Ep. 4 - SPOONER OLDHAM ("I'm Your Puppet")

Legendary keyboardist Spooner Oldham was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame for his work as a sideman on classic Muscle Shoals recordings, including "Mustang Sally," "When a Man Loves a Woman," and Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)." As a songwriter, however, Spooner landed 25 different titles on Billboard's R&B, Pop, and Country charts, including many co-writes with partner Dan Penn, such as the Top 10 classic "I'm Your Puppet" by James and Bobby Purify, "It Tears Me Up" by Percy Sledge, and "Cry Like a Baby" which the Box Tops took to #2 on the Pop chart in 1968. The pair additionally scored with Bobby Bare's Top 40 country hit, "In the Same Old Way," and R&B hits such as Solomon Burke's "Take Me (Just As I Am)," Percy Sledge's "Out of Left Field," and Laura Lee's "Up Tight, Good Man." They also continued to find pop success with "I Met Her in Church" by The Box Tops and "Sweet Inspiration" by The Sweet Inspirations. In the 1970s, Oldham teamed up with Freddy Weller, with whom he co-wrote several country hits, including "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers," which was a Top 5 charter for Bob Luman in 1972 and again for Steve Wariner in 1984. Additionally, his songs have been recorded by Janis Joplin, Etta James, Patti Labelle, Charlie Rich, George Jones, Clarence Carter, Sam & Dave, Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross, Patti Page, Barbra Streisand, Elton John, and Elvis Costello.