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| Liner Note Author Alec Palao Recording information Fame Studios Muscle Shoals 1964-1966 Photographer Anna Eskridge In the first few pages of Peter Guralnick s superb book Sweet Soul Music Rhythm amp Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom the author describes Dan Penn as the renegade white hero of this book and Penn has been widely and justly celebrated by many music historians as one of the great songwriters to emerge from the 1960s soul music boom penning classic tunes for Aretha Franklin Percy Sledge James Carr Otis Redding James amp Bobby Purify and many more Penn is less widely acclaimed as a great soul singer largely because so few people have heard his work while Guralnick and other writers have spoken rhapsodically of the publishing demos Penn cut in the 60s Penn put out only four obscure singles prior to making his misbegotten debut album in 1973 and his body of recorded work remains elusive Thankfully Ace Records has finally made it possible for fans to hear the recordings that so impressed Guralnick The Fame Recordings includes 24 numbers Penn recorded at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals Alabama between 1964 and 1966 all but one of which has never before been released While a few of these songs would be major hits for other artists nearly all of them sound like winners and unlike most songwriters demo-ing their material Penn s performances are raw passionate full-bodied and soulful he was a white kid from the deep south in love with the sound of Ray Charles and Bobby Blue Bland and on the best cuts here he goes past conjuring an approximation of their sound revealing a voice and style all his own that suggests he influenced the singers who would cut these songs almost as much as they influenced him While Penn could mimic other artists - I m Living Good is an uncanny Sam Cooke lift and Take a Good Look finds Penn channeling Otis Redding - he puts in enough force and sheer belief to make these performances his |
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