try a little tenderness

Otis Redding only recorded his signature song after being pressured by friends and record executives, and considered it to be a joke. 'Try a Little Tenderness' was written in 1932 by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, and Harry Woods and had become a standard for crooners like Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. Redding loved the version by the late Sam Cooke, and when he finally agreed to record the song, he was adamant about doing it differently. In his hands, this tender and sentimental ballad becomes a soulful sermon, building from a slow start of "soft words spoke so gentle" to a fevered pitch as Otis ad-libs, hollers, and testifies. He was backed by Booker T. & the MG's at Stax Studios in Memphis, with an arrangement by Isaac Hayes. 'Try a Little Tenderness' became the centerpiece of his next album, 'Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul', and made it to number forty-six in the UK, number twenty-four on the US pop chart, and number four on the R&B singles chart.

https://www.otisredding.com/

Oh, she may be weary

Young girls they do get weary

Wearing that same old shaggy dress, yeah yeah

But when she gets weary

Try a little tenderness, yeah yeah

You know she's waiting

Just anticipating

For things that she'll never never never never possess, yeah yeah

But while she's there waiting, without them

Try a little tenderness (that's all you gotta do)

It's not just sentimental, no no no

She has her grief and care, yeah yeah yeah

But the soft words they are spoke so gentle, yeah

It makes it easier, easier to bare, yeah

You won't regret it, no no

Some girls they don't forget it

Love is their only happiness, yeah

But it's all so easy

All you gotta do is try, try a little tenderness, yeah

All you gotta do is man, hold her where you want her

Squeeze her, don't tease her, never leave her

Get to her drop drop

Just try a little tenderness, ooh yeah yeah yeah

You got to know how to love her, man, you'll be surprised, man

You've got to squeeze her, don't tease her, never leave

You've got to hold her and rub her softly

Try a little tenderness, ooh yeah yeah yeah

You've got to rub her gentle man, don't bruise her, no no

You've got to love her, squeeze her, don't tease her

Gotta drop nah nah nah drop

Try a little tenderness, yeah, watch her groove

You've gotta to know what to do, man

Take this advice