{"id":739961,"date":"2026-08-16T16:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T16:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/739961\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T16:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T16:22:15","slug":"the-1967-song-that-reduced-rod-stewart-to-tears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/739961\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1967 song that reduced Rod Stewart to tears"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rod<\/p>\n

Credit: Far Out \/ Mercury Records<\/p>\n

Sun 16 August 2026 10:43, UK <\/p>\n

As much as Rod Stewart<\/a> is firmly rooted in the world of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll, he\u2019s never been shy about his love of soul, which has been a prominent part of his life since the swinging 1960s.<\/p>\n

While the \u2018Maggie May\u2019 singer would be the first to admit that he\u2019s never existed in the same league as vocalists like Sam Cooke, that doesn\u2019t mean he can\u2019t appreciate their musical gift. He even went a step further in 2009 by releasing a full-blown soul album, titled Soulbook.<\/p>\n

The album was Stewart\u2019s way of passing on these songs that he\u2019s adored for his entire adult life to his fans, who may have been missing out on a series of Motown and Stax classics.<\/p>\n

Back in 1995, he also eulogised three of his musical heroes on the track, \u2018Muddy, Sam and Otis\u2019, which Stewart penned in honour of Muddy Waters, Sam Cooke, and Otis Redding.<\/p>\n

Stewart isn\u2019t the only rock \u2018n\u2019 roller who feels this way about the aforementioned trio, with Keith Richards another who can speak all day about his love for any of the names above without stopping for breath.<\/p>\n

For Stewart, Redding is simply a talent that he\u2019ll never get tired of, even though listening to him is a bittersweet experience due to his tragic death in 1967<\/a>. He has played \u2018Sittin\u2019 On The Dock Of The Bay\u2019 on 70 occasions in concerts over the years, but the song that reduced him to tears is \u2018Try a Little Tenderness\u2019 when he heard Redding sing it live.<\/p>\n

\u2018Try A Little Tenderness\u2019 is among Redding\u2019s finest from his all too short career, but is somewhat of an anomaly. Considering his vocal chops, it\u2019s almost funny that he would have a song called \u2018Try a Little Tenderness\u2019 in his catalogue. This is the same man who made works like \u2018Respect\u2019 that Aretha Franklin<\/a> transformed into a classic, so if there was anything he was good at, it was demanding the attention of the audience instead of getting in touch with his sensitive side.<\/p>\n

Further reading: From The Vault<\/p>\n

Every rough guy has a gentle soul, though, and half of the lyrics on this song sound like they\u2019re coming deep within his heart. He may be instructing a man to try some tenderness when he\u2019s with his lady, but that kind of language can only come from a man who has tried the same approach and ended up getting his heart stomped on.<\/p>\n

As Redding died in 1967, there aren\u2019t that many people still standing who were fortunate to hear his voice live, but Stewart is one of them. After naming \u2018Try A Little Tenderness\u2019 as one of his all-time favourite songs while on BBC Radio 2 in 2018, he recalled, \u201cI saw Otis in 1967 at the Kuban state, and I cried my eyes out when he sang this song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart vividly added, \u201cWhat was interesting about the show is that he only played for 20 minutes, they have booked Booker T.& the MG\u2019s, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Sam & Dave and they all did 10, 20 minutes and the show was all over in an hour and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n

That bill is the stuff of dreams for any fan of soul, and it wasn\u2019t lost on Stewart, even back then, that he was witnessing history, hence the visceral outpouring of emotion.<\/p>\n

Compared to the other soul musicians working in Memphis, Redding was a completely different breed. He may not have known the proper terms of music theory whenever he worked with Cropper, but his way of translating his emotions into song was unparalleled.<\/p>\n

Although Stewart was still entrenched in the blues at this point, you can hear him start to take bits and pieces from Redding\u2019s work in his other tracks. \u2018Maggie May\u2019 may have been a sweet folk-tinged rock <\/a>and roll tune, but when you hear Stewart play the stripped-down version of the song, it\u2019s practically a Redding piece with British window dressing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the decades that he\u2019s been in the music business, Stewart has heard more songs like than he\u2019s had gin and tonics, yet nothing comes close to the sheer magic of hearing \u2018Try A Little Tenderness\u2019 courtesy of Redding. Sadly, it would be the one and only time he\u2019d get to enjoy this particular spectacle.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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