<back - OTIS REDDING - Has there been a more exciting Soul singer than Otis Redding, who helped shape the fantastic Stax/Volt sound? Tragically, like many contemporaries (Sam Cooke, Little Willie John), his skyrocketing career was prematurely aborted. His greatness is apparent on recordings, but the real extent of his charismatic “take-no-prisoners” style unfolds in his transfixing performances. Several Redding sides actually pre-dated Volt, and owed a huge debt to Little Richard. Both artists hailed from Macon, Georgia.

Interestingly, another Macon resident was James Brown. Proof the water there had something causing surplus lung firepower. After several local amateur appearances, Otis encountered Phil Walden, whose managerial skills would prove invaluable. Otis came to the attention of Atlantic honcho Jerry Wexler who arranged a recording session for him at Stax. Legend has it that on his arrival, Otis was regarded as little more than a roadie for the group. Al Jackson of Booker T. & MGs, introduced Otis to Steve Cropper in the summer of 1962. The first session yielded These Arms Of Mine. This classic become Redding’s first R&B hit. That’s What My Heart Needs maintained the momentum, while featuring a typical Redding climactic finish: 30 seconds of intense and searing pleading and testifying. Pain In My Heart was his third straight hit, whereupon Walden booked Redding into the famous Apollo Theatre. Here’s a partial rundown of the remarkable catalogue that established Redding as the pre-eminent male Soul singer of the sixties: Come To Me, Security, Mr. Pitiful, Try A Little Tenderness, That’s How Strong My Love Is, Can’t Turn You Loose, Chained And Bound, Hard To Handle, Tramp and Lovey Dovey (w/Carla Thomas), plus the indomitable Respect (covered 1967 by Aretha Franklin). A wonderful composer, the Redding heritage is equally shaped by his forceful readings of other artists’ material: Rolling Stones (Satisfaction), Beatles (Day Tripper), Solomon Burke (Down In The Valley), Temptations (My Girl), and especially, Sam Cooke (Shake, A Change Is Gonna Come). By 1967, Otis Redding was an R&B Top 10 mainstay; while his releases made a consistent impression on the Pop charts. His appearance June 1967 at the Monterey Festival captivated the young and mainly white audience, and portended elevation to superstardom. But cruel fate intervened 6 months later on Dec 10th: His plane crashed, killing Otis and 4 members of the Bar-Kays. He was 26. A posthumous release, (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay, hit #1 on the Pop charts in January 1968, and a musical epitaph, A Tribute To A King, done by William Bell, poignantly expressed the heartbreak of millions of fans. In 1989, Otis Redding was inducted into the Rock&Roll Hall Of Fame.
-Gary Tate | MP3- Try a little Tenderness |