|
|
Otis Redding
Rock & Roll, Rhythm & Blues
Scott #2728
Joint Release on June 16, 1993
at Santa Monica, CA & Cleveland, OH
Designed by John Berkey
|
Otis Redding was born in Dawson, Georgia on
September 9, 1941. Otis was one of the brightest stars of 60s soul music, but
his greatest fame came only after a tragic plane crash in 1967.
When Otis was 5 his family moved to Macon,
Georgia where his father, a Baptist Minister had obtained a job at Robbins
Air Force Base. Otis played drums in school and also backed the
local gospel groups that sang on WIBB
Radio. Otis dropped out of school at the age of 16 to help support
his family. He worked at odd jobs and also performed with Little
Richard's former band, The Upsetters. In the late
fifties, Otis began to concentrate more on his singing. He entered several
amateur talent contests and won so many of them that he was no longer allowed
to compete.
Otis' first hit was Shout Bamalama,
which he recorded for Confederate Records in 1961. Otis first big break came
in 1962 as a member of Johnny
Jenkins' band the Pinetoppers. The group was recording at Stax
Studios in Memphis and the session was not going well. Otis was
allowed to cut two songs of his own at the end of the session. One of those
songs, These Arms of Mine became a Rhythm and Blues hit and
helped launch Otis' career.
Otis had a powerful voice and he sang with such
sincerity that Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records once stated that, "Otis
wore his heart on his sleeve." Otis signed with Stax
and recorded the R&B hit songs, Mr. Pitiful (1965), I've
Been Loving You Too Long to Stop Now (1965), Respect (1965),
Satisfaction (1966), and Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)
(1966). He recorded the duets Tramp and Knock on
Wood with Carla
Thomas, in 1967. The house band at Stax was Booker
T and the MGs a legend in their own right. They provided backup to
many of R&B's greatest artists such as, Wilson
Pickett, Carla
Thomas, Albert
King and Sam
& Dave.
Otis starred at the Monterey
Pop Festival in 1967 and was becoming ever more popular when on
December 10, 1967, the plane that Otis and his band had chartered crashed near
Madison, Wisconsin killing all on board. Otis was 26 years old.
 Sitting
on the Dock of the Bay recorded by Otis, just days before his
death, became one of the top hits of 1968 staying at number one for over four
weeks. Three of his other songs also became hits after his death; The
Happy Song, Amen and Papa's Got a Brand New Bag.
Otis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
Sources:
Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame
Atlanta Music
Group (AMG)
Encyclopedia
Africana
|
