For Southern soul man Dan Penn, it was his first gig of the year. And he has only one other scheduled.
He's a songwriter/producer, not really a performer. He's the guy behind such rock 'n' soul classics as "I'm Your Puppet," "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman." His songs have been recorded by the likes of Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, the Box Tops, Janis Joplin, Waylon Jennings, Bette Midler and Bruce Springsteen.
Music aficionados were so enthusiastic about Penn's rare performance Sunday at the soldout Dakota Jazz Club that, an hour before showtime, proprietor Lowell Pickett talked Penn into staying for another performance on Monday.
Sunday's two-set, 2 ½-hour performance was special and satisfying but maybe a little too long. (The 7 p.m. show, which included splendid opening act Duluth blues-folkie Charlie Parr, ended at 11 p.m.)
Acoustic guitarist Penn, 70, was accompanied by keyboardist Bobby Emmons, another legend in the world of liner notes. Not only did he co-write "Luckenbach, Texas," but he has played on records by Elvis Presley, John Prine, Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson and Dusty Springfield, to name a few.
Dressed in denim overalls, Penn told a few stories in his laidback Alabama drawl. The best of which was about being asked by producer Jerry Wexler to write words for the bridge for "Do Right Woman" for Aretha in the recording studio. So Penn retreated to a cloak room to think. Faced with writer's block, he stole a line from his then-favorite song, James Brown's "It's a Man's Man's Man's World." Then Wexler checked up on him and gave Penn another line. Aretha later stopped by and chipped in her two cents, er, two lines, and the problem was solved.
Although Penn talked about working with Redding and Alex Chilton, a few more stories about specific hits would have been welcomed. But what was welcomed is that Penn doesn't have your typical songwriter's voice (see Burt Bacharach and Jimmy Webb). His voice has more resonance, range and soulfulness. He can be an assertive singer when he wants to be, and he even reached some high notes on Sunday. Or, as Penn himself described his voice on Sunday: "It's like a Ford Falcon. A Ford Falcon is nice but isn't as good as an LTD."
While the hour-long first set was a consistent treat ("It Tears Me Up" was his most heartfelt vocal, with Emmons' keyboards underscoring the pain), the longer second set, which included country and blues numbers, was unfocused and filled with many lesser known but well-written songs.
