Rating:
Genre:
R&B
Release Date: 04/21/1992
Percy Sledge's first single,
"When a Man Loves a Woman," was an instant masterpiece of
deep Southern soul, so powerful and so distinctive it made him a star overnight and helped to quickly establish Muscle Shoals, AL, as one of the major recording centers in the Southern music scene. However,
"When a Man Loves a Woman" was such a big hit that it tended to overshadow everything else
Percy Sledge did from that point onward; while he had a handful of smaller hits and still records and tours, few people outside of
soul obsessives are aware of the full scope of his recording career.
It Tears Me Up: The Best of Percy Sledge, a typically well-assembled compilation album from
Rhino Records, features 23 songs
Sledge cut for
Atlantic during the 1960s and makes an excellent case for the consistent strength of
Sledge's
Atlantic catalog. While
Sledge specialized in sad songs of love gone wrong, he certainly knew how to make the most of such material, and his stellar, heart-tugging performances of
"Take Time to Know Her," "Warm and Tender Love," "It's All Wrong but It's Alright," and the title tune prove that
Sledge had more than one brilliant performance in his repertoire. Great stuff, and certainly the best
Percy Sledge collection available.
~Mark Deming, All Music Guide
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