Spooner Oldham

A pivotal player in Southern soul in the late 1960s, Spooner Oldham regularly played with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section at sessions held at FAME Studios, appearing on such seminal singles as Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)," Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman," Clarence Carter's "Slip Away," and Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally" and "Funky Broadway." During this period, Oldham also struck up a partnership with guitarist Dan Penn that generated the soul standards "Cry Like a Baby," "I'm Your Puppet," and "It Tears Me Up." Once the golden age of soul faded, Oldham relocated to Los Angeles, taking a stab at a solo career but ultimately settling into a role as a session man, appearing on records by Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, and Bob Seger in the '70s before forging a lasting relationship with Neil Young. Over the decades, Oldham continued to play with his peers but also accepted gigs with indie rockers like Cat Power, Frank Black, the Drive-By Truckers, and the Mountain Goats, while also returning to his roots on occasion, as on his collaboration with Scottish rockers Texas on their 2024 album The Muscle Shoals Sessions.

Born Dewey Lindon Oldham, Jr. in Sheffield, Alabama on June 14, 1943, Spooner Oldham grew up in the farming town of Center Star. His father helped foster an interest Oldham's interest in music, leading the young Dewey to sing in church and learn guitar. At the age of four, he suffered an accident when reaching for a pan on the stove; a spoon struck his eye, costing him his vision in his right eye and earning him the childhood nickname of "Spooner," an appellation that stuck.

While in junior high school, Oldham took piano lessons, setting him on the path that led to being the keyboardist in the local combo Hollis Dixon & the Keynotes. He attended State Teachers College between 1961 and 1962 but found himself more interested in playing R&B and rock & roll, connecting with such similar-minded fledgling musicians as Rick Hall and Billy Sherrill. Soon, he relocated to Florence and started playing on sessions at Spar Music and Hall's FAME Studios. He played on Jimmy Hughes' "Steal Away," the first single released by FAME Records, and "You Better Move On," a 1962 R&B hit from Arthur Alexander.

By the mid-'60s, Oldham had started writing songs with guitarist Dan Penn. The pair's first charting hit was "Let's Do It Over," a tune Joe Simon took to number 13 R&B in 1965. During this time, Oldham continued to play on sessions, playing churchy organ on Percy Sledge's 1966 smash "When a Man Loves a Woman." That hit opened the floodgates for Oldham: over the next year, he'd play on records by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Etta James, Clarence Carter, James & Bobby Purify, and Sledge.

Oldham moved to Memphis in 1967, where he continued to work with Penn. The duo's biggest hit was "Cry Like a Baby," which the Alex Chilton-fronted Box Tops turned into a Top Ten hit on a record that also featured Spooner on organ. Oldham and Penn also wrote "Take Me (Just as I Am)," which became a hit for Solomon Burke, and "A Woman Left Lonely," which was cut by Charlie Rich and Janis Joplin.

His time in Memphis was short: he moved to Los Angeles at the end of 1969. There, he worked regularly at the Producers Workshop Studios, cutting his own album, Pot Luck, in 1972. Oldham soon drifted into the singer/songwriter scene emerging in Southern California. He appeared on albums by Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Linda Ronstadt, Rita Coolidge, Gene Clark, Jackson Browne, Stephen Stills, JJ Cale, and Harry Nilsson.

By the late '70s, Oldham had moved to Nashville and launched a lasting collaboration with Neil Young, who had the keyboardist play on 1978's Comes a Time. The keyboardist and singer/songwriter continued to regularly collaborate over the years; Oldham played on Old Ways, Harvest Moon, Silver & Gold, and Prairie Wind. He supported Bob Dylan during the last stages of his Christian era, touring with Dylan and appearing on Saved. He teamed up with John Prine for the 1984 album Aimless Love; the keyboardist also appeared on 1994's A John Prine Christmas.

Oldham worked regularly as a sideman throughout the '80s, a period when Steve Wariner revived "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers" -- a Penn collaboration originally cut by Bob Luman in 1972 -- for the contemporary country charts. Oldham and Dan Penn reunited for a 1991 appearance at New York's Bottom Line, sparking a revival of their partnership. They both played on Lonely Just Like Me, the 1993 comeback from Arthur Alexander, then started to tour as their own act; one of their concerts was captured on the 1999 album Moments from This Theater.

Active as a performer in his own right, Oldham continued to work as a sessionman. Jewel's smash Pieces of You was his biggest credit of the '90s but in the 2000s, he played with a diverse group of musicians. He appeared on a pair of Frank Black albums in the mid-2000s and joined the Drive-By Truckers for their 2007 The Dirt Underneath tour -- he also showed up on The Scene of the Crime, a Bettye LaVette album featuring the Truckers -- then played with Amos Lee and Cat Power in 2008.

Oldham was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2008 and into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a sideman in 2009. The Alabama Music Hall of Fame made him a member in 2014.

Oldham played on Keith Richards' 2015 album Crosseyed Heart and Sheryl Crow's 2019 record Threads. He also appeared on Dark in Here, the 2021 album by the Mountain Goats. In 2024, he teamed with Texas for The Muscle Shoals Sessions, a collection of soul covers the Scottish band cut at FAME Studios. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi