Percy Sledge Inspired by Former Relationship,
Wrote Hit Song
By Sean Hillegass, 11.12.04

“Why Did You Leave Me,” the original title for Percy Sledge’s biggest hit should have been called “Thank You For Leaving Me and Making Me Rich and Famous,” because that’s exactly what “When A Man Loves A Woman,” the new title, did for him.

Sledge was laid off from his construction job in the later part of 1965, and on his last day of work he went to a local bar to have a beer with a few co-workers.

“On the Friday that I was let go a couple of the guys who I worked construction with were razzing me,” he said. “I told them jokingly that I would have a hit record in six months, and then I would take them all out for beers,” he said.

Inspiration for Song
The life change came a few months to the day later.

The inspiration for Sledge’s song came from his ex-girlfriend who left him for a modeling job in Los Angeles.

“I didn’t have any money to go after her, so there was nothing I could do to try and get her back,” he said.

The beginning of Sledge’s first recording took shape on a night when he had no intention of singing at all.

A local group, “The Esquires” band leader asked me to sing with them for a weekend gig,” Sledge said. “Initially I said no because I just wasn’t in to it, but when he said it paid $50, I said tell me when and where.”

When Sledge went on stage the night of the gig, he sang the phrase “Why Did You Leave Me.” “I really didn’t think about it, it just came out.”

After that night’s performance a friend of Sledge’s said that if he worked on the song a little more, he might have some success with it. “That night I went home and started working on “Why Did You Leave Me,” Sledge said. “I was in my kitchen singing when my mother came downstairs and told me to go to my bedroom, which I did. I then started singing in my bedroom, when my mother came in and told me to please go to sleep.”

Sledge ended up having one of the top ballads of the ‘60s, months later when “Why Did You Leave Me” was re-titled “When A Man Loves A Woman.”

An Unexpected Change
In 1966 the song became Atlantic Records first gold record, and number one on the national and international music charts.

“On the night I was told that my song went gold, Otis Redding, myself, and a few others were having a party at the Holiday Inn in Muscle Shoals,” Sledge said. “A little while later I was informed that my song had just went to number one on Billboards singles charts. I can not tell you what a wonderful feeling that was.”

Sledge did not forget his friends working construction.

A Joke Becomes Reality
“Just about six-months from when I was laid off, I went to the construction sight, where the guys were working, in a chauffer-driven limousine. I took the guys to a local bar and bought several rounds,” Sledge said. “No one could have predicted that words said jokingly could become a reality, and a big hit at that,” he said.

Sledge had follow up hits with the songs, “Warm & Tender Love,” “It Tears Me Up” and “Out Of Left Field.” Rock critic Dave Marsh refers to Percy Sledge’s soul ballads as “Emotional classics for romantics of all ages.”

During the 1970s Sledge helped usher in a new genre of music called country-soul, and sang songs written by Kris Kristofferson and Charlie Rich.

“Growing up country music was pretty much all I listened to,” Sledge said.

In 1986, “When A Man Loves A Woman” had a resurgence when it was used in the movie “Platoon,” which was an anti-war movie about a soldiers experience in Vietnam. A year later the song was used in a Levis commercial in Great Britain, which led to it being re-released as a single. “When A Man Loves A Woman” attained the number two position on the British pop singles chart.

In 1993, Sledge was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame. Sledge recorded the CD “Blue Night” in 1994, which garnered him his first Grammy nomination.

Sledge has remained popular on the live circuit in the United States, Europe and Asia. In 2004, Sledge released his first studio album in 10 years, “Shinning Through The Rain” as well as a live CD “Live In Virginia.”

After 38 years, Sledge shows no signs of slowing down.

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