Redding, Otis

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Redding, Otis

Redding, Otis , the single most important and influential male soul artist of the 1960s, Redding was one of the first black artists to broaden his appeal to white audiences with a raw, spontaneous style that bore a stark contrast to the smooth, sophisticated music of Motown; b. Dawson, Ga_v Sept. 9, 1941; d. near Madison, Wise, Dec. 10, 1967.

Raised in Macon, Ga., Otis Redding began singing in a local church choir. He dropped out of high school in the tenth grade and began touring the South with Johnny Jenkins and The Pinetoppers. With the group, he made his first recording in 1960 as Otis and The Shooters. He later recorded “Shout Bamalama” in a vocal style reminiscent of Little Richard, and the song was released nationally on the Bethlehem label.

In 1962, Otis Redding was allowed to record his own “These Arms of Mine” at a Johnny Jenkins session at the Stax studio in Memphis that was completed early. The song became a major rhythm-and-blues and minor pop hit in early 1963 on the newly formed Volt subsidiary of Stax Records, to which he was quickly signed. Recording thereafter in Memphis with the Stax house band of Booker T. and The MGs and The Memphis Horns (often augmented by keyboardist Isaac Hayes), Redding scored a number of modest crossover hits for Volt through 1964, including “That’s What My Heart Needs,” “Pain in My Heart,” and “Chained and Bound.” He managed his first moderate pop hit with the uptempo “Mr. Pitiful” (backed by “That’s How Strong My Love Is”) in early 1965. Redding toured regularly through 1967, accompanied by either Booker T. and The MGs or The Bar-Kays, developing a greater initial following for his raw, powerful music in Europe than at home.

In the spring of 1965, Otis Redding broke through into the pop market with the classic “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (to Stop Now),” cowritten with Jerry Butler, and his emphatic “Respect.” His outstanding Otis Blue album included the two hits Sam Cooke’s “Shake” and “A Change Is Gonna Come,” and The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction,” which later became a crossover hit. Redding’s “I Can’t Turn You Loose”/”Just One More Day” became a major two-sided rhythm-and-blues hit at the end of 1965, and his Dictionary of Soul album yielded crossover hits with “My Lover’s Prayer” (by Redding), “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” (cowritten by Redding and The MGs’ Steve Cropper), and the classic “Try a Little Tenderness.”

In 1967, Arthur Conley scored a smash crossover hit with the Conley-Redding composition “Sweet Soul Music” and Aretha Franklin had a top pop and R&B hit with Redding’s “Respect.” Otis Redding recorded King and Queen with Carla Thomas and the album yielded smash R&B and major pop hits with Lowell Fulsom’s “Tramp” and Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood.”

Appearing as the only soul act at the June 1967 Monterey International Pop Festival, Otis Redding attained widespread recognition with his incendiary performance and began establishing himself with pop audiences. However, while touring, Redding’s airplane crashed into Lake Monona near Madison, Wise, on Dec. 10, 1967, killing him and four members of The Bar-Kays, James King, Ronald Caldwell, Phalon Jones, and Carl Cunningham. In early 1968, Redding’s recording of “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay,” cowritten with Steve Cropper, became a top pop and rhythm-and-blues hit. Posthumous crossover hits continued into 1969 with “The Happy Song (Dum Dum),” “Amen,” “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember,” “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” and “Love Man.” Redding’s recording legacy was largely ignored in the 1970s and 1980s, but virtually all his albums were reissued in CD form by Rhino Records in the early 1990s. Otis Redding was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

In the late 1970s, Otis Redding’s sons Dexter and Otis III formed The Reddings with cousin Mark Locket for recordings on the Believe in a Dream label, distributed by Columbia. They scored a rhythm-and-blues smash with “Remote Control” in 1980 and eventually switched to Polydor Records in the late 1980s.

Discography

OTIS REDDING : Pain in My Heart (1964); The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (1965); Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings (1965); The Soul Album (1966); Dictionary of Soul (1966); Live in Europe (1967); Dock of the Bay (1968); The Immortal Otis Redding (1968); In Person at the Whiskey a-Go-Go (1968); Love Man (1969); Tell the Truth (1970); Good to Me: Live at the Whiskey a-Go-Go, Vol. 2 (1993). OTIS REDDING AND CARLA THOMAS : King and Queen (1967). OTIS REDDING/JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE : Historic Performances at the Monterey International Pop Festival (1970). OTIS REDDING AND LITTLE JOE CURTIS : Here Comes Soul (1968). THE REDDINGS : The Aéakening (1980); Class (1981); Steamin’Hot (1982); If Looks Could Kill (1985); The Reddings (1988).