booman2 wrote:Try A Little Tenderness-Otis Redding
Thanks for jogging my memory about this song. Here's some tid-bits I enjoyed learning>
A standard recorded by many artists including crooners Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme and Bing Crosby. Redding did a very soulful version that was a completely different take on the song.
Redding did not want to record this, but Stax Records executives and his friends wore him down with a constant barrage of requests. When he finally recorded it, he did it in a way that he was "sure" that it would not be released. The ploy didn't work. Redding's version of "Try a Little Tenderness" became his signature song and the biggest selling of the records released before his death.
Sam Cooke's version of this was a big influence on Redding. It was never released as a single but was one of high points of his live "Sam Cooke at the Copa" LP (1964) as part of a medley that started with "Tenderness" (followed by "Sentimental Reasons" and "You Send Me"). Redding idolized the man, particularly after Cooke's death, but he did not want to record "Tenderness." He caved in after tremendous pressure from his friends and (according to one source) a family member -- but he didn't want to record it LIKE Cooke (in fact, he considered his version a "joke" to quiet the people who wanted him to record it). The rest is history.
For the group Three Dog Night, this was a staple of their live shows through the 1980's. They would often stretch the song to the 15-20 minute mark.
Three Dog Night recorded this as a tribute to the late Otis Redding. Their version became their first Top 40 hit in 1968. Their first Top 10 hit, "One," written and originally recorded by Harry Nilsson, soon followed.
In the movie Bull Durham, erratic young pitcher Nuke LaLoosh, played by Tim Robbins, sings this on the team bus but butchers the lyrics, much to the dismay of Crash Davis, the veteran catcher played by Kevin Costner. Instead of "Young girls they do get wearied" he sang "Young girls they do get wooly."
but the stevie wonder cover was a bigger hit, i think that much is true.
