Congrats to Spooner!!!!!!
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Legendary songwriter and keyboardist Spooner Oldham will be amongthis year's inductees into the Cleveland-based Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Spooner -- who is celebrating his 50th year as a professional musician -- willbecome the first studio player from the Shoals to be inducted in the hallof fame's "Sidemen" category. (Previous inductees who arenatives of the area include Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, soulartist Percy Sledge and Grateful Dead singer DonnaGodchaux Mackay.) ....
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A native of Center Star, Spooner played piano or organ onmany of the classic Southern soul hits that helped define the world-famous"Muscle Shoals sound" in the mid-1960s. His distinctive keyboardwork formed the soul-stirring foundation for Percy Sledge's "When aMan Loves a Woman," Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally," "Landof 1,000 Dances" and "Funky Broadway," ArethaFranklin's "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You),""Do Right Woman, Do Right Man," "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" and"(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," among many, manyothers.....
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Spooner and his longtime songwriting partner Dan Pennco-wrote two multi-million-selling rock and soul anthems, James andBobby Purify's "I'm Your Puppet" and the Box Tops' "Cry Likea Baby," plus Janis Joplin's "A Woman LeftLonely," Percy's "Out of Left Field" and "It Tears MeUp," the Sweet Inspirations' "Sweet Inspiration," Joe Simon's"Let's Do It Over" and the Box Tops' "I Met Her inChurch." Spooner and fellow songwriter Freddy Weller co-wrote thecountry standard "Lonely Women Make Good Lovers," which became asmash hit for Bob Luman in the 1970s and Steve Wariner in the1990s. ....
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Spooner has toured and recorded regularly over theyears with rock icons Bob Dylan and Neil Young. His studio workencompasses sessions in New York, Los Angeles, Memphis,Nashville, Los Angeles and Muscle Shoals, recording with artistsranging from Arthur Alexander, Linda Ronstadt, John Prine, JacksonBrowne, J.J. Cale and Joe Cocker to Maria Muldaur, Hank WilliamsJr., Gram Parsons, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Bob Seger, the Everly Brothersand even Liberace. ....
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Most recently Spooner has toured and recorded with Young(appearing in the 2006 concert documentary Heart of Gold), Jewel(playing on the biggest hits of her career), Bushwalla, Frank Black,singer-songwriter Kate Campbell and the renegade Southern-rock band Drive-byTruckers. He was featured in the epic television project The History ofRock and Roll and recently appeared in Joel Gilbert's documentary BobDylan's Jesus Years. written by Terry Pace....