After starting out in
Muscle Shoals
Alabama and then moving on to
Memphis
to work with
Chips Moman
at
American Studios
,
Dan Penn
proceeded to co-write and produce several '60s soul hits for artists like
Solomon Burke
Aretha Franklin
James Carr
, and blue-eyed soul band
the Box Tops
. Some of the classics
Penn
and
/
' studio veteran
Spooner Oldham
wrote include
"Cry Like a Baby,"
"Sweet Inspiration,"
"Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,"
"The Dark End of the Street,"
and "I'm Your Puppet." These and several other of their tunes are featured on
Moments From This Theatre
, a collection of live duets taken from 1998 dates in Dublin, London, and South Petherton, Somerset. With
Oldham
laying down a tasty soul base on the Wurlitzer piano and
strumming easeful guitar chords and singing in his sweetly powerful way, the duo glide through 14 gospel-inflected, country-soul gems, eloquently touching on southern living, loneliness, and the joys and trials of love. There's also a good dose of humor here in songs like
"Lonely Women Make Good Lovers"
"Memphis Women and Chicken."
An intimate and inspiring recording by two of the unsung giants of southern soul. ~ Stephen Cook