Try a Little Tenderness is a 1932 song with music by Harry M. Woods and lyrics by Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly. It was first recorded on December 8, 1932 by the Ray Noble Orchestra with Val Rosing, and it quickly entered the popular catalog with several early versions and later Sinatra appearances on The Voice of Frank Sinatra (1946) and Nice ’n’ Easy (1960). A landmark soul remake came from Otis Redding in 1966 on the album Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul, produced by Jim Stewart and Isaac Hayes with Booker T. and the MG’s, noted for its slow opening that bursts into a furious finish and for its nods to Just Squeeze Me. The Otis Redding version reached number 25 on the US Hot 100 and number 4 on the US R&B chart, and it has been celebrated as one of the greatest songs of all time, later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015 and listed among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs. Three Dog Night released a 1969 hit version reaching number 29 in the US, and the tune also appears in Dr Strangelove’s opening credits and in the 1991 Irish film The Commitments. A live Otis Redding performance at Monterey in 1967 is also noted.
