Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, and talent scout. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. Redding's style of singing gained inspiration from the gospel music that preceded the genre. His singing style influenced many other soul artists of the 1960s.
Redding was born in the small town of Dawson, Georgia. At
the
age of 5 he moved with his family to Macon, Georgia. He sang in the choir
of the Vineville Baptist Church, and became somewhat of a local celebrity as a
teenager after winning a local Sunday night talent show 15 weeks in a row.
At age 18, Redding met 15-year-old Zelma Atwood. She gave
birth to their son Dexter in the summer of 1960 and married Redding in August
1961. The story of Redding’s breakthrough is part of soul music mythology.
In 1960
Redding joined Johnny Jenkins’s Pinetoppers, a local Georgia band, and also
served as the group’s driver. When the group travelled to Memphis, Tennessee,
to record at the famed Stax studios, Redding sang two songs of his own at the
end of the session. One of the two, “These Arms of Mine” (1962), launched his
career, attracting both a record label executive (Jim Stewart) and a manager
(Phil Walden) who passionately believed in his talent.
Redding’s open-throated singing became the measure of the
decade’s great soul artists. Unabashedly emotional, he sang with overwhelming
power and irresistible sincerity. “Otis wore his heart on his sleeve,” said
Jerry Wexler, whose Atlantic label handled Stax’s distribution, thus bringing
Redding to a national market.
The hits came fast and furiously—“I’ve Been Loving You
Too Long (to Stop Now)” (1965), “Respect” (1965), “Satisfaction” (1966),
“Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” (1966). Otis Redding’s influence extended beyond
his gritty vocals. As a composer,
especially with his frequent partner Steve
Cropper, he introduced a new sort of rhythm-and-blues line—lean, clean, and
steely strong. He arranged his songs as he wrote them, singing horn and rhythm
parts to the musicians and, in general, sculpting his total sound. That sound,
the Stax signature, would resonate for decades to come. Redding became a de
facto leader presiding over a band that would prove as influential as the great
rhythm-and-blues aggregations that preceded it, units associated with Ray Charles
and James Brown.
The rapport between Redding and his rhythm
section—Cropper on guitar, Donald (“Duck”) Dunn on bass, Al Jackson on drums,
and Booker T. Jones on keyboards (known collectively as Booker T. and the
MG’s)—was extraordinary. Redding proved to be an adept duet partner as well;
his hits with label mate Carla Thomas (“Tramp” and “Knock on Wood,” 1967) added
to his romantic aura. Later that year, Redding played at the massively
influential Monterey Pop Festival, which helped him to break into the white pop
music scene.
When the Stax/Volt Revue stormed Europe, Redding led the
brigade and was just entering a new phase of popularity when tragedy struck. On
December 10, 1967, Redding and most of his backing band, The Bar-Kays were
killed when their chartered plane crashed into a Wisconsin lake. Redding was 26
years old. The two remaining members of The Bar-Kays were Ben Cauley and James
Alexander. Cauley was the only person aboard Redding's plane to survive the
crash; Alexander was on another plane.
Cauley reported that he had been asleep until just
seconds before impact, and recalled that upon waking he saw bandmate Phalon
Jones look out a window and say, "Oh, no!" Cauley said that he then
unbuckled his seat belt, and that was his final recollection before finding
himself in the frigid waters of the lake, grasping a seat cushion to keep himself
afloat. Redding's body was recovered the next day when the lake was searched. The
cause of the crash was never precisely determined.
Ironically, the across-the-board success Redding had
sought was
realized only after his death. His most-haunting composition, co-written
with Cropper, shot to the top of the charts and became his only number one hit:
“(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” (1968), a bittersweet lament of indolence
and love. The public mourned his passing by playing his records. During 1968
three other Redding songs—“The Happy Song (Dum Dum),” “Amen,” and “Papa’s Got a
Brand New Bag”—hit the charts. He remains a giant of the genre, a much-revered
master of straight-ahead soul singing. Redding was inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994. He
also was a recipient of a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement (1999).
(Edited from Wikipedia & mainly article by David
Ritz)
1 comment:
For “The Very Best of Otis Redding” go here:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/0n59mmmqs131efv/Otis_Redding.rar/file
CD 1
1. Respect [2:09]
2. Try A Little Tenderness [3:19]
3. Love Man [2:17]
4. Shake [2:38]
5. Mr Pitiful [2:42]
6. I Can't Turn You Loose [2:43]
7. Pain In My Heart [2:24]
8. You Left The Water Running [2:41]
9. My Lover's Prayer [3:09]
10. Tramp [3:00]
11. Chained And Bound [2:39]
12. That's How Strong My Love Is [2:23]
13. My Girl [2:55]
14. Cigarettes And Coffee [3:57]
15. It's Growing [2:47]
16. The Match Game [2:53]
17. Nobody Knows You (When You're Down And Out) [3:08]
18. I'm A Changed Man [2:21]
19. Your One And Only Man [3:10]
20. (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay [2:45]
CD2
1. I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) [2:54]
2. These Arms Of Mine [2:31]
3. Hard To Handle [2:19]
4. That's What My Heart Needs [2:39]
5. Security [2:36]
6. Satisfaction [2:53]
7. Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song) [2:41]
8. The Happy Song (Dum Dum) [2:41]
9. Come To Me [2:45]
10. A Change Is Gonna Come [4:14]
11. Lovey Dovey [2:34]
12. You Don't Miss Your Water [2:50]
13. I've Got Dreams To Remember [3:13]
14. Down In The Valley [2:57]
15. Just One More Day [3:28]
16. You Made A Man Out Of Me [2:07]
17. Tell The Truth [3:11]
18. For Your Precious Love [2:52]
19. Free Me [3:05]
20. I Love You More Than Words Can Say [2:52]
A big thank you to Mike1985 @ Jazz N Blues Club for original post.
This collection of 40 tracks from the singer's too-short career serves as both a more-than-complete overview of his career and a great hits collection. This t also charts Redding's evolution as he moved from his beginnings as a Little Richard-like belter to an accomplished performer who later found his own voice on classic recordings like 'I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)', 'Try a Little Tenderness' and '(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay'.
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