Spooner Oldham
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Year:
2009
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Inducted by:
Paul Shaffer
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Category:
Musical Excellence
Introduction
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).”
Paul Shaffer Inducts Spooner Oldham
Paul Shaffer Inducts Spooner Oldham at the 2009 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony-
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Paul Shaffer Inducts Spooner Oldham00:04:09 -
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Spooner Oldham Acceptance Speech00:03:35 -
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"Jailhouse Rock"00:03:14
Hall of Fame Essay
2009
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.
sometimes silence is more powerful than the sound.
Photography: Janet Macoska
