Album: Otis Blue
Artist: Otis Redding
Born: Dawson, Georgia
Released: September 1965
Genre: Soul
Influenced: Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Isaac Hayes, Black Crowes
Of all the soul records I own on vinyl, Otis Blue is by far the most played in my collection. Picking up the mantle of King of Soul from the recently departed Sam Cooke, Otis Redding pays homage to this legacy with two Cooke covers on the album, the energetic Shake and a deeply soulful version of A Change Is Gonna Come (shortened to Change Gonna Come on the track listing). That famous element of the Stax Records sound, the Memphis Horns, is here in all its glory, while legendary Booker T & the MGs guitarist Steve Cropper also stars along side a young Isaac Hayes on keyboard. Just as Isaac Hayes started out in the shadow of Otis Redding, so Otis began as one of the backing group for Little Richard (also a native of Georgia), before scoring his own hits (These Arms of Mine, '62, and Mr Pitiful, '64) and setting up his own label.
1965 was his breakthrough year and two of his Top 10 singles appear on this album, Respect and I've Been Loving You Too Long. On the latter, Otis literally pours his soul into the performance, a desperately sad song "in the key of A". On Otis Blue he also shows his impeccable taste and ability to bring something new to cover versions, with Solomon Burke's Down In The Valley and The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction both enhanced by Otis' peerless vocal acrobatics (got-ta, got-ta!). There's an earthiness to his vocal delivery that has had an influence far beyond just soul music, with rock vocalists like Joe Cocker, John Fogerty and Chris Robinson (to name but a few) owing him a huge debt. This crossover appeal was best highlighted by Otis appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967, where he looked set to be the first soul singer to gain a mass market appeal. Sadly, just six months later, he would die in a plane crash.
Artist: Otis Redding
Born: Dawson, Georgia
Released: September 1965
Genre: Soul
Influenced: Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Isaac Hayes, Black Crowes
Of all the soul records I own on vinyl, Otis Blue is by far the most played in my collection. Picking up the mantle of King of Soul from the recently departed Sam Cooke, Otis Redding pays homage to this legacy with two Cooke covers on the album, the energetic Shake and a deeply soulful version of A Change Is Gonna Come (shortened to Change Gonna Come on the track listing). That famous element of the Stax Records sound, the Memphis Horns, is here in all its glory, while legendary Booker T & the MGs guitarist Steve Cropper also stars along side a young Isaac Hayes on keyboard. Just as Isaac Hayes started out in the shadow of Otis Redding, so Otis began as one of the backing group for Little Richard (also a native of Georgia), before scoring his own hits (These Arms of Mine, '62, and Mr Pitiful, '64) and setting up his own label.
1965 was his breakthrough year and two of his Top 10 singles appear on this album, Respect and I've Been Loving You Too Long. On the latter, Otis literally pours his soul into the performance, a desperately sad song "in the key of A". On Otis Blue he also shows his impeccable taste and ability to bring something new to cover versions, with Solomon Burke's Down In The Valley and The Rolling Stones' Satisfaction both enhanced by Otis' peerless vocal acrobatics (got-ta, got-ta!). There's an earthiness to his vocal delivery that has had an influence far beyond just soul music, with rock vocalists like Joe Cocker, John Fogerty and Chris Robinson (to name but a few) owing him a huge debt. This crossover appeal was best highlighted by Otis appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967, where he looked set to be the first soul singer to gain a mass market appeal. Sadly, just six months later, he would die in a plane crash.
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