YEAR
2009
INDUCTED BY
Paul Shaffer
CATEGORY
Musical Excellence
Spooner Oldham shaped Southern soul with his formidable talent.
A songwriter, producer and session keyboardist, Oldham made his mark on such classics as “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “Mustang Sally” and “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You).”
Spooner Oldham
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By Andy Schwartz
The guy who played organ on Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” in 1966 and on the Box Tops’ “Cry Like a Baby” in 1968.
The guy who played piano on Linda Ronstadt’s breakthrough album, Don’t Cry Now, in 1973. The guy who played keyboards on both the 1967 Aretha Franklin album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You and the 2008 Drive-By Truckers album Brighter Than Creation’s Dark.
The guy who played with Bob Dylan and Neil Young, with Aaron Neville and Bettye LáVette, with Frank Black and Gat Power.
