African continent; he averaged 100 concerts a year in apartheid-era South Africa.

Later career

Sledge's career enjoyed a renaissance in the 1980s during which "When a Man Loves a Woman×When a Man Loves a Woman1966 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracksA1When a Man Loves a Woman2:53A2Adorable One2:44A3Put a Little Lovin’ on Me2:39A4Love Me All the Way2:34A5When She Touches Me (Nothing Else Matters)2:32A6You’re Pouring Water on a Drowning Man2:25B1Thief in the Night2:25B2You Fooled Me2:28B3Love Makes the World Go Round2:39B4Success2:59B5Love Me Like You Mean It2:26" re-entered the UK Singles Chart after being used in a Levi's commercial, peaking at No. 2 behind the reissued Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me". On March 23, 1987, Sledge performed "When a Man Loves a Woman" as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live hosted by Bill Murray. In the early 1990s, Michael Bolton brought "When a Man Loves a Woman" back into the limelight again on his hit album Time, Love, & Tenderness. On the week of November 17 to November 23, 1991, Bolton's version also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, exactly 25½ years to the week after Percy's did in 1966.
In 1994, Saul Davis and Barry Goldberg produced Sledge's album Blue Night×Blue Night1994 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1You Got Away With Love4:162Love Come Knockin’3:423Why Did You Stop4:404I Wish It Would Rain3:125Blue Night4:486These Ain’t Raindrops2:487Your Love Will Save the World3:478First You Cry3:569Goin’ Home3:3910The Grand Boulevard5:4011I’ve Got Dreams to Remember4:09 for Philippe Le Bras' Sky Ranch label and Virgin Records. It featured Bobby Womack, Steve Cropper, and Mick Taylor among others. Blue Night received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album, Vocal or Instrumental, and in 1996 it won the W.C. Handy Award for best soul or blues album.
In 2004, Davis and Goldberg also produced the Shining Through the Rain album, which preceded his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Songs on the CD were written by Mikael Rickfors, Steve Earle, the Bee Gees, Carla Olson, Denny Freeman, Allan Clarke and Jackie Lomax. The same year, Percy recorded a live album with his band Sunset Drive entitled Percy Sledge and Sunset Drive – Live in Virginia on WRM Records produced by Warren Rodgers.
In May 2007, Percy was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame in Baton Rouge, LA.
In December 2010, Rhino Handmade issued a four-CD retrospective, The Atlantic Recordings, which covers all of the issued Atlantic masters, as well as many of the tracks unissued in the United States (although some are simply the mono versions of songs originally issued in stereo; Disc 1 comprises Sledge's first two LPs, which were not recorded on stereo equipment). In 2011 Sledge toured with Sir Cliff Richard during his Soulicious tour, performing "I'm Your Puppet".

Personal life

Sledge married twice and had twelve children, three of whom became singers.

Death

Sledge died of liver cancer at his home in Baton Rouge on April 14, 2015, at the age of 74. His interment was in Baton Rouge's Heavenly Gates Cemetery.

Singles

1994: "I Wish It Would Rain" (Sky Ranch / Virgin, Sweden) duet with Mikael Rickfors produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg.
1994 "You Got Away with Love" (Pat Robinson & Rocky Burnette) / "Why Did You Stop?" (Carla Olson) (Sky Ranch / Virgin, France) produced by Saul Davis & Barry Goldberg.

In popular culture

Sledge is sometimes cited as the inspiration behind the Australian language term "to sledge", meaning "to put someone off their game", first used in Test cricket, though the phrase more probably derives from "subtle as a sledgehammer".