1966
IT TEARS ME UP * PERCY SLEDGE * ATLANTIC 584071 * UK
Born in Alabama in 1941 Percy Sledge had sung Gospel and with a night club group called the Esquire Combo, he went solo in 1966 and scored a massive hit in both the Soul and Pop markets that summer with When A Man Loves A Woman, reaching number one position on both charts. It Tears Me Up was his third release that year and like the previous two was also a top ten hit in all markets. Unlike his first two songs, which were straight love songs, this is a dark song about loss and that real devil in many a lovers heart: jealousy.