List Of Songs By Otis Redding

[Carmen Kalua]

Reddingwas born in Dawson, Georgia, and his family soon moved to Macon. Redding quit school at age 15 to support his family, working with Little Richard's backing band, the Upsetters, and performing in talent shows at Macon's historic Douglass Theatre. In 1958, he joined Johnny Jenkins's band, the Pinetoppers, with whom he toured the Southern states as a singer and driver. An unscheduled appearance on a Stax recording session led to a contract and his first hit single, "These Arms of Mine", in 1962.

Stax released Redding's debut album, Pain in My Heart, two years later. Initially popular mainly with African-Americans, Redding later reached a wider American pop music audience. Along with his group, he first played small shows in the American South. Redding later performed at the popular Los Angeles night club Whisky a Go Go and toured Europe, performing in London, Paris and other major cities. In 1967, he performed at the Monterey Pop Festival.

Shortly before his death in a plane crash, Redding wrote and recorded his iconic "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" with Steve Cropper. The song became the first posthumous number-one record on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts. The album The Dock of the Bay was the first posthumous album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart. Redding's premature death devastated Stax. Already on the verge of bankruptcy, the label soon discovered that the Atco division of Atlantic Records owned the rights to his entire song catalog.

Redding received many posthumous accolades, including two Grammy Awards, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame,[4] and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In addition to "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", some of his best-known songs include "Respect" and "Try a Little Tenderness".

At age 15, Redding left school to help financially support his family; his father had contracted tuberculosis and was often hospitalized, leaving his mother as the family's primary income earner.[5] He worked as a well digger, as a gasoline station attendant, and occasionally as a musician. Pianist Gladys Williams, a locally well-known musician in Macon and another who inspired Redding, often performed at the Hillview Springs Social Club, and Redding sometimes played piano with her band there.[11] Williams hosted Sunday talent shows, which Redding attended with two friends, singers Little Willie Jones and Eddie Ross.[12]

Redding's breakthrough came in 1958 on disc jockey Hamp Swain's "The Teenage Party", a talent contest at the local Roxy and Douglass Theatres.[13][7] Johnny Jenkins, a locally prominent guitarist, was in the audience and, finding Redding's backing band lacking in musical skills, offered to accompany him. Redding sang Little Richard's "Heebie Jeebies". The combination enabled Redding to win Swain's talent contest for fifteen consecutive weeks; the cash prize was $5 (US$53 in 2023 dollars).[14][15] Jenkins later worked as lead guitarist and played with Redding during several later gigs.[16] Redding was soon invited to replace Willie Jones as frontman of Pat T. Cake and the Mighty Panthers, featuring Johnny Jenkins.[12] Redding was then hired by the Upsetters when Little Richard abandoned rock and roll in favor of gospel music. Redding was well paid, making about $25 per gig (US$264 in 2023 dollars),[14][5][6] but did not stay long.[17] In mid-1960, Otis moved to Los Angeles with his sister, Deborah, while his wife, Zelma, and their children stayed in Macon, Georgia.[18] In Los Angeles, Redding recorded his first songs, including "Tuff Enuff" written by James McEachin, "She's All Right", written with McEachin, and two Redding wrote alone, called "I'm Gettin' Hip" and "Gamma Lamma" (which he recorded as a single in 1961, under the title "Shout Bamalama").[6]

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.[19] Johnny Jenkins left the band to become the featured artist with the Pinetoppers.[20] 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.[6][21] Around this time he and the Pinetoppers attended a "Battle of the Bands" show in Lakeside Park.[22] Wayne Cochran, the only solo artist signed to Confederate, became the Pinetoppers' bassist.[20]

When Walden started to look for a record label for Jenkins, Atlantic Records representative Joe Galkin showed interest and around 1962 sent him to the Stax studio in Memphis. Redding drove Jenkins to the session, as the latter did not have a driver's license.[23] The session with Jenkins, backed by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, was unproductive and ended early; Redding was allowed to perform two songs. The first was "Hey Hey Baby", which studio chief Jim Stewart thought sounded too much like Little Richard. The second was "These Arms of Mine", featuring Jenkins on guitar and Steve Cropper on piano. Stewart later praised Redding's performance, saying, "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."[24][25] Stewart signed Redding and released "These Arms of Mine", with "Hey Hey Baby" on the B-side. The single was released by Volt in October 1962 and charted in March the following year.[26] It became one of his most successful songs, selling more than 800,000 copies.[27]

In November 1963, Redding, accompanied by his brother Rodgers and an associate, former boxer Sylvester Huckaby (a childhood friend of Redding's), traveled to New York to perform at the Apollo Theater for the recording of a live album for Atlantic Records. Redding and his band were paid $400 per week (US$3,981 in 2023 dollars)[14] but had to pay $450 (US$4,478 in 2023 dollars)[14] for sheet music for the house band, led by King Curtis, which left them in financial difficulty. The trio asked Walden for money. Huckaby's description of their circumstances living in the "big old raggedy" Hotel Theresa is quoted by Peter Guralnick in his book Sweet Soul Music. He noted meeting Muhammad Ali and other celebrities. Ben E. King, who was the headliner at the Apollo when Redding performed there, gave him $100 (US$995 in 2023 dollars)[14] when he learned about Redding's financial situation. The resulting album featured King, the Coasters, Doris Troy, Rufus Thomas, the Falcons and Redding.[32] Around this time Walden and Rodgers were drafted by the army; Walden's younger brother Alan joined Redding on tour, while Earl "Speedo" Simms replaced Rodgers as Redding's road manager.[33]

Most of Redding's songs after "Security", from his first album, had a slow tempo. Disc jockey A. C. Moohah Williams accordingly labeled him "Mr. Pitiful",[34] and subsequently, Cropper and Redding wrote the eponymous song.[24] That and top 100 singles " Chained and Bound", "Come to Me" and "That's How Strong My Love Is"[35] were included on Redding's second studio album, The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads, released in March 1965.[36] Jenkins began working independently from the group out of fear Galkin, Walden and Cropper would plagiarize his playing style, and so Cropper became Redding's leading guitarist.[37] Around 1965, Redding co-wrote "I've Been Loving You Too Long" with Jerry Butler, formerly the lead singer of the Impressions. That summer, Redding and the studio crew arranged new songs for his next album. Ten of the eleven songs were recorded in a 24-hour period on July 9 and 10 in Memphis. Two songs, "Ole Man Trouble" and "Respect", had been finished earlier, during the Otis Blue session. "Respect" and "I've Been Loving You" were later recut in stereo. The album, titled Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul, was released in September 1965.[38] Otis Blue also includes Redding's much-loved cover of "A Change Is Gonna Come" in 1965.[39]

Redding's success allowed him to buy a 300-acre (1.2 km2) ranch in Georgia, which he called the "Big O Ranch".[42] 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. "Jotis Records" (derived from Joe Galkin and Otis) released four recordings, two by Arthur Conley and one by Billy Young and Loretta Williams. The other was named Redwal Music (derived from Redding and Walden), which was shut down shortly after its creation.[43] Since Afro-Americans still formed the majority of fans, Redding chose to perform at Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Redding was one of the first soul artists to perform for rock audiences in the western United States. His performance received critical acclaim, including positive press in the Los Angeles Times, and he penetrated mainstream popular culture. Bob Dylan attended the performance and offered Redding an altered version of one of his songs, "Just Like a Woman".[24]

The spring of 1966 marked the first time that Stax booked concerts for its artists.[48] The majority of the group arrived in London on March 13,[46][49] but Redding had flown in days earlier for interviews, such as at "The Eamonn Andrews Show". When the crew arrived in London, the Beatles sent a limousine to pick them up.[48] Booking agent Bill Graham proposed that Redding play at the Fillmore Auditorium in late 1966. The gig was commercially and critically successful, paying Redding around $800 to $1000 (US$9,391 in 2023 dollars)[14] a night.[50][46] It prompted Graham to remark afterward, "That was the best gig I ever put on in my entire life."[51] Redding began touring Europe six months later.[52]

3a8082e126