Percy Sledge Made a Tragic Mistake with 'When a Man Loves a Woman'
- edgarstreetbooks
- Dec 18, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 20, 2025
‘100 Greatest Soul Songs’ Book Excerpt
Frank Mastropolo
In the 1960s and ’70s, the Muscle Shoals area of Alabama was one of the hottest recording spots in the country for rhythm & blues, rock, and pop. The vibe on the records of Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and Clarence Carter attracted stars like Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones to the area’s studios, hoping to absorb the Muscle Shoals Sound.
In 1965, aspiring singer Percy Sledge, born in nearby Leighton, had never been inside the recording studios of Muscle Shoals. Laid off from a construction job and working as a hospital orderly, Sledge wasn’t having much luck in his personal life either. His girlfriend had left him and moved to Los Angeles.
Sledge sang in a church choir and the hospital halls during his shift. Occasionally, Sledge told Sean Hillegass, he would pick up singing jobs at clubs and fraternity parties. At a gig with a local group, the Esquires, Sledge sang “Why Did You Leave Me.”
“I really didn’t think about it, it just came out,” said Sledge. A friend suggested that if he worked on the song, he might have some success with it.
“That night I went home and started working on ‘Why Did You Leave Me.’ I was in my kitchen singing when my mother came downstairs and told me to go to my bedroom, which I did. I then started singing in my bedroom, when my mother came in and told me to please go to sleep.”
With time, Sledge polished “Why Did You Leave Me” to become “When a Man Loves a Woman.” He auditioned for Quin Ivy, a local producer who owned a record shop and recording studio. Ivy agreed to produce the heart-wrenching tune.
In early 1966, Sledge recorded “When a Man Loves a Woman” with some of the area’s finest musicians: Junior Lowe (bass), Spooner Oldham (organ), Roger Hawkins (drums), and Jimmy Johnson (lead guitar). The band was borrowed from Rick Hall’s FAME Studios, where the Muscle Shoals Sound was born.
Hall was a legendary character whose studio produced hits for Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Arthur Conley, and Clarence Carter. Otis Redding, Little Richard, and Etta James also recorded there. It was Hall who sent Sledge’s track to Atlantic Records president Jerry Wexler, who agreed to distribute the record. “When a Man Loves a Woman” went to №1 on the pop and R&B charts in 1966.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes Sledge’s singing this way:
“Sledge’s forlorn, crying vocal style, which betrayed his roots in gospel, found him reaching into his upper register without breaking into falsetto. The purity of his voice, as music journalist Dave Marsh noted, was something like hearing ‘the South itself, in all its bountiful, contradictory mystery.’”
Though Sledge charted a few more modest hits, he missed out on his most important source of income. Well before “When a Man Loves a Woman” climbed the charts, Sledge naively gave away the writing credits for the song to bassist Cameron Lewis and organist Andrew Wright of the Esquires for their help in arranging the song. It proved to be a very generous gift, as Michael Bolton also had a №1 hit with the song in 1991.
“It came from me, that’s what I tell the world.,” Sledge said in Spinner. “I wrote the songs. The whole melody came from Percy Sledge. But I wouldn’t have given it all to them if I had more experience about music. If I had more intelligence about the business, I wouldn’t have given away my songs like that.”
Percy Sledge, 74, died in 2015.
Frank Mastropolo is the author of 100 Greatest Soul Songs, part of the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.
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