DAN PENN
Dan Penn - The Fame Recordings [2012] + Close To Me,More Fame Recordings [2016]
Dan Penn - The Fame Recordings [2012]
In the first few pages of Peter Guralnick's superb book Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm & 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 & 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 own no matter how well you may already know these songs, and with a number of legendary session men backing him up, these recordings are remarkably accomplished, slightly rough but full of the sound of musicians thrilled by the act of creation. (And one can hear more than a bit of what Penn taught Alex Chilton when he produced the Box Tops' original string of hits, transforming Chilton's British Invasion instincts into some of the most soulful pop of the '60s.) The Fame Recordings is a valuable lost chapter in the history of Southern Soul, and confirms the legend that Dan Penn's publishing demos were more than just talk -- anyone with a taste for vintage R&B owes it to himself to give this a listen. ( AllMusic Review by Mark Deming )
Dan Penn - Close To Me,More Fame Recordings [2016]
Ace's second collection of Fame recordings by Dan Penn equals the first from 2012, and part of the reason for its success is that it shifts ever so slightly away from material popularized by other singers. Close to Me: More Fame Recordings still essentially consists of exceptionally well-produced publishing demos -- songs written by Penn, often with a couple of other writers, notably Spooner Oldham and David Briggs -- and cut at FAME with the finest musicians the studio had to offer. Consequently, these 24 tracks don't feel like demos: they feel like fully formed recordings. Certainly, Penn and the FAME crew aren't tossing these songs away -- they want to turn these into hits, so they're putting their all into the rhythms and performances, so these songs feel like buried treasures instead of archival asides. As Close to Me rolls along, it feels like a lost treasure: unheard songs from perhaps the greatest songwriter at FAME, played with the house band and with a singer who is among the greatest blue-eyed soul vocalists. It's hard to resist. (AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine)
Dan Penn has always been ignored by music listeners everywhere, and I'm thankful that Ace has decided to give him his due. He and his buddy Spooner created much of the music that made the sixties so fine. This is not just some sort of throwaway disc. It contains a wealth of fine tunes Penn recorded at Fame studios. He had all the attributes to become a big star, but wasn't thrilled about performing live on stage, so he passed his songs onto others, who made big hits out of them.
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Track Lists
Dan Penn - The Fame Recordings [2012]
01 Keep On Talking 2:37
02 Feed the Flame 2:18
03 Far from the Maddening Crowd 2:27
04 Uptight Good Woman 2:29
05 Come Into My Heart 3:12
06 Don't Lose Your Good Thing 2:50
07 Come On Over 2:25
08 Rainbow Road 2:48
09 Unfair 1:50
10 The Thin Line 2:11
11 I Need a Lot of Loving 2:26
12 Take a Good Look 2:38
13 Strangest Feeling 2:58
14 Power of Love 2:39
15 It Tears Me Up 2:44
16 I Do 2:29
17 Everytime 2:31
18 Do Something (Even If It's Wrong) 2:46
19 You Left the Water Running 2:21
20 Slippin' Around with You 2:59
21 Take Me (Just As I Am) 2:44
22 I'm Living Good 2:32
23 Long Ago 2:35
24 The Puppet aka I'm Your Puppet 2:48
Dan Penn - Close To Me,More Fame Recordings [2016]
01 Close To Me 2:10
02 Without A Woman 2:50
03 Trash Man 2:33
04 Miss Personality 2:52
05 Love Is A Wonderful Thing 2:23
06 It Hurts 2:04
07 Standing In The Way Of A Good Thing 2:15
08 Reaching Out For Someone 2:49
09 I'll Take Care Of You 2:23
10 I Need You 3:11
11 Destroyed 2:26
12 So Many Reasons 2:23
13 Little Girl 2:23
14 I Love Everything About You 2:18
15 Lovely Ladies 2:15
16 I Dig A Big Town 2:47
17 Diamonds 2:15
18 She Ain't Gonna Do Right 2:36
19 I Can't Stop (The Feeling Won't Let Me) 2:00
20 Do You Need It 2:36
21 You Really Know How To Hurt A Guy 2:16
22 Live And Let Live 2:36
23 We're Swinging 2:11
24 Downright Uptight Good Woman 3:37
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