Otis Redding

Early life

Redding was born in Dawson, Georgia, on September 9, 1941, the fourth of six children, and the first son of Otis Redding Sr. and Fannie Roseman. Otis Sr. was a sharecropper and then worked at Robins Air Force Base, near Macon, and occasionally preached in local churches. When Redding was three, the family moved to Tindall Heights, a predominantly African-American public housing project in Macon. At an early age, he sang in the Vineville Baptist Church choir and learned guitar and piano. From age 10, Redding took drum and singing lessons. At Ballard-Hudson High School, he sang in the school band. Every Sunday, Redding earned $6 by performing gospel songs for Macon radio station WIBB, and he won the $5 prize in a teen talent show for 15...

Early career

A member of Pat T. Cake and the Mighty Panthers, Redding toured the southern United States on the Chitlin' Circuit, a string of venues that were hospitable to African-American entertainers during the era of racial segregation, which lasted into the early 1960s. Johnny Jenkins left the band to become the featured artist with the Pinetoppers. Around this time, Redding met Phil Walden, the future founder of the recording company Phil Walden and Associates, and later Bobby Smith, who ran the small label Confederate Records. He signed with Confederate and recorded a single, "Shout Bamalama" (a rewrite of "Gamma Lamma") and "Fat Girl", together with his band Otis and the Shooters. Around this time he and the Pinetoppers attended a "Battle of the...

Style

Early on, Redding copied the rock and soul style of his role model Little Richard. Redding was also influenced by soul musicians such as Sam Cooke, in particular, the live album Sam Cooke at the Copa, later exploring other popular genres. He studied the recordings of the Beatles and Bob Dylan. Redding's song "Hard to Handle" has elements of rock and roll and influences of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. Most of Redding's songs were categorized as Southern soul and Memphis soul.

Legacy

Redding has been called the "King of Soul", an honorific also given to James Brown and Sam Cooke. He remains one of the genre's most recognized artists. Redding's lean and powerful style exemplified the Stax sound; he was said to be "the heart and soul of Stax", while artists such as Al Jackson, Dunn and Cropper helped to expand its structure. Redding's open-throated singing, the tremolo/vibrato, the manic, electrifying stage performances, and perceived honesty were particular hallmarks, along with the use of interjections (such as "gotta, gotta, gotta"), some of which came from Cooke. Producer Stewart thought the "begging singing" was stress-induced and enhanced by Redding's shyness. His LP releases earned him recognition from music...

I Can't Turn You Loose

"I Can't Turn You Loose" is a song written and first recorded by American soul singer Otis Redding. In 1968 The Chambers Brothers would have success with the song.

Background

The Chambers Brothers worked with producer Tim O'Brien and released their version of this song in 1968. Backed with "Do Your Thing", which was composed by B. Keenan, L. Chambers, J. Chambers, W. Chambers and G. Chambers, it was released in the United States on Columbia 4-44679 in October 1968.

Reception

As reported in the Money Music feature in the 2 November issue of Record World, Ted Atkins at CKLW in Detroit had the song as an LP Cut Hit with his 3:15 edit from the A New Time – A New Day album. It was reported the following week that the song was now a smash at CKLW.

I've Been Loving You Too Long

"I've Been Loving You Too Long" (originally "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)") is a soul music ballad written by Otis Redding and Jerry Butler. Considered by music critics and writers to be one of Redding's finest performances and a soul classic, it is a slow, emotional piece with Redding's pleading vocals backed by producer Steve Cropper's arpeggiated guitar parts and a horn section.

Background and composition

Songs by Redding appeared in the U.S. Billboard pop and R&B charts as early as 1962, but "I've Been Loving You Too Long" became his biggest hit upon its release.

I've Got Dreams to Remember

"I've Got Dreams to Remember" is the twelfth episode of the third season of the WB television series One Tree Hill and the series' fifty-seventh episode overall. It originally aired on Thursday, January 25, 2006.

The episode was written by Mike Herro & David Strauss and directed by Stuart Gillard. The title references the song by Otis Redding.

Mr. Pitiful

"Mr. Pitiful" is a song written by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper and included on the 1965 album The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads.

Pain In My Heart

Pain in My Heart is the debut album of the soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding. Redding recorded for Volt Records, a subsidiary of Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee.

Volt LPs were initially issued on the Atco label, which released this album. The title song was written and arranged by Allen Toussaint, under the pseudonym Naomi Neville.

Recording and release

Pain in My Heart includes songs from Redding's 1962–1963 sessions. Stewart signed Redding for Stax and released Redding's debut single, "These Arms of Mine", with "Hey Hey Baby" on the B-side. "These Arms of Mine" was released by Volt, a subsidiary of Stax, in October 1962, and charted in March the following year. It was one of his most successful songs, selling more than 800,000 copies.

Reception

Pain in My Heart received positive critical reception. In a retrospective review Bruce Eder of Allmusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, reckoning that the album "was practically a road map to Mick Jagger and any number of other would-be white soul shouters in the UK", and finding elements of hard rock in "Hey Hey Baby". He praised Redding's version of "You Send Me", considering it "the least stylized of any of his renditions of [Sam] Cooke's songs", but criticized Redding's restraint, compared to future recordings, and the "somewhat less than memorable" writing, except on "Security", "These Arms of Mine" and "That's What My Heart Needs". The reviewer concluded by saying "Redding exudes astonishing power, energy and boldness".

Respect

"Respect" is a song by American soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding, originally recorded and released by himself in 1965 as a single from his third album Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul. After it became a crossover hit for Redding, Aretha Franklin in 1967 rearranged, rephrased, and covered it, resulting in her breakout hit and her signature song.

Writing and recording

At first a ballad, "Respect" was brought to Redding by Earl "Speedo" Sims, who intended to record it with his band, the Singing Demons. Differing accounts exist as to who wrote the original version of the song. Bandleader Percy Welch said the writer was a guitarist at Bobby Smith's recording studio in Macon. Redding took Sims' version, rewrote the lyrics, and sped up the tempo. Sims went with the band to the Muscle Shoals studios, but was unable to produce a good version. Redding then decided to sing the song himself, to which Sims agreed. Redding also promised to credit Sims, but this never happened. Sims never pressed Redding on the issue, possibly because he himself had not really written it in the first place. Steve Cropper produced...

Release

The song was included on Redding's third studio album, Otis Blue (1965). The album became widely successful, even outside of his largely rhythm and blues (R&B) and blues fan base. When released in the summer of 1965, the song reached the top five on Billboard's Black Singles Chart, and crossed over to pop radio's white audience, peaking at number 35 there. At the time, the song became Redding's second-largest crossover hit (after "I've Been Loving You Too Long") and paved the way to future presence on American radio. Redding performed it at the Monterey Pop Festival.

Recording

Producer Jerry Wexler booked Franklin for a series of recording dates in January–February 1967, starting with "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)", recorded in Alabama at FAME Studios by engineer Tom Dowd. After an altercation between the studio owner and Franklin's husband and manager, Ted White, the sessions continued 10 days later in New York without White, recording "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man", using the same engineer and musicians, the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, affectionately known as the "Swampers", as in Alabama.

Release and legacy

The resulting song was featured on Franklin's 1967 breakthrough Atlantic Records debut album, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You. As the title track became a hit on both R&B and pop radio, Atlantic Records arranged for the release of this new version of "Respect" as a single. It was released on April 10, 1967. Cash Box called the single a "frantic, driving, wailing, up-beat workout."

These Arms of Mine

"These Arms of Mine" is a song written by soul musician Otis Redding. Redding was at that time a member of Pat Teacake's Band, consisting of lead guitarist Johnny Jenkins, bassist Pat Teacake and vocalist/songwriter Redding, who also served as driver for Jenkins, who did not have a driver's license.

Atlantic Records artist representative Joe Galkin showed interest in Jenkins and proposed to send him to a studio. On the way to a gig, Redding had the opportunity to perform the songs "Hey Hey Baby" and "These Arms of Mine" as Jenkins and house band Booker T. & the M.G.'s ended their sets earlier than scheduled.

Recording

As a member of Teacake's Band, Redding toured in the Southern United States, especially on the Chitlin' Circuit. These performance venues were safe for African American musicians during the age of racial segregation which lasted into the early 1960s. Lead guitarist Johnny Jenkins later left Teacake to become the featured artist with The Pinetoppers. Around this time, Redding met Phil Walden, the future founder of the recording company Phil Walden and Associates, and later Bobby Smith, who ran a small record label, Confederate Records. He signed with Confederate and recorded his second single, "Shout Bamalama" (a rewrite of "Gamma Lamma"), which he performed with his band "Otis and the Shooters". Wayne Cochran, the only solo artist signed...

Release

"These Arms of Mine" was released on the Volt sister label in October 1962, but charted in March the following year. The single sold more than 800,000 copies. It was included on Redding's debut album Pain in My Heart, which was released on January 1, 1964 by Stax on the Volt sister label.

Reception

When Redding performed the song "These Arms of Mine" during a session, featuring Jenkins on guitar and Cropper on piano, producer Jim Stewart praised his performance and noted, "Everybody was fixin' to go home, but Joe Galkin insisted we give Otis a listen. There was something different about [the ballad]. He really poured his soul into it."

In popular culture

"These Arms of Mine" was included on several soundtracks, such as The Boat That Rocked, Perfect Stranger, in the Lost episode "S.O.S.", Glory Road, EDtv, Road House, The Sapphires and most prominently in Dirty Dancing. It is also prominently featured in the TV series 12 Monkeys, including playing in the opening and closing sequence of the series and having an episode named after it.

(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay

"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by the soul singer Otis Redding and the guitarist Steve Cropper. Redding recorded it twice in 1967, including just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967.

It was released on Stax Records' Volt label in 1968, becoming the first posthumous number 1 single in the US. It reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart.

Critical reception

Phil Walden and Jim Stewart were among those who had doubts about the song, the sound, and the production. Redding accepted some of the criticisms and fine-tuned the song. He reversed the opening, which was Redding's whistling part, and put it at the end as suggested. "The Dock of the Bay" was released early in 1968 and topped the charts in the US and UK. Billboard ranked the record as the number 4 song for 1968.

Legacy

Redding's body of work at the time of his death was immense, including a backlog of archived recordings as well as those created in November and December 1967, just before his death. In mid-1968, Stax Records severed its distribution contract with Atlantic Records, which retained the label's back catalog and the rights to the unreleased Otis Redding masters. Through its Atco subsidiary (Atco had distributed Otis Redding's releases from Stax's Volt label), Atlantic issued three more albums of new Redding material, one live album, and eight singles between 1968 and 1970. Reprise Records issued a live album featuring Redding and Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival. Both studio albums and anthologies sold well in America and abroad....

Other cover versions

Several other versions of the song have charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. King Curtis' version charted for five weeks starting in March 1968 and peaked at number 84 (the same month, the original was number 1).