THE BARGAIN BUY: Percy Sledge; When a Man Loves a Woman

 |   |  1 min read

Percy Sledge: When She Touches Me
THE BARGAIN BUY: Percy Sledge; When a Man Loves a Woman

In his 1989 book The Heart of Rock and Soul; The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, the American writer Dave Marsh has the title track of this album in at #31.

That's more than 100 places higher than Born in the USA, My Generation and the Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen.

Yes, it is that good.

As Marsh notes, it is "barely a record at all. It's just a guy singing his song, sparely accompanied by a rhythm section . . .".

Yet out of such simplicity is genius wrought because Percy Sledge pours his heart and soul into the lyric which is more than just a song about love, but what love can do.

"Lovin' eyes can never see" he sings towards the end, and that encapsulates the idea that not only is love blind but -- coupled with the passing lyrics about having been played for a fool -- the singer himself is the victim of a love betrayed.

Released in mid '66, When a Man Loves a Woman has become a soul staple ever since, but you'd be hard pushed to find a better version than Sledge's aching original.

The greatness of that song has meant it has lent its title to a few knocked-off Sledge (and others') collections, but it is best heard in the context of this, the original album.

Sledge could reach into those deeply hurting areas of the heart and he does it again here on When She Touches Me (Nothing Else Matters) in which he is prepared to put up with the pains and betrayals just for that loving touch: "I should leave her . . . but when she touches me . . ."

He also swings through the great You're Pouring Water on a Drowning Man and You Fooled Me -- other hurtin' heart songs about lies and deception -- but he remains the optimist (Love Makes the World Go Round) because "when a man loves a woman . . . "

Although, after Success ("to me success is being' loved by you") the album ends with Love Me Like You Mean It.

Few artists could channel Southern soul like Percy Sledge.

JB_logoAnd this essential album is just $10 at JB Hi-Fi stores here in a Japanese import edition which has a replica of the original cover and liner notes, plus lyrics (in English).

One of the great soul singers here captured at a peak. And that makes the album this week's recommended Bargain Buy

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   The Bargain Buy articles index

THE BARGAIN BUY: Lou Reed, The Solo Years

THE BARGAIN BUY: Lou Reed, The Solo Years

How strange to live in a world without Lou Reed. Not that we chatted often -- indeed never -- but it was always good to know that Lou was out there somewhere being irritable about something. In... > Read more

THE BARGAIN BUY: Various Artists; 100 Hits, 50s

THE BARGAIN BUY: Various Artists; 100 Hits, 50s

If you are looking at what prompted Frank Sinatra to denounce rock'n'roll of the mid Fifites as "played and written by cretinous goons", this five CD collection gives you the answer.... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Over the Rhine: The Long Surrender (GDS)

Over the Rhine: The Long Surrender (GDS)

After a series of fine albums, Ohio's Over the Rhine here -- with sympathetic producer Joe Henry – deliver their most sophisticated album to date, one with an ear on their European-cabaret... > Read more

GUEST WRITER MITCH MYERS pays tribute to bands that weren't The Band

GUEST WRITER MITCH MYERS pays tribute to bands that weren't The Band

As music lovers around the world celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Band’s landmark Music From Big Pink debut, MAGNET’s Mitch Myers digs a little deeper to introduce... > Read more