When a Man Loves a Woman – Pure emotion. #MusicisLife #TedTocksCovers #PercySledge #MichaelBolton #JoeCocker

By the very nature of this feature I focus on some of the most famous recordings of all time. ‘Ted Tocks Covers’ celebrates many number one songs and top selling artists. Many are award winning performers who have achieved milestones that only a select few have achieved. In the past week I have featured two legendary vocal performances in ‘Unchained Melody’ by The Righteous Brothers and ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Whitney Houston. Today’s feature is also right up there because of the passion behind the delivery. ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ is a classic, there is no disputing this fact. There is dispute behind the actual writing of the song. Percy Sledge was the front man for a group called The Esquires which included members Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright. Wright created a riff on the organ and it inspired Lewis to go home and write some lyrics to match. The next night they worked on the composition ‘Why Did You Leave Me Baby?’ with Percy Sledge who altered the perspective of the song to focus on his emotional attachment to a woman in a present relationship. The improvisation that emerged became ‘When a Man Loves a Woman.’ According to Sledge he gave the songwriting credit for ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ to Lewis and Wright because they took him to a place where the song became possible. In his words “they gave me the opportunity to sing my heart out.” The original recording was done at the famous Muscle Shoals Studio in Alabama but when Atlantic Record’s executive Jerry Wexler heard it he wanted it re recorded because the horns were out of tune. The revised recording was done with a different cast of players but when it was sent to Atlantic the tapes were mixed up and somehow the original recording was released. Ironically, this version did not include Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright.  ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ went to #1 on the Billboard Top 100 and the R&B Top 100. In 1991 a Michael Bolton version of the song also went to #1 which makes it one of only seven songs to make it to #1 while being recorded by multiple artists. 

Here is Percy Sledge with a live version of his powerful original:

Here is Michael Bolton covering ‘When a Man Loves a Woman in 1991. Over 100 million views don’t lie.

To close out this post, here is the legendary Joe Cocker putting his stamp on this classic song.