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Otis Ray Redding, Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) 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 and rhythm and blues. His singing style was powerfully influential among soul artists of 1960s and helped exemplify the Stax sound. ......N'joy
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Born and raised in Georgia, United States, from age 10, he took drum and singing lessons. At Ballard-Hudson High School, he sang in the school band. Every Sunday he earned $6 by performing gospel songs for Macon radio station WIBB. Redding left school at age 15 to support his family, working with Little Richard's backing band, the Upsetters, and performing at talent shows for prize money. In 1958, he joined Johnny Jenkins's band, the Pinetoppers, and toured the Southern United States as a driver and musician. At age 19, Redding met 15-year-old Zelma Atwood at "The Teenage Party." She gave birth to their son Dexter in the summer of 1960 and married Redding in August of 1961. In mid-1960, Otis moved to Los Angeles with his sister, Deborah, where he wrote his first songs including "She's Allright," "Tuff Enuff," "Gamma Lamma," and the song "Gettin' Hip," Redding's first composition released as a 45 RPM single recording. An unscheduled appearance on a Stax recording session led to a contract and his first single, "These Arms of Mine", with "Hey Hey Baby" on the B-side. The single was released on Volt on October 1962, but charted in March the following year. It became one of his most successful songs, selling more than 800,000 copies. Stax released Redding's debut album Pain in My Heart two years later.
Redding's success allowed him to buy a 300-acre (1.2 km2) ranch in Georgia, which he called the "Big O Ranch."[33] Stax was also doing well. Walden signed more musicians, including Percy Sledge, Johnnie Taylor, Clarence Carter and Eddie Floyd, and together with Redding they founded two production companies.
In late 1966, Redding returned to the Stax studio. At this session he recorded tracks including "Try a Little Tenderness", originally written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods in 1932. This song had previously been covered by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, and the publishers unsuccessfully tried to stop Redding from recording the song from a "negro perspective'. Today often considered his signature song, his performance is so special and so unique that it expresses who he is." On this version Redding was backed by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, while staff producer Isaac Hayes worked on the arrangement.
Initially popular mainly with African Americans, Redding later reached a wider American popular music audience. Along with his group, he first played small gigs in the American South, then debuted in the western United States at L.A.'s popular night club the Whisky a Go Go. Later appearances included Paris, London and other European cities.
A year after the Fillmore, Redding released the gold record-winning album King & Queen, with Carla Thomas. It was Jim Stewart's idea to produce a duet album, as he expected that "[Redding's] rawness and [Thomas'] sophistication would work". The album was recorded in January 1967, while Thomas was earning her M.A. in English at Howard University. Six out of ten songs were cut during their joint session; the rest were overdubbed by Redding in the days following, due to concert obligations. Three singles were lifted from the album: "Tramp" was released in April, followed by "Knock on Wood" and "Lovey Dovey". All three reached at least the top 60 on both the R&B and Pop charts. The album charted at number 5 and 36 on the Billboard Pop and R&B charts, respectively.
In 1967, Redding performed at the influential Monterey Pop Festival as the closing act on Saturday night, the second day of the festival. Until that point, Redding was still performing mainly for black audiences. Redding and his backing band (Booker T. & the M.G.'s with the Mar-Keys horn section) had opened with Cooke's "Shake" His act, which included his own song "Respect" and a version of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction", was well received by the audience.
After Monterey, Redding wanted to record with Conley, but Stax was against the idea. The two moved from Memphis to Macon to continue writing. The result was "Sweet Soul Music", based on Cooke's "Yeah Man". It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. By that time Redding had developed polyps on his larynx, which he tried to treat with tea and lemon or honey. He was hospitalized in September 1967 at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York to undergo surgery.
In early December 1967, Redding again recorded at Stax. One new song was "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", which was written with Cropper while they were staying with their friend, Earl "Speedo" Sims, on a houseboat in Sausalito. Redding was inspired by the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and tried to create a similar sound against the label's wishes. His wife Zelma disliked its atypical melody. The Stax crew were also dissatisfied with the new sound; Stewart thought that it was not R&B, while bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn feared it would damage Stax's reputation. However, Redding wanted to expand his musical style and thought it was his best song and correctly believed it would top the charts. Redding whistled at the end, either forgetting Cropper's "fadeout rap", or paraphrasing it intentionally.
By 1967 the band was traveling to gigs on Redding's Beechcraft H18. On December 9, 1967, they appeared on the Upbeat television show produced in Cleveland. They played three concerts in two nights at a small club called Leo's Casino. After a phone call with Zelma and their children, Redding's next stop was Madison, Wisconsin; the next day they were to play at the Factory nightclub near the University of Wisconsin.
Although the weather was poor, with heavy rain and fog and despite warnings, the plane took off. Four miles from their destination at Truax Field in Madison, the pilot radioed for permission to land. Shortly thereafter, the plane crashed into Lake Monona. The cause of the crash was never determined.
"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was released in January 1968 and became Redding's only single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and the first posthumous number-one single in US chart history. It sold approximately four million copies worldwide and received more than eight million airplays. The album The Dock of the Bay was the first posthumous album to reach the top spot on the UK Albums Chart.
Shortly after Redding's death, Atlantic Records, distributor of the Stax/Volt releases, was purchased by Warner Bros. Stax was required to renegotiate its distribution deal and was surprised to learn that Atlantic actually owned the entire Stax/Volt catalog. Stax was unable to regain the rights to its recordings and severed its Atlantic relationship. Atlantic also held the rights to all unreleased Otis Redding masters. It had enough material for three studio albums—The Immortal Otis Redding (1968), Love Man (1969), and Tell the Truth (1970)—all issued on its Atco Records. A number of successful singles emerged from these LPs, among them "Amen" (1968), "Hard to Handle" (1968), "I've Got Dreams to Remember" (1968), "Love Man" (1969), and "Look at That Girl" (1969).
Redding received many posthumous accolades, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He received the honorific nickname King of Soul. In addition to "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," "Respect" and "Try a Little Tenderness" are among his best-known songs.
Five of his albums, Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul, Dreams to Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology, The Dock of the Bay, Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul and Live in Europe, were ranked by Rolling Stone on their list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
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Dictionary of Soul features the Booker T. & the M.G.'s—organist Booker T. Jones, pianist/guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, drummer Al Jackson, Jr.—pianist Isaac Hayes, and the Memphis Horns, consisting of tenor saxophonist Joe Arnold, trumpeter Wayne Jackson, tenor saxophonist Andrew Love and baritone saxophonist Floyd Newman. The album was released on October 15, 1966 on the Stax label and peaked at number 73 and at number 5 on the Billboard 200 and the R&B LP charts respectively. The album produced two singles, "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" and "Try a Little Tenderness". In 2003, the album was ranked number 251 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
King & Queen is a studio album by American recording artists Otis Redding and Carla Thomas. It is Thomas' fourth album and Redding's sixth and the final studio album before his death on December 10, 1967. Influenced by Marvin Gaye's duets, the album features ten covers of soul classics and the eleventh finishing song co-written by Redding. The album includes crossover hits "Tramp" and "Knock on Wood". Following Redding's death, the single "Lovey Dovey" was also released. The original album's liner notes were written by Tennessee Senator Howard H. Baker, Jr. It was released on March 16, 1967 by Stax Records. This set is still hugely successful on its own terms. Redding and Thomas enjoy an undeniable chemistry, and they play off each other wonderfully; while sparks fly furiously throughout King & Queen, the album's highlight is the classic "Tramp," where their battle of the sexes reaches its fever pitch in supremely witty fashion.
Otis Redding - Dictionary Of Soul / Otis Redding n Carla Thomas - King n Queen (flac 317mb)
Dictionary Of Soul
01 Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa [Sad Song] 02:44
02 I'm Sick Y'All 02:57
03 Tennessee Waltz 02:57
04 Sweet Lorene 02:31
05 Try A Little Tenderness 03:50
06 Day Tripper 02:36
07 My Lover's Prayer 03:12
08 She Put The Hurt On Me 02:40
09 Ton Of Joy 02:56
10 You're Still My Baby 03:53
11 Hawg For You 03:30
12 Love Have Mercy 02:29
Otis Redding and Carla Thomas - King and Queen
01 Knock on Wood 2:48
02 Let Me Be Good to You 2:48
03 Tramp 3:00
04 Tell It Like It Is 3:13
05 When Something Is Wrong with My Baby 3:14
06 Lovey Dovey 2:33
07 New Year's Resolution 3:14
08 It Takes Two 3:03
09 Are You Lonely for Me, Baby? 3:14
10 Bring It On Home to Me 3:14
11 Ooh Carla, Ooh Otis 2:32
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It was never supposed to be like this: "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" was supposed to mark a beginning of a new phase in Otis Redding's career, not an ending. Producer/guitarist Steve Cropper had a difficult task to perform in pulling together this album, the first of several posthumous releases issued by Stax/Volt in the wake of Otis Redding's death. What could have been a cash-in effort or a grim memorial album instead became a vivid, exciting presentation of some key aspects of the talent that was lost when Redding died. Dock of the Bay is, indeed, a mixed bag of singles and B-sides going back to July of 1965, one hit duet with Carla Thomas, and a pair of previously unissued tracks from 1966 and 1967, respectively. There's little cohesion, stylistic or otherwise, in the songs, especially when the title track is taken into consideration -- nothing else here resembles it, for the obvious reason that Redding never had a chance to follow it up. Despite the mix-and-match nature of the album, however, this is an impossible record not to love. Cropper chose his tracks well, selecting some of the strongest and most unusual among the late singer's orphaned songs: "I Love You More Than Words Can Say" is one of Redding's most passionate performances; "Let Me Come on Home" presents an ebullient Otis Redding accompanied by some sharp playing; and "Don't Mess With Cupid" begins with a gorgeous guitar flourish and blooms into an intense, pounding, soaring showcase for singer and band alike. No one could complain about the album then, and it still holds more than four decades later.. In 2003, the album was ranked number 161 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
In Person at the Whisky a Go Go is a live album by Otis Redding, recorded at the Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, California in the Spring of 1966. It was originally released in 1968. The recording was made before Otis Redding attained crossover fame at the Monterey Pop Festival.
Otis Redding - The Dock Of The Bay/In Person at the Whisky A Go Go (flac 392mb)
The Dock Of The Bay 1968
01 Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay 2:46
02 I Love You More Than Words Can Say 2:56
03 Let Me Come On Home 02:54
04 Open The Door 2:25
05 Don't Mess With Cupid 2:33]
06 Glory Of Love 2:59
07 I'm Coming Home To See About You 3:03
08 Tramp 3:03
09 The Huckle-Buck 3:0]
10 Nobody Knows You [When You're Down And Out]3:10
11 Ole Man Trouble 2:36
In Person at the Whisky A Go Go 1968
01 I Can't Turn You Loose 4:45
02 Pain In My Heart 2:13
03 Just One More Day 5:25
04 Mr. Pitiful 2:06
05 [I Can't Get No] Satisfaction 4:38
06 I'm Depending On You 3:01
07 Any Ole Way 2:42
08 These Arms Of Mine 4:01
09 Papa's Got A Brand New Bag 4:45
10 Respect 2:06
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While Otis Redding was already one of the biggest stars in soul music when he died in a tragic plane crash in 1967, as is some times the case his star rose considerably after his passing, and this 1969 release dusted off a set of unreleased tracks Redding had cut in 1967, one of which (the title cut) went on to become a sizable chart hit. Love Man doesn't hold together quite as well as Redding's best proper albums, such as Otis Blue and Complete and Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul, but it also manages to avoid sounding like a collection of out-takes and leftovers; as an album it's significantly stronger than the average R&B release of similar vintage, due to Redding's indefatigable energy and conviction as a vocalist and the ever-indomitable groove of Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Jr., and the other members of the Stax Records studio crew. If Love Man is flawed, it's not a matter of execution so much as material; while Redding's originals are good, none are quite up to the standards of "Cigarettes and Coffee" or "My Lover's Prayer", and covers like "A Lover's Question" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" are not ideally suited to Redding's style. But even the flawed material helps prove just how strong Redding's work was, even under less than ideal circumstances, and Love Man makes it clear he never gave less than %110 percent in the studio.
When a major artist dies, labels can usually be counted on to release anything and everything the artist had in the can, regardless of quality. In the case of Otis Redding, most of the posthumous releases were of a very high quality. One example is Tell the Truth, which was recorded the year he died, 1967, and remained unreleased until 1970. Though it falls short of essential, Truth has a lot to excite the soul icon's more devoted followers. Tracks like "I Got the Will," "Snatch a Little Piece," and "Demonstration" are pure Redding -- frenzied, passionate, relentlessly gritty Memphis soul that makes no concessions to pop tastes or Northern soul. "Out of Sight" speaks volumes about him -- while others would have been afraid to cover a song written and defined by James Brown, Redding confidently tackles the song with splendid results. Redding's last major hit, "Dock of the Bay," indicated that had he lived, he would have explored softer, Northern R&B sounds. But on this album (reissued on CD in the early '90s), it was Memphis all the way.
Otis Redding - Love Man/Tell The Truth (flac 366mb)
Love Man 1969
01 I'm a Changed Man 2:18
02 [Your Love Has Lifted Me] Higher and Higher 3:06
03 That's a Good Idea 2:19
04 I'll Let Nothing Separate us 2:54
05 Direct Me 2:18
06 Love Man 2:19
07 Groovin' Time 2:48
08 Your Feeling Is Mine 2:21
09 Got to Get Myself Together 2:28
10 Free Me 3:08
11 A Lover's Question 2:54
12 Look at That Girl 2:37
Tell The Truth 1970
01 Demonstration 2:25
02 Tell The Truth 3:11
03 Out Of Sight 2:18
04 Give Away None Of My Love 2:54
05 Wholesale Love 2:28
06 I Got The Will 2:51
07 Johnny's Heartbreak 2:28
08 Snatch A Little Piece 2:13
09 Slippn' And Slidin' 1:56
10 Match Game 2:55
11 Little Time 2:33
12 Swinging On A String 2:51
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