Dan Penn Still Loves to Sing

Only a few individuals excel in multiple musical fields, and the legendary Dan Penn is clearly among them. He’s written or co-written numerous stone-cold classic soul and country tunes. As a producer, his lengthy list of hits includes Memphis rock heroes The Box Tops’ 1967 anthem “The Letter”; he and longtime comrade Spooner Oldham penned another of that band’s top singles, “Cry Like a Baby.” He even has substantial engineering credits. But when he takes the stage at 3rd and Lindsley on Tuesday, Dan Penn will be doing what he says he enjoys most: singing.

“I always considered myself a singer first,” Penn tells the Scene. “That’s how I started, but then I was able to sell a few songs and I enjoyed that. Plus I got to work in the studio and started doing some engineering and producing, and that was fun as well. So all these things kind of came together. But singing is what I love more than anything, and while I don’t often get the chance to do it these days, when a good opportunity comes along, I’ll take it.”

Penn will be performing during the latest residency date for one of Music City’s hottest new supergroups, The HercuLeons. This all-star ensemble, whose list of credits and accomplishments is staggering, features bassist John Cowan and fiddler Andrea Zonn, pianist Jody Nardone, multi-instrumentalist John Mock (who handles acoustic guitar, bouzouki and mandolin) and lead guitarist Tom Britt — as well as drummer Andy Peake, whom Penn credits with enlisting him for the show.

He notes that he’s planning to play a few favorites from his catalog. And when you have the Dan Penn songbook to draw from, that means bringing out such gems as “Dark End of the Street” and “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man” (both of which were co-written with Chips Moman) as well as “I’m Your Puppet” (co-written with Oldham). Penn adds that “Puppet” has its own special history.

“The original idea was to call it ‘I’m the Puppet,’” he recalls. “Well, James and Bobby [Purify] came in and they immediately changed the lyric to ‘I’m Your Puppet.’ Then the band starts playing it, and it’s faster than what I thought it should be. I was engineering, and I wasn’t really happy about what was happening. But then it came out, and it was a big hit, and I really thought, ‘Man, that’s the way it should sound.’ Now that’s how I sing it as well.”

In addition to Moman and Oldham, Penn’s list of co-writers reads like the lineup for a hall of fame induction ceremony, including Donnie Fritts, Gary Nicholson, Norbert Putnam, Carson Whitsett, Jonnie Barnett and Hoy Lindsey to name a few. Among standout projects in the 21st century, Penn teamed with Whitsett and Lindsey for the title track of Solomon Burke’s 2002 album Don’t Give Up on Me, and he produced Bobby Purify’s 2005 LP Better to Have It, which featured a dozen Penn-Whitsett co-writes.

“I’ve always wanted to have a good time in the studio and when I’m writing, which is one of the reasons why I’ve always enjoyed collaborations,” says Penn regarding his songwriting process. “I’ve never been one of those guys who can just get up at 8 and dash out a song by noon. I enjoy the give-and-take, and the fun of seeing what someone else thinks about a lyric or the way the song is working. Of course, you’ve got to be around good people. If you’re working with a jerk, it destroys everything.”

While Penn hasn’t made many solo recordings, the trio of 1973’s Nobody’s Fool, 1994’s Do Right Man and 2020’s Living on Mercy reveals a powerful, dynamic vocalist capable of the same kind of energetic, instantly identifiable performances that others have brought to his compositions. Though he celebrated his 82nd birthday in November, Penn says he currently has no notion of retiring.

“A few years ago, a lot of my friends were retiring and going to Florida to play golf, so I did think about it. But right now I’m really enjoying everything that I’m doing. So I’m not really even considering it at this point.”