Percy Sledge's 'When a Man Loves a Woman' was No. 1 50 years ago
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Today's Morning Edition music is from 50 years ago today when "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge was No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart.
Sledge says the song was created while he was singing in small Alabama nightclubs with a group called the Esquires Combo. They usually covered songs by the Beatles and Smokey Robinson, but on one night, Sledge says he was feeling so blue over a breakup that he couldn't bring himself to sing those pop tunes. Instead he improvised what would become the lyrics to this song.
On the strength of his performance, Sledge was signed to a solo recording contract. This would become his one and only top 10 hit.
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