Try A Little Tenderness is an old song that was transformed into a Sixties soul classic by the great Otis Redding. It was written in 1932 by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, and Harry M. Woods. It’s unclear what if anything those gentleman thought of the way Otis took control of their song.

One of the first hit versions of Try A Little Tenderness was by Bing Crosby. That’s where we begin.

Since Otis Redding took ownership of the song in 1966, here’s the studio original and Otis live at the Monterey Pop Festival.

Three Dog Night had a hit with this week’s song not long after Otis Redding.

Songwriters Campbell and Connelly were English hence the song’s inclusion on the 1957 album Tormé Meets The British. An alternate title for this album could have been The Velvet Fog In The Fog.

Etta James. Say no more.

I never expected to post the Ohio Players in this feature but here they are:

What would the Friday Cocktail Hour be without a Jazz instrumental version of the week’s song? This time, a version from the Belgian composer, harmonicat, and maestro Toots Thielemans. FYI, Toots lived off and on in New Orleans for many years.

That’s it for this week. Pour yourself a cocktail and try a little tenderness with your family and friends. It’s what Bogie, Betty, and Frank would want. Never argue with them.