WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN
"When a Man Loves a Woman" is a song written by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright which was recorded by Percy Sledge in 1966 at Norala Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. It made number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts, and was listed 53rd in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The music is built around a commonly used descending bass line chord progression as in Pachelbel's Canon, or Bach's Air on the G String. (More from Wikipedia)
In 1966, the Farfisa Organ was even more prominent in the hit song "Double Shot (of My Baby's Love)" by the Swingin' Medallions (who were from South Carolina). That lovely organ that you hear in Percy Sledge's immortal 1966 hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" is a Farfisa, and Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone was playing one at his landmark Woodstock performance in 1969. Richard Wright's Farfisa Organ was a key element on many of the early Pink Floyd albums, particularly The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Ummagumma, but also including The Dark Side of the Moon. Elton John was able to get a different sound entirely from a Farfisa Organ on his hit "Crocodile Rock".
(December 2012)
