Otis Redding -

Otis Redding (Sept. 9, 1941 — Dec. 10, 1967) was an American soul singer who issued a string of singles on Stax-subsidiary Volt between 1962 and 1965, including “These Arms of Mine” and the original “Respect” (later made famous by Aretha Franklin).

Over the ensuing two-year period, he recorded multiple albums for the label, charting with “Try a Little Tenderness,” immortalized during his appearance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. That December, he was killed along with four members of his backing band, The Bar-Kays, when their touring plane crashed into Lake Monona. Just prior to his death, he recorded “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” which became the first posthumous #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100.

Background

Otis Redding was born Otis Ray Redding Jr. on September 9, 1941, in Dawson, Georgia, the fourth of six children and first son born to Fannie Roseman and Otis Redding Sr. The Redding family moved to Macon before his third birthday. His father, a former sharecropper, worked at Robins Air Force Base near Macon and preached in local churches. Redding learned basic piano and guitar in childhood, then took drum and voice lessons before adolescence. He sang in the Vineville Baptist Church choir and played drums in church.

Redding attended Ballard-Hudson High School and sang in the school band. He left school at age fifteen after his father contracted tuberculosis, then helped support the household through day work and local talent contests. Redding sang at Teenage Party contests sponsored by Macon disc jockey Hamp Swain at the Roxy Theatre and the Douglass Theatre. He won fifteen consecutive contests before the theatres barred further entries.

Redding entered road work in the late Fifties through Pat T. Cake and the Mighty Panthers. He then sang with The Upsetters, the former road band for Little Richard. Redding joined guitarist Johnny Jenkins and The Pinetoppers in Macon and became both a featured singer and a driver for Jenkins. He met Macon promoter Phil Walden through the Jenkins circle.

Early Singles

In Los Angeles, Redding cut the 1960 Trans World single “She’s All Right” (b/w “Tuff Enuff”), billed as The Shooters featuring Otis. Back in Georgia, Redding & The Pinetoppers cut “Fat Gal” (b/w “Shout Bamalama”) for the Macon labels Confederate and Orbit.

In late 1962, Atlanta promoter Joe Galkin sent Jenkins to Stax in Memphis, where Redding accompanied the guitarist as a roadie. When Jenkins overbooked an afternoon session, Redding used the spare studio time for his first solo single, “These Arms of Mine” (b/w “Hey Hey Baby”), backed by Jenkins and Booker T. & The MG’s. Two further singles — “That’s What My Heart Needs” (b/w “Mary’s Little Lamb”) and “Pain in My Heart” (b/w “Something Is Worrying Me”) – appeared in 1963 ahead of his debut album.

On November 16 1963, Redding sang “Pain in My Heart” and “These Arms of Mine” at the Apollo Theater for the Atlantic live album Apollo Saturday Night, a multi-act set with numbers by Ben E. King, The Coasters, Doris Troy, The Falcons, and Rufus Thomas.

Pain in My Heart

Otis Redding released his debut album, Pain in My Heart, in March 1964 on Atco.

The album draws from Redding’s 1962–63 Stax sessions in Memphis. Redding wrote four songs alone and co-wrote “Something Is Worrying Me” with Phil Walden. He also sings songs by Naomi Neville, Rufus Thomas, Ben E. King, Sam Cooke, Don Gardner, Richard Berry, and Little Richard.

Backing players include Johnny Jenkins and the MG’s: keyboardist Booker T. Jones, guitarist/pianist Steve Cropper, bassist Lewie Steinberg, and drummer Al Jackson Jr., plus trumpeter Wayne Jackson, tenor saxophonist Packy Axton, and baritone saxist Floyd Newman.

“Pain in My Heart” swells through held phrases and sharp syllable drops as Redding tightens each return to the title line. “These Arms of Mine” lingers on a slow plea with spare accompaniment and a close-held lead. “Louie Louie” loosens into repeated opening lines and short lover-address asides. “Something Is Worrying Me” clips along a four-bar piano riff, then steps into a brief bridge before the worried refrain returns. “Security” struts over a tight uptempo riff, with Redding breaking the title word into short calls. “That’s What My Heart Needs” sets a simple guitar figure under a rougher church-toned lead.

A1. “Pain in My Heart” (2:22) – Neville
A2. “The Dog” (2:30) – Thomas
A3. “Stand by Me” (2:45) – King, Leiber, Stoller
A4. “Hey Hey Baby” (2:15) – Redding
A5. “You Send Me” (3:10) – Cooke
A6. “I Need Your Lovin’” (2:45) – Gardner, Lewis, McDougal, Robinson

B1. “These Arms of Mine” (2:30) – Redding
B2. “Louie Louie” (2:05) – Berry
B3. “Something Is Worrying Me” (2:25) – Redding, Walden
B4. “Security” (2:30) – Redding
B5. “That’s What My Heart Needs” (2:35) – Redding
B6. “Lucille” (2:25) – Collins, Penniman

Sessions occurred during 1962–63 at Stax Studios in Memphis with producer and label co-founder Jim Stewart.

Atco placed the album in a Loring Eutemey cover package with photography by Laurence Fink, whose image shows Redding at a microphone with one hand raised.

Volt issued “These Arms of Mine” in October 1962 (b/w “Hey Hey Baby”), and the single reached No. 85 on the Hot 100 and No. 20 on Billboard R&B. “That’s What My Heart Needs” followed in 1963 (b/w “Mary’s Little Lamb”) and reached No. 27 on Billboard R&B. Volt lifted “Pain in My Heart” in 1963 (b/w “Something Is Worrying Me”), and it reached No. 61 on the Hot 100. “Security” followed in April 1964 (b/w “I Want to Thank You”) and reached No. 97 on the Hot 100.

Pain in My Heart reached No. 103 on the Billboard 200.

The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads

Otis Redding released his second album, The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads, in March 1965 on Volt/Atco.

The album concentrates Redding’s early ballad repertory, with Redding originals beside songs by Roosevelt Jamison, Sidney Wyche, Sam Cooke, Chuck Willis, Jerry Butler, Otis Blackwell, and Obie McClinton.

The sessions include keyboardist Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), multi-instrumentalist Steve Cropper (guitar, keyboards, piano), guitarist Johnny Jenkins, bassist Donald Dunn, drummer Al Jackson Jr., trumpeters Wayne Jackson and Sammy Coleman, tenor saxophonist Packy Axton, and baritone saxophonist Floyd Newman.

“That’s How Strong My Love Is” lingers on a slow vow, with Redding holding the line low before the refrain opens. “Chained and Bound” lowers the tempo and locks the lead into a pleading contour. “A Woman, a Lover, a Friend” cranks the close upward while a simple bass figure loosens the outro. “It’s Too Late” gulps the first verse after the piano intro and settles into a regretful low-light cadence. “Come to Me” glides through a 6/8 ballad pattern with triplet figures under the plea. “Keep Your Arms Around Me” gathers by the second verse and spills into the third. The song cuts off on a quick close. “Mr. Pitiful” jolts the set out of the slow-vein format with chopping horn accents and bright keyboard punctuation.

A1. “That’s How Strong My Love Is” (2:24) – Jamison
A2. “Chained and Bound” (2:25) – Redding
A3. “A Woman, a Lover, a Friend” (3:18) – Wyche
A4. “Your One and Only Man” (2:48) – Redding
A5. “Nothing Can Change This Love” (2:59) – Cooke
A6. “It’s Too Late” (3:00) – Willis

B1. “For Your Precious Love” (2:49) – A. Brooks, R. Brooks, Butler
B2. “I Want to Thank You” (2:35) – Redding
B3. “Come to Me” (2:38) – Redding, Walden
B4. “Home in Your Heart” (2:10) – Blackwell, Scott
B5. “Keep Your Arms Around Me” (2:46) – McClinton
B6. “Mr. Pitiful” (2:26) – Cropper, Redding

Redding recorded the album material at Stax in Memphis between February 6, 1964, and January 20, 1965. Jim Stewart produced the album, and Tom Dowd installed the two-track setup used for the stereo mix during the “Mr. Pitiful” session.

Loring Eutemey created the cover artwork, which repeats small tinted portraits of Redding in a grid against a black field.

Volt issued “Come to Me” in 1964 (b/w “Don’t Leave Me This Way”), and the single reached No. 69 on the Hot 100. “Chained and Bound” followed in 1964 (b/w “Your One and Only Man”) and reached No. 70 on the Hot 100. “Mr. Pitiful” appeared in late 1964 (b/w “That’s How Strong My Love Is”) and reached No. 41 on the Hot 100 and No. 10 on Billboard R&B. The flip reached No. 74 on the Hot 100 and No. 18 on Billboard R&B.

The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads reached No. 147 on the Billboard 200, No. 3 on Billboard R&B Albums, and No. 30 on the UK Albums Chart.

Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul

Otis Redding released his third album, Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul, on September 15, 1965, on Volt.

The album places three Redding titles beside repertory associated with Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke, The Temptations, B.B. King, The Rolling Stones, and William Bell.

Redding cut the album with keyboardists Booker T. Jones and Isaac Hayes, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald Dunn, drummer Al Jackson Jr., trumpeters Wayne Jackson and Gene Miller, tenor saxophonist Andrew Love, and baritone saxophonist Floyd Newman.

“Ole Man Trouble” laments through a taut studio take, with Redding holding the lead close to the beat. “Respect” stamps its demand through clipped phrases and brassy replies. “A Change Is Gonna Come” rises from the horn-line entry into a rasped line that alternates frustration with softened phrase ends. “Down in the Valley” climbs and drops across the lead, with a church-call contour in the title line. “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” pleads through a slow crescendo around the final title phrase. “Shake” swings fast with full-throated precision. “My Girl” bends the familiar chorus off balance through pauses and shifted inflections. “Satisfaction” snarls against a headlong backbeat and turns the refrain into shouted syllables. “You Don’t Miss Your Water” closes on a slow plea, with the lead pinned to the dry-well refrain.

A1. “Ole Man Trouble” (2:35) – Redding
A2. “Respect” (2:03) – Redding
A3. “A Change Is Gonna Come” (4:13) – Cooke
A4. “Down in the Valley” (2:55) – Berns, Burke, Chivian, Martin
A5. “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” (2:53) – Butler, Redding

B1. “Shake” (2:38) – Cooke
B2. “My Girl” (2:53) – Robinson, White
B3. “Wonderful World” (3:09) – Adler, Alpert, Cooke
B4. “Rock Me Baby” (3:22) – Josea, King
B5. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (2:43) – Jagger, Richards
B6. “You Don’t Miss Your Water” (2:49) – Bell

Redding recorded most of Otis Blue on July 9–10, 1965, at Stax in Memphis with producers Jim Stewart and Steve Cropper and engineer Tom Dowd. The April 1965 mono single version of “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” preceded the July album sessions.

Loring Eutemey designed the cover package, whose front image shows a blue-tinted woman’s face in close crop.

Volt issued “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” in April 1965 (b/w “I’m Depending on You”), and the single reached No. 21 on the Hot 100 and No. 2 on Billboard R&B. “Respect” followed in August 1965 (b/w “Ole Man Trouble”) and reached No. 35 on the Hot 100 and No. 4 on Billboard R&B. “My Girl” appeared as a UK single (b/w “Down in the Valley”) and reached No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart. In February 1966, “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” reappeared as a US single (b/w “Any Ole Way”) and reached No. 31 on the Hot 100 and No. 4 on Billboard R&B.

Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul reached No. 75 on the Billboard 200, No. 1 on Billboard R&B Albums, and No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart.

The Soul Album

Otis Redding released his fourth album, The Soul Album, on April 1, 1966, on Volt.

The album continues the Stax studio setting with three Redding co-writes: “Just One More Day,” “Good to Me,” and “Any Ole Way.” Redding also sings songs by Smokey Robinson and Warren Moore, Jerry Butler, Sam Cooke, Jimmy Cox, James Moore, Roy Head, Gene Kurtz, Eddie Floyd, Alvertis Isbell, and Steve Cropper.

Redding cut the album with keyboardists Booker T. Jones and Isaac Hayes, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald Dunn, drummer Al Jackson Jr., trumpeters Wayne Jackson, Sammy Coleman, and Gene Miller, tenor saxophonists Packy Axton and Andrew Love, and baritone saxophonist Floyd Newman.

“Just One More Day” pleads through a slow refrain, with brass easing the line after each strained title phrase. “It’s Growing” strides at a raised tempo and leaves room for Redding to cut the verse with a rougher edge. “Cigarettes and Coffee” simmers in an after-hours hush, with cracked phrases and a low-lit piano figure behind the spoken-room intimacy. “Chain Gang” brightens the pace and sharpens the work-chant refrain into a brisk call. “Good to Me” slows the side into a plainspoken plea. “Any Ole Way” clips through a clean, throaty lead, and “634-5789” closes with a peppier backbeat under the gravelly title call.

A1. “Just One More Day” (2:55) – Cropper, Redding, Robinson
A2. “It’s Growing” (2:40) – Robinson, Moore
A3. “Cigarettes and Coffee” (4:00) – Butler, Thomas, Walker
A4. “Chain Gang” (2:58) – Cooke
A5. “Nobody Knows You (When You’re Down and Out)” (3:10) – Cox

B1. “Good to Me” (3:45) – Green, Redding
B2. “Scratch My Back” (2:45) – Moore
B3. “Treat Her Right” (2:10) – Head, Kurtz
B4. “Everybody Makes a Mistake” (3:00) – Floyd, Isbell
B5. “Any Ole Way” (2:32) – Cropper, Redding
B6. “634-5789” (2:50) – Cropper, Floyd

Redding recorded The Soul Album at Stax Studios in Memphis with producer Jim Stewart.

Loring Eutemey designed the cover package with cover photography by Peter Levy. Levy photographed model Fleurette Carter in a head scarf against a black field.

Volt issued “I Can’t Turn You Loose” in December 1965 (b/w “Just One More Day”); the flip reached No. 85 on the Hot 100 and No. 15 on Billboard R&B. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” followed in February 1966 (b/w “Any Ole Way”) and reached No. 31 on the Hot 100 and No. 4 on Billboard R&B.

In October 1966, “Good to Me” appeared as the B-side to “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song),” which reached No. 29 on the Hot 100 and No. 12 on Billboard R&B.

The Soul Album reached No. 54 on the Billboard 200, No. 3 on Billboard R&B Albums, and No. 22 on the UK Albums Chart.

Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul

Otis Redding released his fifth album, Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul, on October 15, 1966, on Volt.

The album places seven Redding writer credits beside songs by Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart, Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods, The Beatles, Chuck Willis, and Isaac Hayes and David Porter.

Redding cut the album with keyboardists Booker T. Jones and Isaac Hayes, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald Dunn, drummer Al Jackson Jr., trumpeters Wayne Jackson, Sammy Coleman, and Gene Miller, tenor saxophonists Gil Caples, Andrew Love, Joe Arnold, and Packy Axton, and baritone saxophonist Floyd Newman.

“Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” chants its title syllables as call-and-response, with Redding turning a horn-like fragment into a sung tag. “Tennessee Waltz” sways through a softened contour and keeps the phrasing closer to a slow turn. “Try a Little Tenderness” rises from a measured opening into a full-throated crescendo, with each repeated phrase pulled tighter near the close. “Day Tripper” stomps through a stretched guitar riff and clipped lyric fragments. “My Lover’s Prayer” slows into a shuffle-shaped plea. “Ton of Joy” builds in small steps, and “Love Have Mercy” closes through a harder bridge and a march-like ending.

A1. “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” (2:44) – Cropper, Redding
A2. “I’m Sick Y’all” (2:57) – Cropper, Porter, Redding
A3. “Tennessee Waltz” (2:57) – King, Stewart
A4. “Sweet Lorene” (2:31) – Hayes, Isbell, Redding
A5. “Try a Little Tenderness” (3:51) – Campbell, Connelly, Woods
A6. “Day Tripper” (2:36) – Lennon, McCartney

B1. “My Lover’s Prayer” (3:12) – Redding
B2. “She Put the Hurt on Me” (2:40) – Redding
B3. “Ton of Joy” (2:56) – Redding
B4. “You’re Still My Baby” (3:53) – Willis
B5. “Hawg For You” (3:30) – Redding
B6. “Love Have Mercy” (2:29) – Hayes, Porter

Redding cut “My Lover’s Prayer” on May 3, “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” on August 30, and the other ten titles on September 13, 1966, at Stax in Memphis with producer Jim Stewart.

Ronnie Stoots designed the cover package, whose front places Redding in a red jacket beside a large dictionary-shaped title block over a blue field.

Volt issued “My Lover’s Prayer” in May 1966 (b/w “Don’t Mess With Cupid”), and the single reached No. 61 on the Hot 100 and No. 10 on Billboard R&B. “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” followed in September 1966 (b/w “Good to Me”) and reached No. 29 on the Hot 100 and No. 12 on Billboard R&B. “Try a Little Tenderness” appeared in November 1966 (b/w “I’m Sick Y’all”) and reached No. 25 on the Hot 100 and No. 4 on Billboard R&B.

Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul reached No. 73 on the Billboard 200 and No. 5 on Billboard R&B Albums.

King & Queen

Otis Redding and Carla Thomas released the duet album, King & Queen, on March 16, 1967, on Stax.

The album presents Redding and Thomas in duet settings across ten outside titles and one Redding co-write, “Ooh Carla, Ooh Otis.”

Redding and Thomas cut the album with keyboardists Booker T. Jones and Isaac Hayes, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald Dunn, drummer Al Jackson Jr., trumpeter Wayne Jackson, tenor saxophonist Andrew Love, and alto saxophonist Joe Arnold.

“Knock on Wood” snaps into a brisk duet, with Redding and Thomas answering each other over the sharpened chorus. “Let Me Be Good to You” glides through smoky piano figures and horn-section turns before the voices meet in the chorus. “Tramp” teases through spoken jabs and sung replies, with Thomas pressing the insult and Redding brushing it off. “Tell It Like It Is” shifts between faster and slower passages, then folds both singers into a closer duet stance. “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby” sways at slow-dance tempo. “It Takes Two” lets the pair sing toward each other, and “Ooh Carla, Ooh Otis” closes with a faster exchange built around the name calls.

A1. “Knock on Wood” (2:48) – Cropper, Floyd
A2. “Let Me Be Good to You” (2:48) – Hayes, Porter, Wells
A3. “Tramp” (3:00) – Fulson, McCracklin
A4. “Tell It Like It Is” (3:13) – Davis, Diamond
A5. “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” (3:14) – Hayes, Porter
A6. “Lovey Dovey” (2:33) – Ertegun, Curtis

B1. “New Year’s Resolution” (3:14) – Catron, Parker, Frierson
B2. “It Takes Two” (3:03) – Moy, Stevenson
B3. “Are You Lonely for Me Baby?” (3:14) – Berns
B4. “Bring It On Home to Me” (3:14) – Cooke
B5. “Ooh Carla, Ooh Otis” (2:32) – Isbell, Redding

Redding and Thomas recorded King & Queen at Stax in Memphis during January 18–24, 1967 sessions with producer Jim Stewart.

Ronnie Stoots designed the cover package, whose front places Redding and Thomas as mirrored royal playing-card figures on a blue field. Howard H. Baker Jr. wrote the liner notes.

Stax lifted “Tramp” as an April 1967 single (b/w “Tell It Like It Is”), which reached No. 2 on Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles and No. 26 on the Hot 100. “Knock on Wood” followed in July 1967 (b/w “Let Me Be Good to You”) and reached No. 8 on Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles and No. 30 on the Hot 100. In January 1968, “Lovey Dovey” reappeared as a single (b/w “New Year’s Resolution”) and reached No. 21 on Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles and No. 60 on the Hot 100.

King & Queen reached No. 36 on the Billboard 200, No. 5 on Billboard R&B Albums, No. 18 on UK Albums, and No. 1 on Record Mirror UK R&B Albums.

Monterey Pop Festival

Otis Redding closed the Saturday-night bill at the Monterey International Pop Festival, a three-day counterculture music-and-arts event held June 16–18, 1967, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. Alan Pariser conceived the festival after a visit to the Monterey Jazz Festival; John Phillips and Lou Adler produced the event, with Derek Taylor handling publicity.

Redding reached the stage late on the second day, after a program shaped around San Francisco rock acts, British groups, blues singers, and Indian classical music. He faced a large West Coast audience outside his core soul circuit, with rain and curfew pressure cutting the night short. Booker T. & the M.G.’s opened in matching stagewear, then Redding joined them with the Mar-Keys horn section for a five-song set: “Shake,” “Respect,” “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” and “Try a Little Tenderness.”

Redding worked the stage through direct address, clipped band cues, and sudden shifts between full-voice declamation and held-back pleading. After “Respect,” he asked the crowd whether it was the “love crowd,” then drew a louder response before “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.” “Try a Little Tenderness” gave the set its closing surge, as Redding drove the repeated final phrases over an accelerating band figure and left the stage with the audience calling for an encore.

Monterey made Redding one of the festival’s four main breakouts. The Jimi Hendrix Experience became a national story after Hendrix ended “Wild Thing” by setting his guitar on fire. The Who shocked attendees when Pete Townshend smashed his guitar during “My Generation.” Janis Joplin reached a wider audience through “Ball and Chain,” the Big Brother and the Holding Company number strong enough to earn a filmed Sunday reprise. Redding’s breakthrough came without theatrical wreckage: he converted a late-night rock-festival crowd through command, timing, and a short Memphis set built for maximum escalation.

D. A. Pennebaker preserved the appearance in Monterey Pop and later in Shake! Otis at Monterey. The footage fixed Redding at the point where his audience expanded beyond the R&B market into the rock-festival public. His death less than six months later turned Monterey into his last major public triumph and left the performance as the central visual record of his late career.

Live in Europe

Otis Redding released his first live album, Live in Europe, on July 10, 1967, on Volt.

The album presents Redding in concert during the 1967 Stax/Volt European tour, backed by Booker T. & the MG’s with the Mar-Keys horn players. The program revisits Redding originals and earlier album repertory, with songs by Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson, Ronald White, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, James Campbell, Reginald Connelly, and Harry M. Woods.

Redding performed with keyboardist Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald Dunn, drummer Al Jackson Jr., trumpeter Wayne Jackson, and tenor saxophonists Andrew Love and Joe Arnold.

“Respect” charges through a clipped lead and hard ensemble replies with shouted crowd cues. “Can’t Turn You Loose” struts with a false-stop break, then restarts on Redding’s shouted count-off. “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” pleads at a slow public-stage tempo, with the line stretched across each refrain. “Shake” quickens the set with a full-throated title call. “Satisfaction” surges at a raised tempo and turns the lyric into a direct come-on. “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” chants the syllable pattern as call-and-response, then hushes the room before the crowd rises back into the refrain. “Try a Little Tenderness” starts as a slow plea and ends in a fast final drive.

A1. “Respect” (3:00) – Redding
A2. “Can’t Turn You Loose” (3:20) – Redding
A3. “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)” (3:40) – Butler, Redding
A4. “My Girl” (2:44) – Robinson, White
A5. “Shake” (2:51) – Cooke

B1. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (2:53) – Jagger, Richards
B2. “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” (3:37) – Cropper, Redding
B3. “These Arms of Mine” (2:57) – Redding
B4. “Day Tripper” (2:54) – Lennon, McCartney
B5. “Try a Little Tenderness” (5:00) – Campbell, Connelly, Woods

Tom Dowd supervised the tour recordings at Finsbury Park Astoria in London on March 17, 1967, and L’Olympia in Paris on March 21, 1967. Live in Europe draws the original LP program from the Paris performance.

Bernard Yeszin designed the cover package with photography by Jean-Pierre Leloir, whose image captures Redding at a stage microphone during performance.

Volt issued “Shake [Live in London]” as an April 1967 single (b/w “You Don’t Miss Your Water”), and the single reached No. 47 on the Hot 100, No. 16 on Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles, and No. 28 on the UK Singles Chart.

Live in Europe reached No. 32 on the Billboard 200, No. 8 on Billboard Hot R&B LPs, and No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart.

Death and Aftermath

Redding returned to the road in December 1967 after throat surgery and a late-year round of studio work. His touring band was The Bar-Kays, the young Memphis group behind the 1967 Volt single “Soul Finger” and the debut album of the same name. The lineup included trumpeter Ben Cauley, keyboardist Ronnie Caldwell, drummer Carl Cunningham, saxophonist Phalon Jones, guitarist Jimmy King, and bassist James Alexander. “Soul Finger” had already placed the group on Billboard’s R&B and pop charts before Redding took them onto his winter itinerary.

The final run carried Redding through Nashville, Cleveland, and Madison. At Cleveland, he taped Upbeat and played Leo’s Casino across December 8–9, with the Bar-Kays behind him on “Respect” and “Try a Little Tenderness.” The Madison booking called for two Sunday shows at the Factory, a club near the University of Wisconsin. The scheduled bill included the Grim Reapers, a Rockford group associated with future Fuse/Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen.

Redding boarded his twin-engine Beechcraft H18 at Cleveland Municipal Airport on December 10, 1967, for the flight to Madison-Truax Field. The passenger list included Redding, Cauley, Caldwell, Cunningham, Jones, King, seventeen-year-old valet Matthew Kelly, and pilot Richard Fraser. Alexander and singer Carl Sims took separate transportation because the plane had no room for them.

The aircraft reached the Madison approach in poor visibility and crashed into Lake Monona at midafternoon, about three miles short of the runway. The official record left the cause undetermined; the left engine and propeller were not recovered. Witness accounts and later reconstructions describe a sudden loss of control during final approach, with icing often treated as the likely condition behind the descent. Cauley survived in the freezing water by holding a seat cushion until rescuers reached the site. The crash killed Redding, Caldwell, Cunningham, Jones, King, Kelly, and Fraser.

News of the crash reached the R&B circuit as both a personal loss and a Stax catastrophe. Redding had just recorded “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” and Cauley later recalled that Redding discussed the unfinished record during the final flight. The same accident removed four original Bar-Kays from Stax at the point when the group had moved from a local Memphis act into national support work. The public response centered on shock at the loss of a twenty-six-year-old singer who had crossed from theater tours into the pop-festival audience within the previous year.

Redding’s body returned to Macon for public mourning before the funeral service at Macon City Auditorium on December 18. The service drew thousands and placed his local family, Stax associates, Atlantic personnel, and national R&B peers in the same civic space. Jerry Wexler delivered the eulogy. Joe Simon and Johnnie Taylor served among the pallbearers, while James Brown, Wilson Pickett, and Solomon Burke attended the service. Redding was entombed at his ranch in Round Oak, north of Macon.

The posthumous release of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” gave Redding his only number-one pop single and changed the scale of his recorded legacy. The record used a quieter lead line, suspended cadence, and harbor sound effects that separated it from his stage climaxes without abandoning his plain-spoken vocal address. Its success placed Redding inside the late-sixties turn toward self-authored, studio-shaped soul at the moment when R&B singles, rock audiences, and album culture began to overlap.

Redding also left a standard for the album-oriented soul of the next decade. Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield later carried self-directed soul albums into longer forms with social argument, recurring mood, and carefully sequenced sides. Stevie Wonder extended the same decade-long shift through studio control, layered keyboard parts, and suite-like album design. Redding did not live to make that seventies work, but the final sessions around “Dock of the Bay” left him at the threshold of the same movement.

The Immortal Otis Redding

Atco released the posthumous Otis Redding studio album The Immortal Otis Redding on June 15, 1968.

The album collects eleven 1967 recordings, with “The Happy Song (Dum-Dum-De-De-De-Dum-Dum)” as the only title issued before the album. Redding wrote or co-wrote nine songs, joined by song credits for Deanie Parker, Steve Cropper, Allen Jones, Alvertis Isbell, Don Covay, Roy Johnson, Allan Walden, Ray Charles, and Jester Hairston. “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” sets Redding’s plea against a slow frame and brass replies. “Hard to Handle” clips the lead line over hard accents, and “The Happy Song” builds its refrain from a repeated nonsense-syllable chant.

The sessions include keyboardists Booker T. Jones and Isaac Hayes, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald Dunn, drummer Al Jackson Jr., trumpeter Wayne Jackson, and saxophonists Andrew Love and Joe Arnold.

“I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” mourns through a spare opening, then widens when female replies enter after the first minute and the arrangement rises toward a slow crescendo. “You Made a Man Out of Me” coils around a repeated low figure and mid-tempo stride. “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” stomps through a compact, rough-edged lead. “Hard to Handle” clips the words against a taut backbeat, with Redding tightening small phrase turns before each refrain. “Thousand Miles Away” slows into an aching plea with brass support around the lead. “The Happy Song (Dum-Dum-De-De-De-Dum-Dum)” brightens the syllable chant and redirects the “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa” device toward celebration. “A Waste of Time” lingers in a darker ballad cadence, and “Amen” closes with church-toned testimony.

A1. “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” (3:10) – Redding, Redding, Rock
A2. “You Made a Man Out of Me” (2:06) – Parker, Cropper
A3. “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” (2:20) – Redding
A4. “Hard to Handle” (2:18) – Jones, Isbell, Redding
A5. “Thousand Miles Away” (2:09) – Redding
A6. “The Happy Song (Dum-Dum-De-De-De-Dum-Dum)” (2:40) – Cropper, Redding

B1. “Think About It” (2:59) – Covay, Redding
B2. “A Waste of Time” (3:15) – Redding
B3. “Champagne and Wine” (2:49) – Johnson, Redding, Walden
B4. “A Fool for You” (2:55) – Charles
B5. “Amen” (3:20) – Hairston

Redding recorded “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” in November 1967, while the remaining titles date from the same year. Steve Cropper produced the album.

Loring Eutemey designed the cover package with cover and back-cover photography by Edward Azlant, whose front image shows Redding in a tightly cropped stage-performance shot.

Volt issued “The Happy Song (Dum-Dum-De-De-De-Dum-Dum)” as an April 1968 single (b/w “Open the Door”), and the single reached No. 25 on the Hot 100, No. 10 on Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles, and No. 24 on the UK Singles Chart.

Atco issued “Hard to Handle” in June 1968 (b/w “Amen”); “Amen” reached No. 36 on the Hot 100 and No. 15 on Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles, while “Hard to Handle” reached No. 51 on the Hot 100, No. 38 on Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles, and No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart. “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” followed in September 1968 (b/w “Nobody’s Fault But Mine”) and reached No. 41 on the Hot 100 and No. 6 on Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles.

The Immortal Otis Redding reached No. 58 on the Billboard 200, No. 3 on Billboard Hot R&B LPs, and No. 19 on the UK Albums Chart.

In Person at the Whisky a Go Go

Atco released the posthumous Otis Redding live album In Person at the Whisky a Go Go in October 1968.

The album draws from the April 8–10, 1966 Whisky a Go Go residency in Los Angeles. Redding performs five originals and songs by Naomi Neville, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and James Brown. “I Can’t Turn You Loose” opens with an extended stage shout and a hard backbeat. “Just One More Day” stretches past five minutes through audience cues and repeated phrase endings. “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” uses a brass-marked riff before “Respect” closes the LP in clipped calls.

Redding performed with keyboardist Katie Webster, guitarist James Young, bassist Ralph Stewart, drummer Elbert Woodson, trombonist Clarence Johnson, trumpeters Sammy Coleman and John Farris, and tenor saxophonists Robert Holloway, Donald Henry, and Robert Pittman.

“I Can’t Turn You Loose” barrels out of the club set with a hard shout pattern and close-room momentum. “Pain in My Heart” rasps through a slow plea while the stage mix leaves the lead exposed. “Just One More Day” stretches the refrain into a longer live lament. “Mr. Pitiful” teases the title phrase with a self-mocking edge and short replies. “Satisfaction” expands into extended vamps, and later Whisky takes stretch the song around interlocking horn solos. “Any Ole Way” answers the beat with a brighter lead before Redding roughens near the close. “These Arms of Mine” drops the set into a slower cadence. “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” holds a steadier pattern, then loosens in the final minute as Redding mutters body-part cues into the break.

A1. “I Can’t Turn You Loose” (4:45) – Redding
A2. “Pain in My Heart” (2:13) – Neville
A3. “Just One More Day” (5:25) – Cropper, Redding, Robinson
A4. “Mr. Pitiful” (2:07) – Cropper, Redding
A5. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (4:37) – Jagger, Richards

B1. “I’m Depending on You” (3:02) – Redding
B2. “Any Ole Way” (2:24) – Cropper, Redding
B3. “These Arms of Mine” (4:01) – Redding
B4. “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (4:45) – Brown
B5. “Respect” (2:05) – Redding

Redding recorded the Whisky material on April 8–10, 1966, with recording engineer Wally Heider. Nesuhi Ertegun produced the 1968 LP.

Stanislaw Zagórski designed the original cover package.

Atco lifted “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” as a November 1968 single (b/w “Direct Me”), which reached No. 21 on the Hot 100 and No. 10 on Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles.

In Person at the Whisky a Go Go reached No. 82 on Billboard Top LPs and No. 7 on Billboard Hot R&B LPs.

Love Man

Atco released the posthumous Otis Redding studio album Love Man in June 1969.

Love Man collects 1967 Stax recordings and gives Redding nine writer credits across twelve songs.

The sessions include keyboardists Booker T. Jones and Isaac Hayes, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald Dunn, drummer Al Jackson Jr., trumpeter Wayne Jackson, and tenor saxophonists Andrew Love and Joe Arnold.

“I’m a Changed Man” charges in without a buildup, with brisk brass figures under a hard-cut lead. “That’s a Good Idea” climbs through its A-B-chorus turns, then adds a second-verse lift before the release. “I’ll Let Nothing Separate Us” slows into a plainspoken vow with a church-toned close. “Direct Me” vamps through a fevered search narrative, with the title plea returning between threats, reward lines, and lawman references.

“Love Man” struts on a straight-ahead six-count drive. “Your Feeling Is Mine” folds a small chorus lift into a confessional lead. “Got to Get Myself Together” quickens around a restless couplet and a second-verse confrontation. “Free Me” pleads through a tangled release request as the line shifts from blame to confession. “Look at That Girl” prowls through smoky dance-room imagery and closes the set on a charged gaze.

A1. “I’m a Changed Man” (2:19) – Cropper, Redding, Cullipher
A2. “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher” (3:06) – Jackson, Smith
A3. “That’s a Good Idea” (2:19) – Redding
A4. “I’ll Let Nothing Separate Us” (2:54) – Redding
A5. “Direct Me” (2:19) – Cropper, Redding
A6. “Love Man” (2:19) – Redding

B1. “Groovin’ Time” (2:49) – Redding, Cropper
B2. “Your Feeling Is Mine” (2:22) – Redding
B3. “Got to Get Myself Together” (2:28) – Redding
B4. “Free Me” (3:08) – Redding, Lawson
B5. “A Lover’s Question” (2:55) – Benton, Williams
B6. “Look at That Girl” (2:37) – Stewart, Morris

Redding recorded the material at Stax in Memphis during 1967. Steve Cropper produced the album.

Loring Eutemey designed the gatefold cover package with cover photography by Paul C. Acree Jr.

Atco issued “A Lover’s Question” as a February 1969 single (b/w “You Made a Man Out of Me”), which reached No. 48 on the Hot 100 and No. 20 on Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles. “Love Man” followed in May 1969 (b/w “Can’t Turn You Loose”) and reached No. 72 on the Hot 100, No. 17 on Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles, and No. 43 on the UK Singles Chart. “Free Me” appeared in July 1969 (b/w “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher”) and reached No. 30 on Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles. “Look at That Girl” followed in December 1969 (b/w “That’s a Good Idea”).

Love Man reached No. 46 on Billboard Top LPs and No. 8 on Billboard Hot R&B LPs.

Tell the Truth

Atco released the posthumous Otis Redding studio album Tell the Truth on July 1, 1970.

The album collects 1967 Stax recordings and gives Redding nine writer credits across twelve songs. The program also includes songs by Lowman Pauling, James Brown, and Richard Penniman with Al Collins, Edwin Bocage, and James Smith.

“Demonstration” snaps into a compact address, with Redding pressing the title like a stage instruction. “Tell the Truth” rides a sharp lead pattern and answers each phrase with clipped emphasis. “Out of Sight” barrels through a tribute-style shout pattern, with the lead cut into short bursts. “Give Away None of My Love” curls around a small brass figure before Redding fixes the refrain into a guarded command. “Wholesale Love” turns the sales-language conceit into a brisk title chant. “I Got the Will” repeats its resolve in hard, clipped phrases. “Johnny’s Heartbreak” tightens the lead around a compact story line. “Snatch a Little Piece” pivots on its wager line and quickens the set with a rowdy aside. “Slippin’ and Slidin’” pays direct tribute to Richard Penniman through a fast, shouted contour. “Swingin’ on a String” closes with a lighter, quick-footed refrain.

A1. “Demonstration” (2:25) – Redding, Covay
A2. “Tell the Truth” (3:11) – Pauling
A3. “Out of Sight” (2:18) – Brown
A4. “Give Away None of My Love” (2:54) – Redding
A5. “Wholesale Love” (2:29) – Redding
A6. “I Got the Will” (2:51) – Redding

B1. “Johnny’s Heartbreak” (2:29) – Redding, Alexander
B2. “Snatch a Little Piece” (2:13) – Redding
B3. “Slippin’ and Slidin’” (1:57) – Penniman, Collins, Bocage, Smith
B4. “The Match Game” (2:55) – Redding, Porter
B5. “A Little Time” (2:33) – Redding
B6. “Swingin’ on a String” (2:52) – Redding

Redding recorded the material at Stax in Memphis during 1967. Steve Cropper produced the album, and Jim Stewart engineered the sessions.

Loring Eutemey designed the cover package with cover photography by Jean-Pierre Leloir.

Atco lifted “Demonstration” as a March 1970 single (b/w “Johnny’s Heartbreak”), which reached No. 32 on Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles. “Give Away None of My Love” followed in 1970 (b/w “Snatch a Little Piece”).

Tell the Truth reached No. 200 on Billboard Top LPs and No. 26 on Billboard Hot R&B LPs.

Discography:

Pain in My Heart (1964)
The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (1965)
Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965)
The Soul Album (1966)
Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul (1966)
King & Queen (1967 • Otis Redding & Carla Thomas)
Live in Europe (1967)
The Immortal Otis Redding (1968)
In Person at the Whisky a Go Go (1968)
Love Man (1969)
Tell the Truth (1970)
Historic Performances Recorded at the Monterey International Pop Festival (1970 • Otis Redding / The Jimi Hendrix Experience)
It’s Not Just Sentimental (archival, 1992)
Dock of the Bay Sessions (archival, 2018)