“When a Man Loves a Woman” (Percy Sledge)

Today’s classic song of the day that was featured in the movie The Big Chill is Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman.” This song was playing in the background after the after-dinner cleanup scene we featured yesterday (the one with the Temptations’ “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg“), as the group of old friends is sitting around the living room talking their dead friend Alex.

“When a Man Loves a Woman” was written by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, although Percy Sledge claimed to have a hand in its construction, as well. Sledge originally recorded it at the famous FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Sledge then re-recorded the track at nearby Norala Studios, using a lot of the same Muscle Shoals Boys, including Spooner Oldham on Farfisa organ, Marlin Greene on guitar, Albert “Junior” Lowe on bass, and the legendary Roger Hawkins on drums. (The drums are the best part of the song for me—after Sledge’s soulful vocals, of course.) There was also a small horn section consisting of Jack Peck on trumpet and Billy Cofield and Don “Rim” Pollard on tenor saxes.

After recording the tune that second time, Sledge got a distribution deal with Atlantic Records. Unfortunately, Atlantic’s Jerry Wexler didn’t like that second recording, as the horns were tad bit out of tune. He ordered a third recording but that’s when things got confused. Apparently the tapes got mixed up and Atlantic pressed the second recording rather than the third, and that’s the version that became a hit. So the version you heard on the radio and still hear today is that second recording with the Memphis Boys, complete with slightly out-of-tune horns. (You can hear it if you listen closely.)

Atlantic released the “When a Man Loves a Woman” single on February 17, 1966. It was a monster hit, going all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Cash Box Top 100, and Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles charts. It became the first number-one single recorded in Muscle Shoals and was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

So here’s your daily bonus video of the day, the after-dinner scene from The Big Chill with “When a Man Loves a Woman” playing in the background. “Wise up folks, we’re all alone out there—and tomorrow we’re going out there again.”