Otis Redding

Emerging from the Southern Soul scene during the 1960s, Otis Redding ranked among its most commanding and far-reaching talents. A striking, physically commanding stage presence whose gritty yet vivid delivery could convey elation, assurance, or sorrow with equal force, he infused his singing with an intensity and weight that few contemporaries could rival. Redding also possessed exceptional songwriting ability and a sharp grasp of how to exploit the studio’s creative potential. Born in 1941, he began touring in 1958 as the vocalist for the R&B ensemble Johnny Jenkins & the Pinetoppers. In 1962 he accompanied Jenkins to a Memphis, Tennessee session booked at Stax Records. After Jenkins finished ahead of schedule, Redding recorded one of his own compositions, “These Arms of Mine,” in forty minutes. Stax issued the track as a single in May 1963; it became a significant R&B success and registered modestly on the Pop listings. Over the following four years he produced several enduring soul recordings, among them “Mr. Pitiful,” “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now),” “Respect,” the duet “Tramp” with Carla Thomas, and “Shake.” In 1967 a landmark appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival positioned him for a decisive crossover, cementing his standing among progressive rock audiences. Tragically, he did not survive to witness his crowning achievement: the ambitious single “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,” released just over a month after his death in a plane crash, rose to his first number-one Pop position and became his defining work. Redding achieved greater renown after his passing, with his catalog continually reissued and repackaged in subsequent decades as his stature and influence extended into the twenty-first century.

Otis Ray Redding, Jr. entered the world on September 9, 1941 in Dawson, Georgia. His father worked as a sharecropper, occasional minister, and employee at Robins Air Force Base near Macon. When Redding was three the family relocated to Macon and settled in the Tindall Heights housing project. He first sang publicly in the choir of Macon’s Vineville Baptist Church; as a pre-teen he acquired proficiency on guitar, piano, and drums. While still in high school he joined the school band and performed regularly on Macon’s WIBB-AM Sunday-morning gospel broadcast. At seventeen he entered a weekly teen talent contest at the city’s Douglass Theater, capturing the five-dollar top prize fifteen consecutive weeks until organizers excluded him from further competition. Around the same period he left school and joined the Upsetters, the group that had supported Little Richard before the flamboyant pianist abandoned rock & roll for gospel. Seeking broader opportunities, Redding moved to Los Angeles in 1960, where he refined his songwriting and joined a band called the Shooters. The single “She’s Alright,” credited to the Shooters featuring Otis, marked his first release, yet he soon returned to Macon and aligned himself with guitarist Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers, serving as lead vocalist and Jenkins’ driver because the guitarist held no license.

Early in 1962 Otis Redding & the Pinetoppers issued the independent single “Fat Gal” b/w “Shout Bamalama.” Months later Jenkins received an invitation to record for the rising Memphis-based R&B imprint Stax Records. Redding drove him to the session and remained on hand. When Jenkins abandoned the date early, forty minutes remained on the clock; Redding proposed cutting one of his own numbers. With Jenkins on guitar, Otis and the house musicians completed “These Arms of Mine” in a single take. Stax promptly signed him to its Volt subsidiary, and the track appeared in November 1962, climbing to number twenty on the R&B chart and number eighty-five Pop. The follow-up, “That’s What My Heart Needs,” arrived the next October and reached number twenty-seven R&B, yet a series of 1964 singles made little impression.

Redding’s fortunes shifted in 1965. “That’s How Strong My Love Is,” released in January, peaked at number two R&B and number seventy-one Pop; its B-side, “Mr. Pitiful,” also received airplay, attaining number ten R&B and number forty-one Pop. Issued that May, the masterful “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)” rose to number two R&B and became his first Pop Top Forty entry at number twenty-one. In September 1965 “Respect” reached number four R&B and number thirty-five Pop. By then Redding had grown more ambitious, concentrating on songwriting, teaching himself guitar, and assuming greater responsibility for arrangements and production—fashioning horn parts despite an inability to read music. He maintained a relentless touring schedule, consistently outshining fellow performers on multi-act bills, and proved a shrewd entrepreneur through a profitable publishing company and astute real-estate and stock-market investments. In 1966 he released two albums, The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads and Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul, the latter composed and tracked almost entirely in one day.

Also in 1966 Redding delivered a fervent reading of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” that charted on both R&B and Pop lists and prompted speculation that he had originated the song. That year the NAACP honored him, and he headlined an extended run at the Whisky A Go Go on Sunset Strip—the first major soul artist to play the venue—generating significant interest among white rock listeners. Later he joined other Stax and Volt artists on a triumphant European and British package tour; the Beatles dispatched a limousine to meet him at the London airport. Britain’s Melody Maker named him Best Vocalist of 1966, ending Elvis Presley’s decade-long reign in the category. Redding issued two varied and adventurous albums that year, The Soul Album and Complete and Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul, both featuring contemporary pop and standards rendered in his signature soul style. A track from the latter, his impassioned version of “Try a Little Tenderness,” became one of his strongest hits and a concert staple.

At the start of 1967 he entered the studio with Carla Thomas to record the duet album King & Queen, which yielded the hits “Tramp” and “Knock on Wood.” He also mentored vocalist Arthur Conley; the Redding-produced “Sweet Soul Music” sold a million copies. Inspired by the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the rising psychedelic movement, Redding began composing more conceptually and musically expansive material. He further endeared himself to the “love crowd” with a riveting set at the Monterey Pop Festival, where he captivated the audience as the sole deep-soul performer on the bill. After additional European dates he returned home and began shaping new songs, including the piece he considered a creative milestone, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” He tracked the song at Stax Studios in December 1967. Days later he and his band departed for a Midwestern tour. On December 10, 1967, Redding and the musicians boarded his Beechcraft H18 aircraft bound for Madison, Wisconsin; the plane encountered poor weather and crashed into Lake Monona in Dane County. Redding and all aboard perished except Bar-Kays member Ben Cauley. He was twenty-six.

Released in January 1968, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” became Redding’s biggest hit, topping both Pop and R&B charts, securing two Grammy awards, and establishing itself as a widely covered standard. A compilation of singles and unreleased material titled The Dock of the Bay appeared the following month, initiating a lengthy series of posthumous releases drawn from his seven-year recording career. Redding was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, the BMI Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.