Slip Away

In its musical structure and theme (of infidelity), "Slip Away" would seem based on the template of "Steal Away", the 1964 self-penned Jimmy Hughes hit which had been the first single recorded at FAME Studios. The official songwriting credit for "Slip Away" lists three musicians from Clarence Carter's touring band: keyboardist William Armstrong, bassist Marcus Daniel, and drummer Wilbur Terrell.

Marcus Daniel, Carter's sideman since 1962, had previously co-written - with Carter and Wilbur Terrell - "Tell Daddy" which, after becoming Carter's inaugural R&B hit at the start of 1967, would - as "Tell Mama" - be recorded by Etta James that summer to become an R&B Top Ten R&B hit and Top 40 crossover. Daniel would nevertheless recall that in 1967 he had been feeling uneasy about his musical career:(Marcus Miller 2008 quote:)"I got down on my knees and asked God to allow me to do better" - as a songwriter and musician - "and stay with the band, and within twenty minutes I sat up in bed with both the melody and the lyrics of 'Slip Away' in my mind."

Commenting on the arguable incongruity of a divinely inspired song being focused on infidelity, Marcus Daniel would state: "I wrote about what I knew":"back then…I was a bad womanizer, which…shames to this day": in 1988 Daniel would leave his musical career behind, serving as pastor of the Piney Groves Missionary Baptist Church in Mathews, Alabama until his 10 May 2021 passing.

Clarence Carter would in 2009 have a somewhat contrasting recollection of the song's genesis: "My bass player had written some lyrics…and he and I sat down and really put 'Slip Away' together."