OTIS REDDING
Shout! Factory
Although his recording career only lasted about five years, from 1962 until 1967 when he died at just 26 in a plane crash, Otis Redding was
absolutely among the greatest soul singers of all time. Make that among the
greatest singers of all time.
Although I know I’d heard some of his songs while he was
still alive, I really discovered Redding in 1968 via the posthumous release
of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” also absolutely, one of the most perfect
recordings of the 1960s. As much, I would argue, a folksong as a soul ballad,
the song was not typical of most of Redding’s southern R&B and soul
recordings but “Dock of the Bay,” and his two-song performance in Monterey Pop, the
concert film from the Monterey International Pop Festival of 1967, drew the
teenaged me into Redding’s music. More than 45 years later, I never tire of
listening to Redding and to the deep soulfulness that shines through every word
he sang.
Redding’s recordings have been packaged and repackaged many
times, and in many different combinations, over the years. From the original
LPs released in his lifetime and shortly after, to who knows how many different
compilations?
Without a doubt, The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Collection, 70
tracks on three CDs, all re-mastered in glorious-sounding mono, is the ultimate
Otis Redding compilation. Every single, both the A- and B-sides – including the
eight duets with Carla Thomas – is included, along with the two songs from
Monterey Pop.
“(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” of course, remains the
greatest of Redding’s songs. But the rest are great, too. Whether using a
nursery rhyme to launch a soul ballad (“Mary’s Little Lamb”), going full
throttle on “Respect,” or in a version of “Satisfaction” that almost makes the
Rolling Stones' original seem pale, or in gospel-inflected love songs like “Try
a Little Tenderness,” Redding is utterly convincing.
Like so many southern soul singers, Redding’s musical roots
are in the church and one of my favorite of his tracks is the traditional spiritual
“Amen” which he arranges in a medley with “This Little Light of Mine,” another
traditional folksong.
Except for the live tracks, these songs were all recorded in
Memphis with members of Booker T and the MGs and the Mar-Keys (which had
overlapping musicians) as the core band. The right material, the right musicians,
and the right singer all adding up to soul perfection.
--Mike Regenstreif
I was going to say, some of what made him great was the musicians who performed with him. You see that in "Monterey Pop" (and Pennebaker later released a short film with all of Otis's Monterey songs, which shows him off even better), where he's reacting to the band, and surely the band reacts to him. That whole "one more time, let's shake" thing.
ReplyDeleteAnd he kept Sam Cooke alive, at least for a few more years. "Chain Gang", "Change is Going to Come", "Shake" and "Bring it on Home to Me", most of which I know because that 2 LP album I bought over 30 years ago has these songs on it.
It really was a short period, yet, he actually put out quite a few albums, six in three years, and then four released after he died. It shouldn't be hard to get all the songs, yet so much stuff is going out of print.
Michael