Otis Redding – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

The Music of 1968

Dave from A Sound Day (check out the other posts on Dave’s “Turntable Talk”) posted this on November 5, 2022. He wanted a group of us to write about what we thought was the best year in music…I ended up picking the turbulent year of 1968.

When I think of the best year of music …for me it’s between 7 years. I would pick 1965 through 1971. I cannot pick all so here it goes…I pick 1968. It had some of the greatest albums and singles ever.

It was a turbulent year, to say the least. We lost two proponents of peace—Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy. Other events include the Vietnam War’s Tet Offensive, riots in Washington, DC, the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and heightened social unrest over the Vietnam War, values, and race.

The music was also toughened up by moving away from psychedelic music. The social climate and The Band’s album Music from Big Pink had a lot of influence on this. You still had psychedelic music released but overall, music was more stripped down to the basics.

My favorite album of all time was released by The Beatles. My favorite album by The Rolling Stones was released that year as well. Let’s look at the albums released in 1968…it’s outstanding.

The Beatles – The Beatles (The White Album)

The Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet

The Kinks – Are the Village Green Preservation Society

The Band – Music From Big Pink

Small Faces – Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Electric Ladyland

Cream – Wheel Of Fire

The Byrds – Sweetheart Of The Rodeo

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Creedence Clearwater Revival

Big Brother and Holding Company – Cheap Thrills

Johnny Cash – At Folsom Prison

The Zombies – Odyssey and Oracle

The Grateful Dead – Anthem of the Sun

Van Morrison – Astral Weeks

Aretha Franklin – Lady Soul

Simon and Garfunkel – Bookends

Traffic – Traffic

That list could be on my desert island list… those albums are still being played today. I’ve only scratched the surface of the albums that year.

The Holy Trinity of Rock all released music that year… which would be The Beatles, The Who, and The Stones. I can’t imagine living in the era when these bands were in their prime and roamed the earth. The Who didn’t release an album, but they did release some singles and were gearing up for the following year. Let’s look at some of the singles of that year.

The Beatles – Hey Jude/Revolution

The Beatles – Lady Madonna

The Who – Magic Bus

The Rolling Stones – Jumping Jack Flash

Steppenwolf – Born To Be Wild

The Doors – Hello, I Love You

The Rascals – People Got To Be Free

Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love

Otis Redding – The Dock of the Bay

The Supremes – Love Child

The Chamber Brothers – Time Has Come Today

Janis Joplin – Piece of My Heart

Creedence Clearwater Revival – Suzie Q

Joe Cocker – With A Little Help From My Friends

The year featured the debut album of Creedence Clearwater Revival. Brian Jones made his final album with the Rolling Stones and it was the start of their great 5 album stretch. The Who started to record the album that would break them worldwide with Tommy. Dock of the Bay would be released posthumously after Otis Redding died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. The Grateful Dead would release their second album Anthem of the Sun and continue to build one of the largest fan bases ever. Jimi Hendrix was breaking barriers with his experimentation in the studio as well as live.

The Band would change the game by releasing Music From Big Pink. It influenced nearly everyone at the time to go back to a rootsy kind of music. Fleetwood Mac would release their debut album this year. Jeff Beck would release his legendary album Truth.

FM radio was getting huge at this time and showed that audiences didn’t have to have top 40 hits to buy albums. Take Van Morrison for instance. Astral Weeks didn’t have a “hit” on the album but continued to be played and sell. The Beatles The White Album is as diverse as you can get… Pop, Rock, Country, Folk, Reggae, Avant-Gard, Blues, Hard Rock, and some 20’s British Music Hall thrown in for good measure. No singles were released from this album or Sgt Pepper the previous year. They treated singles and albums as two different things. Hey Jude and the hit version of Revolution was recorded during the White Album but yet they left those two off. The Stones would do the same and leave off Jumpin’ Jack Flash from Beggars Banquet.

1968 set the stage for the coming decade’s rock music. Bands like The Who, Beatles, Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin didn’t need hit singles. You bought the album now and listened to the music in the context of that format. There were still pop/rock singles but the albums were gaining traction.

To wrap it up…I think any of the years between 1965-1971 could have a strong argument for my tastes. If you are into disco or synth music…not as much.

Aretha Franklin – Respect

Otis Redding (the writer of the song): “This girl has taken that song from me. Ain’t no longer my song. From now on, it belongs to her.”

Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin are my two top female singers of all time. When they are singing a song…there is no question about who it is.

Otis Redding wrote this and originally recorded it in 1965, with his version peaking at #35 on the Billboard 100 and #5 on the R&B Charts.

It was Aretha’s idea to cover this song. She came up with the arrangement, added the “sock it to me” lines, and played piano on the track. Her sister Carolyn, who sang backup on the album, also helped work up the song. It was different than Redding’s version. His version consisted of only verses. Aretha borrowed King Curtis’s sax solo from Sam and Dave’s When Something is Wrong With My Baby and used that for the bridge.

Franklin’s version is certainly the best-known version but the song was important in Otis’s career also. It helped establish Redding on mainstream radio. Otis also performed the song at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967…this was a defining performance for the singer, who died in a plane crash six months later.

Aretha recorded this in New York City with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. This was one of their first and most famous recordings. They went on to work with Wilson Pickett, Paul Simon, Bob Seger, and The Staple Singers. It was produced by the legendary producer Jerry Wexler and engineered by Tom Dowd.

Another fun fact…the “ree, ree, ree, ree…” refrain is a nod to Franklin’s nickname, Ree (as in A-Ree-tha). The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, and #10 in the UK in 1967.

Respect earned Franklin two Grammy Awards in 1968 for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording and Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female. Franklin’s “Respect” was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2002, the Library of Congress added Franklin’s version of the song to the National Recording Registry.

Tom Dowd: “I walked out into the studio and said, ‘What’s the next song?’ Aretha starts singing it to me, I said, ‘I know that song, I made it with Otis Redding like three years ago.’ The first time I recorded ‘Respect,’ was on the Otis Blue album, and she picked up on it. She and Carolyn were the ones who conceived of it coming from the woman’s point of view instead of the man’s point of view, and when it came to the middle, Carolyn said, ‘Take care, TCB.’ Aretha jumped on it and that was how we did ‘Respect.'”

Otis Redding: “That’s one of my favorite songs because it has a better groove than any of my records. It says something, too: ‘What you want, baby, you got it; what you need, baby, you got it; all I’m asking for is a little respect when I come home.’ The song lines are great. The band track is beautiful. It took me a whole day to write it and about twenty minutes to arrange it. We cut it once and that was it. Everybody wants respect, you know.”

Aretha Franklin: “Everyone wants to be respected.”

Respect

What you want (ho) baby I got it
What you need (ho) you know I got it
(Ho) all I’m asking (ho) is for a little respect
When you come home (just a little bit)
Hey baby (just little bit)
When you get home (just a little Bit) mister (just a little bit)

I ain’t gonna do you wrong while you’re gone
I ain’t gonna do you wrong ’cause I don’t wanna
All I’m asking is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)
Baby (just a little bit)
When you get home (just a little bit) yeah (just a little bit)

I’m about to give you all my money
And all I’m asking in return honey
Is to give me my propers when you get home (just a, just a, just a, just a)
Yeah, baby when you get home (just a little bit)
Yeah (just a little bit)

Ho your kisses (ho) sweeter than honey (ho) and guess what (ho) so is my money (ho)
All I want you to do for me is give it to me when you get home (re, re, re, re, re, respect)
Yeah baby whip it to me (just a little bit)
When you get home now (just a little bit)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T, take care, T-C-B oh (Sock it to me)

A little respect oh yeah (just a little bit)
A little respect (just a little bit)
I get tired (just a little bit)
Keep on tryin’ (just a little bit)
You’re runnin’ out of fools (just a little bit)
And I ain’t lyin’ (just a little bit)
(Re, re, re, re) ‘spect
When you come home (re, re, re ,re)
Or you might walk in (respect, just a little bit)
And find out I’m gone (just a little bit)
I got to have (just a little bit)

Arthur Conley – Sweet Soul Music

When I heard Conley shout out “Do you like good music” I knew this song was for me. Sweet Soul Music makes me mourn where digital recording has gone now. Such an in-your-face narrow tight song with a perfect sound.

Redding discovered Arthur Conley, a singer who sounded remarkably like himself. Redding became Conley’s mentor… the second release on Jotis Records was Conley’s “I’m a Lonely Stranger,” which Redding produced. It was not too successful and soon the record company folded.

Redding believed in Conley’s talent. In January 1967 Redding and his managers, Phil Walden (future ABB manager) and his brother Alan Walden (future Lynyrd Skynyrd manager) brought Conley to producer Rick Hall’s FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Conley recorded two singles at FAME Studios but they were not successful and Hall did not want to work with Conley anymore.

By this time Otis was fed up and took Conley himself to FAME and used his own band. With Jimmy Johnson engineering they recorded Sweet Soul Music. It was a million-selling single. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard 100, #2 in the R&B Charts, and #7 in the UK in 1967.

It was written by Conley and Otis Redding. It was based on “Yeah Man” by Sam Cooke and was a tribute to soul singers. The songs mentioned in this song are “Going To A Go-Go,” “Love’s a Hurtin’ Thing,” “Hold On I’m Coming,” “Mustang Sally” and “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song).” The artists mentioned are Otis, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, James Brown, and Lou Rawls.

The opening horn intro sounds very similar to Elmer Bernstein’s score for The Magnificent Seven, popularly known as the Marlboro cigarette ad theme.

Conley could not duplicate the success he had with this record. He settled in the Netherlands and in 1980 legally changed his name to Lee Roberts — his middle name and his mother’s maiden name. Conley promoted new bands through his Art-Con Productions company and continued to record and perform, fronting Lee Roberts and the Sweaters.

Sweet Soul Music

Do you like good music
That sweet soul music
Just as long as it’s swingin’
Oh yeah oh yeah

Out here on the floor now
We’re going to a go go
Ah dancin’ to the music
Oh yeah oh yeah

Spotlight on Lou Rawls y’all
Ah don’t he look tall y’all
Singin’ loves a hurtin’ thing now
Oh yeah oh yeah

Spotlight on Sam and Dave now
Ah don’t they look boss y’all
Singin’ hold on I’m comin’
Oh yeah oh yeah

Spot light on Wilson Pickett
That wicked picked Pickett
Singing Mustang Sally
Oh yeah oh yeah

Spotlight on Otis Redding now
Singing fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa
Oh yeah oh yeah

Spotlight on James Brown now
He’s the king of them all yeah
He’s the king of them all y’all
Oh yeah oh yeah

Otis Redding & Carla Thomas – New Year’s Resolution

This song is a great way to start a year! Anytime you can hear Otis…you are on the right path! Have a Happy New Year!

Stax’s house band, Booker T & the MGs, provides the backing. Note Booker T’s subtle but effective organ lending the song a spiritual element, while Donald “Duck” Dunn’s bass and Steve Cropper’s tasteful guitar licks ground the track’s rhythm

Stax was hoping to replicate the success of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Stax paired two of their greatest stars for the 1967 album King & Queen, which produced the hit “Tramp.” The album featured their takes on classics such as “Knock on Wood,” “When Something Is Wrong with My Baby,” “Bring It on Home to Me,” and “It Takes Two”

This song was on the King and Queen album released in 1967. This is the only album they got to make because Otis died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967.

New Year’s Resolution

I hope it’s not too late
Just to say that I’m sorry, honey
All I want to do
Is just finish what we started, baby

Let’s turn over a new leave
And baby let’s make promises
That we can keep
And call it a New Year’s resolution, hmmm

Oh, I’m a woman
And woman makes mistakes too
But will you, will you forget the changes
That I put you through

let’s try it again
Just you and me
And, baby, let’s see how happy honey, yeah
That we can be
And call it a New Year’s resolution, yeah, yeah, yeah

Many times we had our ups and downs
And times you needed me I couldn’t be found
I’m sorry
And I’m sorry too
I’ll never, never do it again, no, no, no
So baby before we fall out
Let’s fall on in, yeah, yeah
Oh, and we’re gonna try harder
Not to hurt each other again, oh
Love me baby, huh
Week after week
And baby let’s make promises
That we can keep
And call it a New Year’s resolution, yeah, oh
I know we can do it Carla
I’m gonna keep my promises
I’m gonna hold on that we can do it, baby
Oh, it’s not too late
You’re gonna love me
Nobody else
Oh Otis let’s finish what we started
Talk no mean

Otis Redding – Cigarettes And Coffee

Otis could sing soul, rock, R&B, and anything he wanted. The sound of his voice alternating between smooth and rough is breath taking.

The music isn’t bad either. Otis was backed by the great Stax house band Booker T and the MG’s. Eddie Thomas, Jay Walker and Jerry Butler, a popular singer who had hits with “Make It Easy on Yourself” and “Are You Happy,” wrote this song but didn’t record it.

The song was on The Soul Album released in 1966. The song wasn’t released as a single but it’s one of my favorites by Otis. The album peaked at #54 in the Billboard Album Charts, #3 in the R&B Charts, and #22 in the UK.

Steve Cropper…guitarist for Booker T and The MG’s: The first time I heard him sing, he did “These Arms of Mine,” and the thing about Otis is, we had 17 hits in a row – R&B hits. Some of them went to #1, some of them didn’t, but they still generated income – that was good enough for us to do another record.

So, the hidden gem in his catalog, I’d have to really think about that. There’s so many, but there are two songs he did that I really loved. One was “A Change Is Gonna Come” and the other one is “Cigarettes and Coffee.” His version of “Shake” that we did – the Sam Cooke song – wow.

Otis sessions were a lot of fun. He was the only artist I remember recording at Stax that the band could not wait for him to come back. And they never did that with anybody – it was work, it was a job, and that’s what they did. We all had fun making music – we had a good time – but they could not wait for Otis to come back to record because we had so much fun.

Cigarettes And Coffee

It’s early in the morning
About a quarter till three
I’m sittin’ here talkin’ with my baby
Over cigarettes and coffee, now
And to tell you that
Darling I’ve been so satisfied
Honey since I met you
Baby since I met you, ooh

All the places that I’ve been around
And all the good looking girls I’ve met
They just don’t seem to fit in
Knowing this particularly sad, yeah

But it seemed so natural, darling
That you and I are here
Just talking over cigarettes and drinking coffee, ooh now

And whole my heart cries out
Love at last I’ve found you, ooh now
And honey won’t you let me
Just be my whole life around you
And while I complete, I complete my whole life would be, yeah
If you would take things under consideration
And walk down this hour with me
And I would love it, yeah

People I say it’s so early in the morning
Oh, it’s a quarter till three
We’re sittin’ here talkin’
Over cigarettes and drinking coffee, now, lord
And I’ll like to show you, well
I’ve known nothing but good old joy
Since I met you, darling
Honey since I’ve met you, baby yeah

I would love to have another drink of coffee, now
And please, darling, help me smoke this one more cigarette, now
I don’t want no cream and sugar
Cause I’ve got you, now darling
But just let me enjoy
Help me to enjoy
This good time that we’ll have, baby
It’s so early, so early in the morning
So early, so early in the morning
And I’ve got you
And you’ve got me
And we’ll have each other
And we don’t, we don’t want nothing but joy, y’all
Nothing but joy

Otis Redding – Try A Little Tenderness

Lets mellow out this morning and try a little tenderness by Otis Redding. I first heard this song by Three Dog Night who I like a lot but I have to go with Otis.

This song is a standard recorded by many artists, including crooners Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme and Bing Crosby. It was written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry Woods, and first published in 1933.

Otis recorded this song for Stax Records in Memphis. The house band was Booker T. & the M.G.’s and they backed him up on this recording…

Redding did not want to record this song, but Stax Records executives and his friends wore him down with a constant barrage of requests.

When he finally recorded it, he did it with a pleading vocal that he was sure would not be released. The ploy didn’t work. Redding’s version of “Try a Little Tenderness” became his biggest selling record released before his death.

The song peaked at #25 in the Billboard 100 and #46 in the UK in 1966.

From Songfacts

Campbell and Connelly were a British songwriting team who often collaborated with a third composer, which in this case was the American Harry Woods.

In 1962, Aretha Franklin recorded the song, charting at #100 in the US at a time when most of her singles failed to get much higher. Her arrangement was similar to that of the previous crooner versions and her vocal relatively restrained; it was Otis Redding who did the definitive soulful version of the song, complete with horns, organ, and an uninhibited vocal that builds in intensity as the song progresses.

Sam Cooke’s version of this was a big influence on Redding. It was never released as a single but was one of high points of his live “Sam Cooke at the Copa” LP (1964) as part of a medley that started with “Tenderness” (followed by “Sentimental Reasons” and “You Send Me”). Redding idolized the man, particularly after Cooke’s death, but he did not want to record “Tenderness.” He caved in after tremendous pressure from his friends and (according to one source) a family member – but he didn’t want to record it like Cooke (in fact, he considered his version a “joke” to quiet the people who wanted him to record it). The rest is history.

Three Dog Night recorded this as a tribute to the late Otis Redding. Their version became their first Top 40 hit in 1968. Their first Top 10 hit, “One,” written and originally recorded by Harry Nilsson, soon followed.

For Three Dog Night, it was a staple of their live shows throughout the 1980s. They would often stretch the song to the 15-20 minute mark.

In the movie Bull Durham, erratic young pitcher Nuke LaLoosh, played by Tim Robbins, sings this on the team bus but butchers the lyrics, much to the dismay of Crash Davis, the veteran catcher played by Kevin Costner. Instead of “Young girls they do get wearied” he sang “Young girls they do get wooly.”

This was one of two songs Aretha Franklin performed when she made her TV debut on American Bandstand August 2, 1962. A cover by her peaked at #100 on the Hot 100 the same year.

Jon Cryer’s character Duckie lip-synchs this to Molly Ringwald’s character Andie in the 1986 movie Pretty In Pink. The film’s director Howard Deutch chose the song because he wanted something that would express the heartbreak Duckie feels as he tries to make inroads with Andie.

In 2015, Cryer re-created the scene on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

This was covered by Florence and the Machine for their 2012, MTV Unplugged – A Live Album. Speaking with Nicole Alvarez of LA radio station 106.7 KROQ, Florence Welch said it was hard choosing an acoustic cover for the show. “I almost didn’t do ‘Try A Little Tenderness’ because it’s my favorite song and I thought, ‘I can’t do this,'” she admitted. “I didn’t know how to do it the same, but I just thought, ‘I’ve got to slow it down.'”

The Otis Redding version was used in 2015 commercials for McDonald’s Chicken Select Tenders. Because, you know, “tender” is in the song title.

Try A Little Tenderness

Ooh, she may be weary
And young girls, they do get wearied
Wearing that same old shaggy dress, yeah
But when she gets weary
Try a little tenderness, yeah, yeah

You know she’s waiting
Just anticipating
The thing that she’ll never, never, never, never possess, yeah, yeah
But while she’s there waiting, and without them
Try a little tenderness
That’s all you gotta do

It’s not just sentimental, no, no, no
She has her grief and care, yeah yeah yeah
But the soft words, they are spoke so gentle, yeah

It makes it easier
Easier to bear, yeah

You won’t regret it, no no
Young girls, they don’t forget it
Love is their whole happiness, yeah

But it’s all so easy
All you got to do is try, try a little, tenderness yeah
All you’ve gotta do is, man
Hold her where you want her
Squeeze her, don’t tease her
Never leave her, get to her
Just try, try a little tenderness, y-y-yeah
You got to love and kiss her, man
Got to, got to, got to, don’t lose her, no, no
You got to love her, tease her, don’t you leave her
Got to try, now, now, now
Try, tru a little tenderness
Yeah, watch the groove now, you gotta know what to do, man…

Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay

The song is a true classic. Stax guitarist Steve Cropper wrote this with Redding. Cropper produced the album when Redding died, including this track with various songs Redding had recorded the last few years.

Redding died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, a month before this song was released (January 8, 1968) and three days after he recorded it. It was by far his biggest hit and was also the first-ever posthumous #1 single in the US.

Stax Records chief Jim Stewart did not want the song released because it was unlike his other music. Redding and Cropper both insisted that it would be his first #1 single. Stewart relented when he heard the finished master recording put together by Cropper after Redding’s death.

The music licensing company BMI named this as the sixth-most performed song of the 20th century, with around 6 million performances.

The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #7 in Canada, #3 in the UK, and #3 in New Zealand in 1968.

Steve Cropper: “Otis was one of those kind of guys who had 100 ideas. Anytime he came in to record he always had 10 or 15 different intros or titles, or whatever. He had been at San Francisco playing The Fillmore, and he was staying at a boathouse (in Sausalito, across the bay from San Francisco), which is where he got the idea of the ship coming in. That’s about all he had: ‘I watch the ships come in and I watch them roll away again.’ I took that and finished the lyrics.

If you listen to the songs I wrote with Otis, most of the lyrics are about him. He didn’t usually write about himself, but I did. ‘Mr. Pitiful,’ ‘Sad Song Fa-Fa,’ they were about Otis’ life. ‘Dock Of The Bay’ was exactly that: ‘I left my home in Georgia, headed for the Frisco Bay’ was all about him going out to San Francisco to perform.”

From Songfacts

Redding ended up sitting on a dock on the San Francisco Bay thanks to Bill Graham, who ran the Fillmore West Auditorium. Redding played three shows there, December 20-22, 1966. Graham gave Redding a choice: he could stay at a hotel, or at a boathouse in nearby Sausalito. Redding liked the outdoors, so he chose the boathouse.

Redding was the star recording artist for Stax Records, a Memphis label that made classic soul music. The death of Redding was a big blow to the label, and while it certainly had an impact on their demise in the ’70s, there were other factors as well, including financial mismanagement and a change in musical tastes. In 2001, construction started on a soul music museum where the studios once stood, and it opened in 2003. To learn more about the museum and the Stax legacy, check out Stax Today.

The end of this song contains perhaps the most famous whistling in music history. It wasn’t planned, but when Steve Cropper and Stax engineer Ronnie Capone heard it, they knew it had to stay. Cropper explained on his website: “If you’re an Otis Redding fan you’d know that he’s probably the world’s greatest at ad-libbing at the end of a song. Sometimes you could go another minute or two with Otis Redding’s ad-libs – they were so spontaneous and felt so great. And this particular song I think baffled Otis a little bit because of the tempo and the mood, so when we got down to the end of it he really didn’t have anything to ad-lib with, and he just started whistling. That just sparked Ronnie Capone and myself off, and almost immediately we said, ‘Hey man, that’s great, leave that in there.’ It sure is a cool melody to go out with.”

Beach sound effects (waves, seagulls, etc.), were dubbed in after the recording. Steve Cropper explained why: “I played acoustic guitar on the session and there are some outtakes on the record where you can hear Otis clowning around with seagulls – he was always kind of a funny jokester in the studio and he was going ‘caw, caw, caw.’ That was where I got the idea of getting the seagull sounds. I went over to the soundtrack library at Pepper Records – a jingle company – and I got one of their sound effect records. I got the seagulls and the waves and I made a little tape loop on a two-track machine. I ran that as I mixed the record – I would bring them up and down in the holds. And I overdubbed the guitar. We were cutting on 4-track in those days – we had moved up from mono and stereo and up to big ol’ 4-tracks, so we had a lot of tracks to work with. So we had 6-tracks because I had the 2-track going on one side with seagulls and one side with waves. I got that record mixed and got it off to Atlantic and it came out.”

He added: “The licks that I overdubbed on ‘Dock Of The Bay,’ I don’t know if there was anything really special about them except that that was probably as high a position as I’ve ever played those licks when I did it. I was trying to get something that felt like seagulls – that real high thing. So, I was playing some high licks that were not necessarily imitating seagulls but the thought of seagulls being really high. I was trying to get something a little moody like that.”

Redding recorded this with Booker T. & the MG’s, the house band for Stax Records. They played with all the Stax artists, including Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, and Albert King, and had a hit on their own with “Green Onions” in 1962.

Redding died five months before Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot in Memphis, where this was recorded. Amid the angry racial tensions, “Dock of the Bay” stood out as an integrated collaboration in a segregated city; Redding’s co-writer/producer Steve Cropper was white, as was Donald “Duck” Dunn, who played bass on the track.

The plan was to use background singers on this track, possibly the Staple Singers, but when Redding died there was no time for that.

Booker T. & the MG’s were on tour when they found out about Redding’s death. They were in an Indiana airport with their flight delayed because of snow when one of their members called the Stax office and got the horrific news. When they returned to Memphis, Steve Cropper mixed the song for release. He said it was “maybe the toughest thing I’ve ever done.” Redding’s body had not even been recovered when Cropper finished the song.

Redding started to compose this song while he was recovering from surgery removing polyps from his vocal cords. The doctors told him not to sing or talk for six weeks after the operation.

Under pressure from the record company, Steve Cropper rushed to get this song finished as soon as word got out that Redding had died. “That’s just the way record companies operate,” he said. “They actually had me go in and try to finish the song up – they had not even found Otis’ body yet, which was a very difficult time for me, but somehow I got through it.”

The hit potential was obvious when this song was being recorded. Cropper explained: “Really being different from most Otis Redding songs, it was a little more middle-of-the-road tempo-wise. It wasn’t a ballad and it wasn’t an uptempo, hard rock, dancing kind of thing that he was known for. It was more laid back, and we had been looking for a crossover song – a song that leaves the R&B charts and crosses over to the pop charts – and in this song we knew we had it. It was just something we had a feeling about. We listened to it and went, ‘This is it!’ We just knew beyond a doubt that this was the song. This was a hit.”

During the Vietnam War, this was very popular with American troops fighting there, as the song portrayed quite the opposite of their reality. Accordingly, it was used in two 1987 films that take place during the war: Platoon and Hamburger Hill.

This won 1968 Grammy Awards for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance, plus Best Rhythm & Blues Song for writers Otis Redding and Steve Cropper.

If you equate the beach and bird noises to putting stickers on a Picasso, there are two very good outtakes of the song available on the Otis Redding collection Remember Me

that are free of the overdubs. Stax Records had recently purchased a 4-track recorder, which made it easy to add the extra sounds.

Dock of the Bay

Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ comes
Watching the ships roll in
Then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh
I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the Frisco Bay
‘Cause I’ve had nothin’ to live for
It look like nothin’s gonna come my way
So I’m just gon’ sitt on the dock of the bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

Look like nothing’s gonna change
Everything, still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes

Sittin’ here restin’ my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone, listen
Two thousand miles, I roam
Just to make this dock my home
Now I’m just gon’ sit, at the dock of the bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, ooh yeah
Sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time

Otis Redding – Shake

“Shake” was written and originally recorded by Sam Cooke. Cooke’s version reached #7 on the Billboard 100. Cooke was a huge influence on Otis Redding; along with “Shake,” Redding also recorded covers of Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” “Chain Gang,” “Cupid,” “Nothing Can Change This Love,” “Wonderful World,” and “You Send Me.”

The song peaked at #47 in the Billboard 100 in 1967.

Otis made a huge impact at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival along with The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin.

The album this was on was Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul and it peaked at #77 in the Biullboard Album Charts in 1966.

Shake

Shake!
(Everybody say it!) Shake!
(Early in the morning) Shake!
(Late in the evening) Shake!
(In the midnight hour) Shake!
(When the time’s going bad, now) Shake!
Shake with the FEELING!
Shake with the FEELING!

Listen while I’m talkin’ to you now
Tell you what I’m gonna do now
There’s a new thing going around now
I’ll tell what to put down now

You move your body all around
And just shake
Thats the way you do it Shake, Shake, Shake it baby
Shake it like a bowl of soup
Let your body loop de loop
Put your hands on your hip
Come on and let your backbone slip
Move your body like your hip
And just shake!

Shake early in the morning
Shake early in the evening

A Ring-A-Ling-a-Ling
Honey, Shakin’ is the greatest thing
But if you really roll Gotta do the thing with SOUL!

Shake shake with all your might now
If you do it, do it right now
Put your hands on your hip,yeah
Come on and let your backbone slip
Move your body like your hip
And just shake

(God have mercy now!)
Early in the morning
Early in the evening All night long, y’all!
If you really want to roll
Gotta do the thing with SOUL!
Shake shake with all your might
If you do it, do it right
Let your body loop de lite
Shake!
Everybody say it, Shake!
One more time, Shake!
Everybody louder, Shake!
One more time, now, say Shake!
Everybody a bit louder, Shake!

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/otis-redding/shake

Otis Redding – Love Man

I was watching WKRP and Johnny Fever was playing this song. I heard a few of the lyrics and found it. Although Johnny Fever is a fictional character…he has great taste. This song was released after Otis had died in an airplane crash in1967. Love Man was released in June 1969 and featured songs Redding had recorded in 1967. The album was produced by Steve Cropper, and featured Booker T. and the M.G.’s.It was on the album of the same name.

Matthew Greenwald of Allmusic said that apart from “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”, the album’s title track was “one of Otis Redding’s finest and most commercial sides that he cut at the end of his brief career.”

The song peaked at #72 in the Billboard 100, #17 in the Billboard R&B Charts, and #43 in the UK.

The album peaked at #8 in the Billboard R&B Charts in 1969.

Love Man

I’m a Love Man
Call me the Love Man
Oooh, baby I’m the Love Man
That’s what they call me I’m a Love Man
Six feet one weigh two hundred and ten
A Long hair… Real fair skin
A long legs and I’m-a out-a sight
There ain’t no doubt I’m gonna take you out,
‘Cause I’m a love man
That’s what they call me I’m the Love Man
Make love to you in the mornin’
Make love to you at night now
Make love to when you think about it
I’ gonna bet you Everything’s alright
‘Cau…’Cau…’Cau…’Cau…’Cause I’m a love man
Ooh baby I’m a love man
That’s what they call me I’m a Love Man
Say there goes a love man
Six feet one weigh two hundred and ten
Long hair… Real fair skin
I’m long legged and I’m-a out-a sight
My, my babe I’m gonna take you out
‘Cause I’ a love man
Ooh baby I’m a love man
Take your hand; let me holler one time…AAWW!

Love man that’s all I am now
I’m just a love man
Ooh baby call me a love man
Yes I am, I’m just a love man
Let me tell you somethin’
Which one of you girls want me to hold you?
A Which one of you girls want me to kiss you?
Which one of your girls wants me to take you out?
Go on I got you, gonna knock you all night
‘Cause baby I’m a love man
All right, Ooh, baby I’m a love man
Let me tell ya!
I’m sayin’ I’m just a love man, good ol’ man
I’m just a love man, fancy man
I’m just a love man, good ol’ man
I’m just a…..

Otis Redding & Carla Thomas – New Year’s Resolution

This song was on the King and Queen album released in 1967. This is the only album they got to make because Otis died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967.

New Year’s Resolution

I hope it’s not too late
Just to say that I’m sorry, honey
All I want to do
Is just finish what we started, baby

Let’s turn over a new leave
And baby let’s make promises
That we can keep
And call it a New Year’s resolution, hmmm

Oh, I’m a woman
And woman makes mistakes too
But will you, will you forget the changes
That I put you through

let’s try it again
Just you and me
And, baby, let’s see how happy honey, yeah
That we can be
And call it a New Year’s resolution, yeah, yeah, yeah

My Favorite Singers

There are so many singers that I cannot possibly list them all. I could make a top 30 and not get them all. This is my personal favorite top 10 plus some extra.

For the most part, I like singers with soul and meaning to their singing…not vocal gymnastics.

1…Aretha Franklin – Aretha could make any song better by singing it.

2…Van Morrison, Them and Solo – Probably my favorite male singer.

3…John Lennon, Beatles – John hated his voice and always wanted an effect on it…It didn’t need it…one of his best performances was “A Day In The Life”

4…Bob Dylan – Bob changed popular singing. I would rather hear Bob sing than many of the great traditional singers.

5…Elvis Presley – Hey he’s Elvis…

6…Otis Redding – Just a fantastic singer and performer and just taking off before he was killed in a plane crash.

7…Mick Jagger, Rolling Stones – Mick makes the most out of his voice.

8…John Fogerty…CCR – If I could have the voice of anyone…it would be Fogerty. The power that John has is incredible…his voice is its own instrument.

9…Janis Joplin – She put everything she had in each song. Her last producer Paul A. Rothchild was teaching Janis how to hold back and sing more traditional to save her voice for old age…which never came.

10…Johnny Cash – Last but far from least. Only one man can sound like Cash…and that is Cash

Honorable Mention…any of these could have easily been on the list.

Steve Marriott, Paul McCartney, Levon Helm, Bessie Smith, Little Richard, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Elton John, Neil Young, Roy Orbison, Smokey Robinson, Sam Cooke, Joe Cocker, Billie Holiday, Freddie Mercury, Kate Bush, Ella Fitzgerald, Paul Rodgers, David Bowie.