Dan Penn is one of the major figures in soul music, having composed many of the genre's late-'60s standards with either Spooner Oldham or Chips Moman. "I'm Your Puppet" launched his and Oldham's careers after James & Bobby Purify had a crossover hit with it in 1967. From there, Penn amassed an impressive songbook, co-writing James Carr's "The Dark End of the Street," Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man," Clarence Carter's "Slippin' Around," Otis Redding's "You Left the Water Running," and the Box Tops' "Cry Like a Baby." After an attempt at a solo career in the early '70s, Penn stayed quiet as a performer until 1994, when he released Do Right Man. From that point on, he was relatively active both on-stage and in the studio, working on efforts by Solomon Burke and Bobby Purify, touring with Oldham, and eventually reemerging with Living on Mercy in 2020.