Dan Penn

Dan Penn is a major figure in soul music, composing many of the genre's standards while working at Chips Moman's American Studios in Memphis in the late 1960s. Moman was one of Penn's two key collaborators, the other being keyboardist Spooner Oldham, who co-wrote "I'm Your Puppet" with Penn. James & Bobby Purify had a crossover hit with the track in 1967. Penn has amassed an impressive songbook, co-writing James Carr's "The Dark End of the Street," Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man," and Otis Redding's "You Left the Water." After attempting a solo career in the '70s, Penn stayed quiet until 1994, when he released Do Right Man. In 2024, he offered a look into his creative process with The Inside Track on Bobby Purify. He returned in 2026 with Smoke Filled Room, offering "lost gems" and demo recordings that, despite their origins, were polished and completed.