40 years ago today Otis Redding passed away. In memoriam

[Tuesday Afternoon]

Try A Little Tenderness

http://youtube.com/watch?v=RI6inAglMJA

[ashling]

1. sittin on the dock of the bay

he was great

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. He was great. --

It feels like the dock of the bay where I am tonight.

[RainDog]

2. a beautiful soul

A Change Is Gonna Come

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. Yes,

It seems the good, they die young.

[kwassa]

3. I remember when he died

shows how ancient I am. I was in high school, and many of the black kids in school came to school wearing black armbands to honor his memory.

and I thought, who is this guy, he must be pretty important.

His biggest hit was "Dock of the Bay", released after his death, as I recall. I bought a greatest hits collection a couple of years later, and, indeed, he was an amazing singer and songwriter.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. thanks for sharing that.

He was a wonderful talent.

[DainBramaged]

16. I had the same experience, except I wrote on the blackboard

long Live Otis before every class.

[kwassa]

4. dupe

[Blue-Jay]

8. Dreams To Remember

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OLIwvYUfTt0

[Tuesday Afternoon]

9. ~

:cry:

check your PM in a minute.

[Maestro]

10. He certainly influenced many after him.

Great singer.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

11. I am so glad that for once ...I have posted something for you to

enjoy. As you have for me, so many times before.

[Maestro]

17. Oh I enjoy knowing that you enjoy my photos.

My taste in music is extremely eclectic and even though Otis is really before my time, (I was born the next year after he passed), I definitely see how influential he was. I also am a fan of quite a few bands from that era. If I had been a teenager back then I think I would have followed The Doors on tour like many did with the Grateful Dead back in the day. :)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

12. Some background on "Dock Of The Bay" from MSNBC's article:

40 years later, fans still love Otis Redding

Soul singer died Dec. 10, 1967, just before ‘Dock of the Bay’ hit No. 1

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22189146/



Written after the Monterey Pop Festival, while he was staying on a houseboat in Sausalito, Calif., and posthumously released in Jan. 1968, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” soared to the top of the charts. It became Redding’s first No. 1 single and his first million-seller.

“The song also became important to a lot of guys serving in Vietnam,” says rock music historian Craig Werner, chair of the Afro-American Studies Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Werner, who, along with Vietnam veteran Doug Bradley, is writing a book that will weave together the personal stories about how music resonated with veterans, calls “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” with its dark and defiant lyrics, “the homesick song.” It bridged the various demographic groups within the draftees and enlisted men who usually listened to country, soul or rock with very little crossover, he says.

“As soon as I heard ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,’ I liked it,” remembers SPC 5 Edward Nelson, who served in Vietnam with the United States Army I Corps from 1967 to 1968. “We were absolutely stuck in our situation and lyrics from ‘Dock of the Bay’ such as ‘Looks like nothing’s gonna’ change’ evoked the misery and homesickness we felt.”

Only a few months before the release of “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” lots of things had begun to change for Redding. On June 17, 1967, he electrified the audience at the Monterey Pop Festival, transforming the California psychedelic music fest into a rhythm and blues revue with a 20-minute set that included “Respect,” “Satisfaction” and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.” After that performance, Redding was finally on the way to achieving the crossover success that had eluded him since the release of his first single.

[OzarkDem]

14. Steve Cropper finished it for him

He said it was the hardest thing he ever had to do in his life. I read an interview he did about it some years ago. He helped Otis write it, said he realized it was Otis singing about himself. The last he saw him he was standing in the studio at Stax talking about the song and drinking a Big Orange, then he left for his concert dates.

Cropper came back into the studio after Otis died to finish it, adding the sound of the waves and gulls, etc. I think he cried through the whole thing.

[amitten]

13. O-TIS!

Love him.

[OzarkDem]

15. One of my top 5 favorite songs of all time

Brings back memories of my boyfriend's band playing it when I was in high school. No one could interpret a song like Otis.