“I’ve never had the goal of being a frontman,” says Spooner Oldham. “My goal was to be a good sideman, and that’s the sort of role I’ve done well at and been a bit appreciated for.”
“A bit appreciated” might be a slight understatement; at 72, Oldham has become one of the most renowned backing musicians in the industry. He’s a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (and was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame last year). He’s recorded with artists such as Bob Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Neil Young and even the Pixies’ Frank Black. And that’s not even counting the arguably most influential period of his career, when as a member of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section — colloquially known as the Swampers — he played keyboard on classic tracks such as Percy Sledge’s “When A Man Loves a Woman” and Wilson Pickett’s “Mustang Sally.”
This month, though, it’s Oldham himself that’s in the spotlight with the reissue of his little-heard 1972 solo album Pot Luck. The record, out now digitally through Light in the Attic Records and available on vinyl and CD on Sept. 25, is Oldham’s only solo effort to date — and, characteristically, he’s a little ashamed of the attention.
“I look at me doing an album as sort of like a game,” he says. After moving to Los Angeles from Memphis to help start Sidewalk Productions recording studio, Oldham found that he was the de facto choice to helm an album at the studio. “We needed something to do, and I sang a little bit and played a little bit and wrote a little bit. So the consensus was, ‘You’re it.’ It was a little like a game, you know, spin the [wheel] and now I’ve got to something here. That’s the way I felt about it. It was a novelty and something to do.”
The record was released in 1972 and failed to make much of an impression; mostly, he says, because of poor planning from the Family Records label that released it. “My understanding is, the month they released my album, they had seven other new releases and the company immediately went bankrupt. So my record never saw the light of day, essentially. Even though this is a reissue, it’s sort of like the first outing, in the sense that it may [actually] get heard.”
Side A of Pot Luck features a selection of original, Oldham-penned tunes, while the album’s back half features a mostly instrumental medley of some of Oldham’s biggest hits as sideman, which describes as “sort of an Adventureland into my background.” His nimble piano work takes over the melody of “When a Man Loves a Woman” and serves as the grounding bass line of brass-laden covers of Aretha Franklin hits such as “Respect” and “I’ve Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You).”
Oldham says he knew those songs were hits as soon as they were recorded. “Those were easy to spot for me,” he says. “With ‘When A Man Loves a Woman,’ I got a call asking, ‘Would you play keyboards on this session? It’s an orderly at the hospital; it’s his first time recording.’ Listening back that day, before the background vocals and the trumpet player added their parts days later, I felt there was something special about that song and Percy’s performance. I felt like that song would probably endure.”
Were there any songs that Oldham played on that he felt should have been hits, but weren’t? “I’m sure there were,” he says. “I couldn’t answer that truthfully, because I’d say, ‘Why not?’ There’s still a chance today. What’s wrong with today? Tomorrow? There’s marketing and promotional tools that people can spend money on and have more of a chance to be heard.”
His hopes for Pot Luck are understandably similar. “I’m just glad somebody will get to hear it and make their judgment — either like it or put it away,” he says. “Just to be heard, that’s all I think any entertainer — singer, songwriter, performer — hopes for is to be appreciated. That’s it. There’s no wishes of stardom.”
“I guess that if Pot Luck or any song on the record gets out there and becomes popular, I would get out on the road, probably, to do what I could to support the thing,” he adds. “But I’m not trying to do anything. I’m just lucky somebody wanted to reissue [the album].”
Oldham’s modesty extends to his work at Muscle Shoals. The city’s music scene — the subject of increased interest thanks to documentaries such as 2013’s Muscle Shoals — has been increasingly described as one of the seminal influences on contemporary rock and soul music. Oldham takes such adulation with a shrug and a grin. “That’s all fine with me. I don’t disallow any of that. [But] I don’t want to claim to be the father of anything — or the cousin, or brother or nothing,” he laughs. “That’s for other people to label if they choose. [Muscle Shoals] has had a storied history. I was lucky to be a part of some of those early beginnings.”
Instead, he says, his focus is on the future. “The main thing is I hope they keep churning out good stuff around here, whoever does it. I hope it doesn’t fall by the wayside. And I don’t think it will; they have good studios, good musicians, good songwriters. We’ve got all of the elements. Let’s hope it makes a strong comeback.”
Spooner Oldham’s Pot Luck is available digitally on iTunes through Light in the Attic Records. Vinyl and CD versions of the album are available for pre-order and will be released on Sept. 25. For more information, visit lightintheattic.net.