Spooner Oldham

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Spooner Oldham
Spooner Oldham in 2009.jpg
Oldham in 2009 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Background information
Birth nameDewey Lindon Oldham Jr.
Born (1943-06-14) June 14, 1943 (age 82)
Center Star, Alabama
United States
Genres
Occupations
Instrument
  • Keyboards
Years active1960s–present
Formerly of Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
Website spooneroldhammusic.com

Dewey "Spooner" Lindon Oldham Jr. (born June 14, 1943) [1] [2] is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on such hit R&B songs as Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman", Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally", and Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)". As a songwriter, Oldham teamed with Dan Penn to write such hits as "Cry Like a Baby" (the Box Tops), "I'm Your Puppet" (James and Bobby Purify), and "A Woman Left Lonely" and "It Tears Me Up" (Percy Sledge). [3]

Contents

Biography

Oldham is a native of Center Star, Alabama, United States. [4] He was blinded in his right eye as a child; when reaching for a frying pan, he was hit in the eye by a spoon he knocked from a shelf. Schoolmates gave him the name "Spooner" as a result. [5]

Oldham started his career in music by playing piano in a Dixieland jazz band while at Lauderdale County High School. [6] He then attended classes at the University of North Alabama but turned instead to playing at FAME Studios. [7] He moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1967 and teamed with Penn at Chips Moman's American Studios. [8]

Oldham later moved to Los Angeles and has continued to be a sought-after backing musician, recording and performing with such artists as Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Delaney Bramlett, Willy DeVille, Joe Cocker, the Hacienda Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, the Everly Brothers, Bob Seger, Dickey Betts, Cat Power, J.J. Cale, Frank Black, and The Mountain Goats. [7]

Frequently a backing musician for Neil Young, [7] he played on Young's critically acclaimed 1992 album Harvest Moon . Oldham also appeared in the concert film Neil Young: Heart of Gold and backed Crosby Stills Nash & Young on their 2006 Freedom of Speech tour. [9]

In 1993, he joined a host of Memphis soul music veterans to record Arthur Alexander's comeback and un-intended final studio recording, the album Lonely Just Like Me . [10] [11] [12]

In 2007, Oldham toured with the Drive-By Truckers on their The Dirt Underneath tour. In 2008, Oldham played on Last Days at the Lodge , the third album released by folk/soul singer Amos Lee. In May 2011, Oldham backed Pegi Young on a six-show tour of California. [13]

Oldham worked with Scottish singer, Sharleen Spiteri on an album. [14]

On June 28, 2025, Oldham was a backing musician for Neil Young's headline set at the Glastonbury Festival, which was broadcast live by the BBC, after an initial embargo placed by Young. [15] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian said of the band, "This is essentially his earlier outfit Promise of the Real augmented by 82-year-old keyboard player Spooner Oldham, a man whose career stretches back to Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett's legendary late 60s albums." [16]

Awards

Oldham was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 as a sideman. In 2014, he was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. [17]

Solo album

Pot Luck (Family Productions, 1972) [18]

Collaborations

With Arthur Alexander

With Aretha Franklin

With Wilson Pickett

With the Box Tops

With Maria Muldaur

With Bob Seger

With Rita Coolidge

With Jackson Browne

With Shelby Lynne

With Steve Cropper

With Neil Young

With Linda Ronstadt

With Jennifer Warnes

With Billy Ray Cyrus

With John Prine

With Dan Penn

With Frank Black

With Jewel

With Tony Joe White

With Sheryl Crow

With J. J. Cale

With Amos Lee

With Josh Groban

With Bob Dylan

With Keith Richards

With Boz Scaggs

With Peter Parcek

With the Mountain Goats

With Texas

With Kate Campbell

References

  1. ↑ "Spooner Oldham's Concert & Tour History | Concert Archives". Concertarchives.org. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  2. ↑ "spooner oldham". Light In The Attic Records. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  3. ↑ Kurutz, Steve. "Spooner Oldham Biography". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation . Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  4. ↑ "Spooner Oldham". Encyclopedia of Alabama. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham - Old souls". Nodepression.com. January 2006.
  6. ↑ Ells, Blake (22 August 2013). "Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Spooner Oldham relives "Muscle Shoals"". Al.com. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 918. ISBN   1-85227-745-9.
  8. ↑ Hasted, Nick (5 November 1999). "Music: Good ol' boys in the hood" . The Independent . Archived from the original on 2022-05-24.
  9. ↑ "Spooner Oldham Biography". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  10. ↑ "Arthur Alexander "Lonely Just Like Me"". Discogs.com. 30 March 1993. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  11. ↑ "Arthur Alexander "Lonely Just Like Me - The Final Chapter"". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  12. ↑ "Arthur Alexander "Lonely Just Like Me"". Stereophile.com. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  13. ↑ Pegi Young missingpiecegroup.com Retrieved 15 April 2025
  14. ↑ "Texas star Sharleen Spiteri finds magic in Muscle Shoals". 2024-03-27. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  15. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (June 28, 2025). "Neil Young's Glastonbury set will livestream on the BBC after all". Rolling Stone UK.
  16. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (June 29, 2025). "Neil Young at Glastonbury review – ragged glory from a noisemaker who never treads the easy path" – via The Guardian.
  17. ↑ "6 slated for Alabama Music Hall of Fame". The Miami Herald . Associated Press. 28 February 2014.
  18. ↑ "Spooner Oldham "Pot Luck"". Discogs.com. 1972. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  19. ↑ Arthur Alexander allmusic Retrieved 14 April 2025
  20. ↑ "Dan Penn And Spooner Oldham - Moments From This Theatre". Discogs.com. 1999. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  21. ↑ Gunther, Marty (11 November 2020). "Peter Parcek – Mississippi Suitcase | Album Review". Bluesblastmagazine.com. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Texas announce brand new album 'The Muscle Shoals Sessions'". Planetradio.co.uk.
  23. ↑ "For The Living Of These Days". 7 February 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
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