Song Of The Day 2/13/2013: Dan Penn - "Rainbow Road"

Dan Penn is a not-quite-forgotten hero of R&B music's most exciting decade, which, as for a lot of us, was the '60s. He co-wrote several hit songs, including "The Letter," "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man," and "The Dark End Of the Street," which I'm just now understanding might have been the most perfectly representative soul song of the '60s. This track comes from a recently issued compilation called The Fame Recordings, which documents a healthy dose of some of Penn's songwriting demos from the early part of the decade. It's very good.

Sorry I'm lacking in my usual imaginative prose today. Three-fifths of my family have the stomach flu at the moment. The regurgitation has been a thing of beauty, but kind of energy-sapping. We'll do better tomorrow.