Sunday, December 18, 2011

Feel It Advent...ure 18. Percy Sledge

I’ve been shedding a few tears these last few days. Don’t worry, nothing's  upsetting me, it’s just some of the music I have been listening to recently.

I’ve been revisiting a few favourites. First it was Candi Staton – guaranteed to bring a tear to the eye – and just now I finally got around to playing a Percy Sledge compilation I picked up at a boot sale earlier this year. I’ve always loved Percy Sledge’s work and this 1984 Charly compilation ("Any Day Now") is packed full of tear jerkers. It also contains a few tracks of Percy’s that I was previously unfamiliar with. 

By 1970 the hits had dried up for him so the two tracks featured here went by virtually unnoticed at time of release. “Sunshine”, written by Phil Hurtt and Bunny Sigler, did just dent the US R&B Top 100 chart but “Stop The World Tonight” didn’t trouble the chart compilers at all, and for my money it’s a gem.  
They should both be much better known.

Something sweet and calm for a Sunday…




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Charly comp is magnificent. It was one of the first records I bought. What John Collis (I wonder where he is now) writes about 'Take Time to Know Her' is fantastic and will always stick with me. Thanks for bringing back a lot of good memories.