On the Record: The Great Dan Penn (and Why You’ve Probably Never Heard of Him)

You’ve likely never heard of Dan Penn and, if that’s the case, one reason is probably that you’re not the sort of person who reads songwriting credits. If you were, you’d know this Alabama native from the many popular songs he has written or co-written—the Box Tops’ “Cry Like a Baby,” Janis Joplin’s “A Woman Left Lonely,” Clarence Carter’s “Slippin’ Around,” Aretha Franklin’s “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man,” James Carr’s “Dark End of the Street,” and James and Bobby Purify’s “I’m Your Puppet,” to name a few. Penn is at least as good a singer as he is a …