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Otis Redding

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Otis Redding was born in 1941 in Dawson, in the American state of Georgia, and grew up in Macon. He was the greatest star of the soul label Stax in Memphis. The soul of Stax stayed closer to the church and the blues than the polished soul of Motown, and Redding was the face of it.

Music and breakthrough

Redding first sang in the band of guitarist Johnny Jenkins. At Stax he got a contract after an unexpected performance in the studio. His first hit was These Arms of Mine (1962). The house band of Stax, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, with guitarist Steve Cropper, played along with him. The album Otis Blue (1965) includes Respect, which he wrote himself and which Aretha Franklin would turn into a song for women in 1967. His version of Try a Little Tenderness (1966) is regarded as his signature song. In June 1967 he played at the Monterey Pop Festival, for a largely white rock audience. That performance brought him a new audience.

Influence

On 10 December 1967 his plane crashed into Lake Monona, near Madison, Wisconsin. Redding was 26. Four members of his backing band The Bar-Kays also died. A few weeks earlier he had recorded (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay with Cropper, a calmer song than his earlier work. It became the first posthumous number 1 single in the American charts and won two Grammys in 1969. In 1989 Redding was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Listening

Listening tip. In (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay (1968), Steve Cropper added the sound of seagulls and waves after Redding's death, as Redding had requested. Listen to the ending too: instead of a last verse, Redding whistles the melody as the song fades away.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (en): Otis Redding
  2. Wikipedia (en): (Sittin' On
Categories: ArtistsStax and Memphis soul