Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham

Not everyone knows Dan Penn, but almost everyone knows his music. Dan has been writing for decades and is nothing short of a driving force in the Southern soul sound. He is the man behind such staple soul songs as "Do Right Woman," "Dark End of the Street," "Take Me (As I Am)" and "You Left the Water Running." He wrote his first song at the age of 14, a piece called "Is a Bluebird Blue?" It became a hit for Conway Twitty, and Dan hasn't looked back since. His demos of the songs he's written for other artists are legendary, and his 1973 album Nobody's Fool was an instant collectors item. His strength of purpose is hugely admired by fellow performers; he's worked with artists like Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, the Bobby "Blue" Band, Otis Redding and Spooner Oldham. Dan and Spooner have been songwriting partners for 30 years and are finally taking their pared down duo on the road. They were prompted to perform and record together after appearing at the In Their Own Words songwriter series at the Bottom Line in New York in 1991. It became the inspiration for their album Do Right Man. In it we hear soul classics in the performers' own words, as well as newly-composed pieces that are soon to be classics. Spooner has played keyboards for Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan and Neil Young, to name a few. As well, he helped put both Muscle Shoals Sound and Memphis on the '60s soul map. It is between these long-time songwriting partners that an interesting perspective lies. This weekend as they perform together, we'll see and hear the expertise of two veteran musicians, the breadth of two writers and the emotional honesty of two artists.

  -- LG