Dan Penn Is 'Living on Mercy' And Will Teach You How To Pull Songs Out Of The Air

It takes talent to write music and you are blessed with that talent
I like the songs I listened to
I will have to buy

I met Dan when he produced my buddy Greg Trooper. Troop told me he went into the control room to listen to a vocal and was worried he was singing flat. Dan said, “That’s not flat, Greg, your just singing on the blue side of the note!” Thanks for all the great music Mr. Penn!

In 1970 I was signed as staff songwriter at age 19 by Dan for Dan Penn Music with a recording contract. Like Rick Hall did for Dan, Dan passed on to me. He gave me the keys to his Beautiful Sounds recording studio on Highland Street in Memphis and told me “When the studio isn’t in use come in write and cut demos.” Like Dan, I was also a gopher running errands, getting food for the session musicians, and a fly on the wall. I also cleaned the studio on a regular basis. Anything to be a fly on the wall and to listen and learn watching Dan at work engineering, producing, and writing songs. I even got to write a song with him (“I Think I’ll Go Home”). I saw sessions with B.J. Thomas, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell, The Memphis Horns, Vicki Lawrence, Cargoe, Don Nix, Carl Wilson, Blondie Chaplin, Ricky Fataar, Willis Alan Ramsey and more. It was my music school, basically. All I had to do was listen, just like Dan did while working for Rick Hall. I’m 70 now and still writing songs and performing and saw Dan most recently when he was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. He still writes and sings wonderfully. I think his vocals sound better than ever and holds up extremely well at age 78. His wife, Linda, is a joy to visit with and we took in a lunch at one of Dan’s favorite Nashville restaurants (a meat plus 3 restaurant) and a visit to his home studio in the basement of his Nashville house where he played me new original songs he had been working on and I played a few of mine for him as well. I can not tell you how very important Dan was in those early 70s when I was green and very young and having played music for only 4 years previously.

Seeing Dan Penn open for the Hacienda Brothers years ago was so memorable … his genuine talent blew me away.

Can’t wait to receive Dan’s new album.
I got almost record he’s involved with, including 3 great albums by Charlie Taylor
I dream of meeting him / interview him for a book
Patrick (France)