Try a Little Tenderness
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| "Try a Little Tenderness" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image:TryaLittleTenderness45.jpg | ||
| Single by Otis Redding from the album Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul | ||
| B-side | "I'm Sick Y'all" | |
| Released | November 14, 1966 | |
| Format | 7" 45 RPM | |
| Genre | Soul | |
| Length | 3:46 (album version)
3:20 (single version) | |
| Label | Volt | |
| Writer | "Irving King" (James Campbell and Reginald Connelly) | |
| Producer | Otis Redding, Jim Stewart , Steve Cropper | |
"Try a Little Tenderness" is a song written by "Irving King" (James Campbell and Reginald Connelly) and Harry M. Woods, and recorded initially by the Ray Noble Orchestra (with vocals by Val Rosing} followed by both Ruth Etting and Bing Crosby in 1933. Subsequent recordings were made by such recording artists as Little Miss Cornshucks (1951), Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, Frankie Laine, Percy Sledge, Al Jarreau and Etta James. Also, Tina Turner sang it as a part of her 1999/2000 Twenty Four Seven Tour in a duet with John Miles.
In what is possibly one of the most unusual versions of all of this song, Jack Webb spoke the lyrics over an instrumental background, and this rendition was included in the first of Rhino Records' Golden Throats compilations.
[edit] Otis Redding version
A popular version in an entirely new form was recorded by African-American artist Otis Redding in 1966. Redding's recording features a slow soulful opening that eventually builds into a frenetic R&B conclusion. It has been named on a number of "best songs of all time" lists, including those from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is in the 204th position on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.
The story behind Otis' version is the following: Aretha Franklin covered the song in 1962 (in "The Tender, The Moving, The Swinging Aretha Franklin", Columbia). After hearing it, Sam Cooke adds it to his live shows, as can be heard on his live LP "At the Copa" (1964). In Cooke's version, only two verses are included, as part of a medley (with "For sentimental reasons" and "You send me"). This is the only version that Otis knew, which is why he only sings those two verses.
[edit] Covers
The song has been covered numerous times, including a modest hit by Three Dog Night in 1969. The song was a prominent inclusion in the 1991 feature film The Commitments and its subsequent soundtrack, as were numerous other Redding songs, such as "Mr. Pitiful". In the 2000s it has been covered by Michael Bublé on his second album It's Time and by Sarah Jane Morris on her album August (a stripped cover with just Marc Ribot on electric guitar). The Von Bondies render a cover of the song as a hidden track at the end of their album Pawn Shoppe Heart. John Farnham and Tom Jones performed it in a series of Australian shows in February 2005, which can be heard on the live album and DVD.
[edit] Uses in other media
- A slow, instrumental version of the song was used in the opening credits of Stanley Kubrick's 1964 film Dr. Strangelove.
- In the 1986 movie Pretty in Pink, Duckie appears, in a famous scene, dancing and singing to this song in the record store.
- In the 1988 movie Bull Durham, Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh, played by Tim Robbins, butchers the lyrics to this song while singing it during a long bus trip. Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner, gets visibly upset at Nuke's performance and informs Nuke of the correct lyrics.
- In the end of the season 5 opener of Sex and the City, Anchors Away, the Otis Redding version of the song plays during the credits.
- Donkey in Shrek, before letting the title character burst in during the marriage of Princess Fiona and Lord Farquaad, sings this song to encourage him to wait until the preacher says, "If anyone objects, let him speak now or forever hold his peace."
- in 11-Feb-1987 on the seventh season of the Magnum PI episode "Forty", Try A Little Tenderness by Otis Redding featured predominately.
- In This Christmas (film), singer/actor Chris Brown (singer) sings this song in a scene when he is in a club performing for the first time without trying to let his family know. But his siblings soon find out about his singing ability because they are in the same club that night.
