Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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SLEDGE, Percy

 

 

(b 25 November 1940, Leighton, AL; d 14 April, Baton Rouge LA) Soul singer. He began singing as a teenager; after high school he became an orderly/male nurse and loved that work, but had to take a factory job for more money. He sang in local churches and in a group, the Esquires Combo. He was encouraged by disc jockey/producer Quin Ivy in Sheffield and another local entrepreneur, Phil Walden, who advised Atlantic to release the first single: ‘When A Man Loves A Woman' reached number one in both Billboard's pop and soul charts (and went top five in the UK). It has never been long off the radio, and was used in the film Platoon, in a TV commercial for Levi's jeans in 1987, and many other places. Originally an Esquires tune called ‘Why Did You Leave Me Baby?', Percy wrote the now world-famous lyrics for it and gave it to two other guys in the band, Cameron Lewis and Andrew Wright, because, he said, ‘If they hadn't hit that note on the keyboard and bass,' it wouldn't have happened the way it did. He was never bitter, but said later that he should have kept a co-writing credit for his children. Ten more soul hits 1966-69 included ‘Warm And Tender Love', ‘It Tears Me Up', and ‘Take Time To Know Her', several crossing over to the pop chart.

He recorded for Walden's Capricorn label, where he had a minor hit ‘I'll Be Your Everything' in 1974; occasional projects such as the country-soul album Percy! on Monument were not well promoted. When he appeared on a UK TV music show in November 1994 his gentle showmanship and sheer talent blew the other bands away, just as a new album was coming out: Blue Night on Virgin/Pointblank was greeted with enthusiasm. Wanted Again came out on Diablo in 1994; an obscure album called Live! From Louisiana by Percy Sledge and the Aces Band in 2002 was soon out of print; and there have been countless compilation albums, most of them named after the biggest hit. Shining Through The Rain on Varese Records in 2005 brought relief for fans starving for his beautiful voice, which hadn't aged a bit.