Spooner Oldham
Encyclopedia
Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham (born June 14, 1943) is an American songwriter
and session musician
. An organist
, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
and at FAME Studios
on such hit R&B songs as "When a Man Loves a Woman
" by Percy Sledge
, "Mustang Sally
" by Wilson Pickett
and "I Never Loved a Man" by Aretha Franklin
.
As a songwriter, Spooner Oldham teamed with Dan Penn
to write such hits as "Cry Like a Baby" (The Box Tops
), "I'm Your Puppet" (James and Bobby Purify), "A Woman Left Lonely" and "It Tears Me Up" (Percy Sledge
).
A native of Center Star, Alabama, Oldham started out playing piano in bands during high school. He then attended classes at the University of North Alabama
but turned instead to playing at FAME Studios. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee
in 1967 and teamed up with Penn at Chips Moman
's American Studios.
Oldham later moved to Los Angeles
and has continued to be a sought-after backing musician, recording and performing with such artists as Bob Dylan
, Delaney Bramlett
, Willy DeVille
, Joe Cocker
, the Hacienda Brothers
, Linda Ronstadt
, Jackson Browne
, the Everly Brothers, Dickey Betts
, J. J. Cale and Frank Black
.
Frequently a backing musician for Neil Young
, he played on Young's critically acclaimed 1992 album Harvest Moon
which also was the follow-up to Young's 1972 album Harvest released 20 years previous. Oldham also appears in the concert film, Neil Young: Heart of Gold
and backed up Crosby Stills Nash & Young
on their 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour.
, Oldham was touring with the rock
/alt country
band, Drive-By Truckers
on their "The Dirt Underneath" Tour.
In 2008 Oldham played on Last Days at the Lodge
, the third album released by folk/soul singer Amos Lee
.
On April 4, 2009, Oldham was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a sideman.
In May 2011, Oldham backed Pegi Young on a six-show tour of California.
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
. An organist
Organist
An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...
, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
and at FAME Studios
FAME Studios
FAME Studios are located at 603 East Avalon in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They have been an integral part of American popular music from the late 1950s to the present...
on such hit R&B songs as "When a Man Loves a Woman
When a Man Loves a Woman (song)
"When a Man Loves a Woman" is a song recorded by Percy Sledge in 1966 at Norala Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. It made number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts. It was listed 54th in the List of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 greatest songs of all time...
" by Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
, "Mustang Sally
Mustang Sally (song)
"Mustang Sally" is an R&B/straightforward blues first recorded by Mack Rice in 1965. It gained greater popularity when it was covered by Wilson Pickett on a single the following year. Pickett's version was also included on his 1967 album The Wicked Pickett....
" by Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
and "I Never Loved a Man" by Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
.
As a songwriter, Spooner Oldham teamed with Dan Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
to write such hits as "Cry Like a Baby" (The Box Tops
The Box Tops
The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...
), "I'm Your Puppet" (James and Bobby Purify), "A Woman Left Lonely" and "It Tears Me Up" (Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
).
A native of Center Star, Alabama, Oldham started out playing piano in bands during high school. He then attended classes at the University of North Alabama
University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama is a coeducational university located in Florence, Alabama, and the state's oldest four-year public university....
but turned instead to playing at FAME Studios. He moved to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
in 1967 and teamed up with Penn at Chips Moman
Chips Moman
Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s...
's American Studios.
Oldham later moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
and has continued to be a sought-after backing musician, recording and performing with such artists as Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Delaney Bramlett
Delaney Bramlett
Delaney Bramlett was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. Bramlett's five decade career reached peaks in creativity, performance, and notoriety in partnership with his then wife Bonnie Bramlett, in a revolving troupe of professional musicians and Rock superstars dubbed Delaney...
, Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille
Willy DeVille was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five year career, first with his band Mink DeVille and later on his own, Deville created original songs rooted in traditional American musical styles. He worked with collaborators from across the spectrum of contemporary...
, Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
, the Hacienda Brothers
Hacienda Brothers
The Hacienda Brothers is the name of an alternative country band composed of Chris Gaffney, Dave Gonzalez, Dave Berzansky, Dale Daniel, and Hank Maninger. They have been described as "the finest country-rock band since the Flying Burrito Brothers in their prime," and were called "the best country...
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
, the Everly Brothers, Dickey Betts
Dickey Betts
Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won with the band a best rock performance Grammy Award for his...
, J. J. Cale and Frank Black
Frank Black
Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black...
.
Frequently a backing musician for Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, he played on Young's critically acclaimed 1992 album Harvest Moon
Harvest Moon (album)
Harvest Moon is the twenty-first studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, released in 1992. Many of the musicians appearing on it also appeared on his 1972 album Harvest, and this album is considered by many to be a pseudo-sequel to Harvest....
which also was the follow-up to Young's 1972 album Harvest released 20 years previous. Oldham also appears in the concert film, Neil Young: Heart of Gold
Neil Young: Heart of Gold
Neil Young: Heart of Gold is a 2006 documentary and concert film by Jonathan Demme, featuring Neil Young. The film was made in the summer of 2005 in Nashville, Tennessee, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and was released to theaters on February 10, 2006...
and backed up Crosby Stills Nash & Young
Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)
Crosby, Stills & Nash is a folk rock supergroup made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, also known as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young when joined by occasional fourth member Neil Young...
on their 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour.
, Oldham was touring with the rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/alt country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
band, Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country/Southern rock band based in Athens, Georgia, though three out of six members are originally from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama, and the band strongly identifies with Alabama. Their music uses three guitars as well as bass, drums, and now...
on their "The Dirt Underneath" Tour.
In 2008 Oldham played on Last Days at the Lodge
Last Days at the Lodge
Last Days at the Lodge is the third studio album by singer-songwriter Amos Lee, released on June 24, 2008 through Blue Note. The first single from the album, "Listen", was made available as a digital download on the iTunes Store on April 29, 2008....
, the third album released by folk/soul singer Amos Lee
Amos Lee
Amos Lee is an American singer-songwriter whose musical style encompasses folk, rock and soul. Lee has four albums on Blue Note Records and has toured as an opening act for Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Norah Jones, Paul Simon, Merle Haggard, Van Morrison, John Prine, Dave Matthews Band and Adele. In...
.
On April 4, 2009, Oldham was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a sideman.
In May 2011, Oldham backed Pegi Young on a six-show tour of California.