The author of Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” The Box Tops‘ “Cry Like a Baby,” James and Bobby Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet,” James Carr’s “The Dark End of the Street” and Percy Sledge’s “Rainbow Road,” just to name a few, has had enough success to never make another record. So, don’t blame one of the greatest songwriters of our time for a 26 year gap between studio albums. Yet, start spinning Living on Mercy and it feels so familiar, like the most comfortable pair of shoes or slippers you’ve been wearing for years. Much of that owes to Dan Penn’s authentic, slightly twanged rural voice and the other is his innate knack for hooks that flow so seamlessly and naturally. It’s ironic too, as Penn was not the singer on his big hits. As he approaches 80, he calls this the best album he’s ever made. Woe to anyone who would dare to argue. The project compiles older, unreleased songs with fresher material from a regional legend who never kicked the songwriting habit. Some would say that it was Penn who made both Muscle Shoals and Memphis famous. Here he collaborates with songwriters in those two cities as well as Nashville. These new songs per Penn’s description, remind us of the slight, secular differences between gospel and soul music. Many would say he is the epitome of “blue-eyed soul” or “country soul.” Others would say he defines them.
The album was recorded in Muscle Shoals and Nashville with only five players although it sounds much grander than that. Musicians are Milton Sledge (drums), Michael Rhodes (bass), Will McFarlane (guitar), and Clayton Ivey (keys). Yes, a full horn section graces some tunes. Penn wrote songs with some of his closest collaborators, folks he has trusted for years, such as Wayne Carson, Spooner Oldham, Gary Nicholson, Carson Whitsett, McFarlane, Bucky Linsey, Buzz Cason, and the Cate Brothers. “Living on Mercy” was written with Carson, the writer of everything from The Box Tops’ “The Letter” (which was produced by Penn) to such country hits as Willie Nelson’s “Always on My Mind” and Gary Stewart’s “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles).” “Over in Springdale, Arkansas, I was working around with the Cate Brothers,” Penn says of the song’s origin. “We were thinking about cutting a record with them. (Carson and I) wrote two or three songs out in the car, and they demoed them for us. Then it all just went away. I can’t remember just why it fell through the hole. I didn’t cut them, but I had demos of the songs. That was 15 years ago.” Carson passed in 2015, making the title track’s overdue release a tribute to one of Penn’s greatest friends and business associates.
Other collaborators on the album include “What It Takes to Be True” co-writer Buzz Cason, a member of Nashville’s first rock ‘n’ roll band and a living country and rockabilly legend. Among the many highlights here are Penn’s take on the Cate Brothers’ “Blue Motel” and a new version of Spooner Oldham’s “I Do,” which hearkens back to the Vel Tones (though some might know the Steve Alaimo version). Here and throughout the album Penn and his team play the same way they did back in the heyday of th’60s when he wrote those big hits. They know how to craft a strong song, with just the right amount of organ, guitar, background vocalists and horn parts. The formula still works (at least for us adults). The songs are never too heavy either, as if an elder is passing on life’s wisdom whether served as home spun philosophy, sweet and sincere love songs, or daily travails.
It’s clearly a different time now in so many ways that it’s unlikely that any of these tunes, which are as good as any he’s penned (can’t help using that term), will become mega hits. Nonetheless, these songs are a salve for these times and do plenty of justice to Penn’s legendary status.
