Top Fifty - Try a Little Tenderness

I would like to direct your attention to the section titled "My Top Fifty Favorite Songs" on the left column of your screen. Go ahead, read it. I'll wait until you've finished. *tapping fingers impatiently* Ok, so you should now be caught up to speed. Let's begin, children.

For my first selection, I'm going to go with a little Otis Redding. Ah, Otis. That man's voice is good for the soul, I tell you. Tragically, he was taken from us too soon, but he left behind some spectacular music. One of my self-imposed rules of the Top Fifty was that each artist could only be represented once. Therefore, I had to choose from many of my favorite Otis songs, such as "I've Been Loving You Too Long", "Hard to Handle", "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" and "Respect". I picked "Try a Little Tenderness" because it goes from a slow, soulful beginning to an all out, hand clapping, foot stomping ending. As they say here in south Georgia, where Otis was born and where I now live, that brother took it to church. Sit back and enjoy Otis at his best:



Being a woman of a certain age, I would be remiss if I did not bring up one of the song's most memorable cinematic appearances. How could you not love Jon Cryer as Duckie in "Pretty in Pink", lip syncing, dancing and air humping like nobody's damn business?



I absolutely adore the Paul Giamatti and Andre Braugher version from the steaming pile of elephant dung known as the movie "Duets". I love Giamatti long time, baby. He rocks me sideways.



You can find the Songfacts for the song here and the Artistfacts for Otis here. There you have it, folks. I think we're off to a beautiful start.