This song has been recorded by dozens of musicians and entertainers over the decades, and no doubt Otis Redding's version in 1966 (the one Jon Cryer spazzed out on in 'Pretty in Pink) set the bar for shear R&B genius, but this remake by Three Dog Night in 1969 (which peaked at #29 on the Billboard Top 100) was what I learned from the AM radio gods during my misspent youth.
From Wiki:
"Try a Little Tenderness" is a love song written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods, and recorded initially on December 8, 1932 by the Ray Noble Orchestra (with vocals by Val Rosing) followed by both Ruth Etting and Bing Crosby in 1933.
Subsequent recordings and performances were done by such recording artists as Otis Redding, Pat O'Malley in the Jack Hylton's Big Band, Little Miss Cornshucks (1951), Jimmy Durante, Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Rod Stewart, Frankie Laine, Percy Sledge, Earl Grant, Al Jarreau, Sheena Easton, Nina Simone, Etta James, Tina Turner, Three Dog Night, John Miles and Andrew Strong, Chris Brown, Michael Bublé, The Von Bondies, Cassia Eller, Amber Riley in the Fox show Glee, Florence + The Machine, Jessica Sanchez from season 11 of American Idol, and performed by a studio orchestra during the opening credits of Dr. Strangelove."
