Otis Redding
“The raw, aching heart of Southern soul, gone far too soon at the peak of his power.”
In 1962 Otis Redding tagged along to a Stax Records session in Memphis as a driver and singer for Johnny Jenkins, and with minutes of studio time left he cut a ballad called 'These Arms of Mine.' The song became his first hit and launched a contract that would make him Stax's defining soul artist. In a handful of years he transformed Southern soul before a plane crash cut his life short at 26.
Georgia Roots
Raised in Macon, Georgia, Redding grew up singing gospel and idolizing Little Richard. A chance studio session at Stax in 1962 revealed a raw, pleading voice that would come to define Southern soul.
The Stax Sound
Backed by Booker T. & the M.G.'s and the Memphis Horns, Redding poured emotion into ballads and shouters alike. Albums like Otis Blue and a triumphant 1967 Monterey Pop set carried his music to rock audiences and across Europe.
A Life Cut Short
Reaching for a new pop-soul sound, he recorded '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' in December 1967. Days later his plane went down in a Wisconsin lake; the song became his first No. 1, a haunting farewell at just 26.
Career Timeline
- 1941Born in Dawson, Georgia
- 1962Records 'These Arms of Mine' at Stax
- 1965Releases breakthrough album Otis Blue
- 1965Writes and records 'Respect'
- 1966Tours Europe to ecstatic audiences
- 1967Electrifies the Monterey Pop Festival
- 1967Records '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay'
- 1967Dies in plane crash on Lake Monona, Wisconsin
- 1968'Dock of the Bay' hits No. 1 posthumously
- 1989Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Biggest Hits
- He wrote 'Respect,' which became a far bigger hit for Aretha Franklin two years later.
- He recorded 'Dock of the Bay' just three days before the plane crash that killed him and four of the Bar-Kays.
The Moment You Remember
On a recording made days before his death, Otis Redding sits by the water, whistling a gentle melody over lapping waves. (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay became a posthumous farewell, its quiet contentment shadowed by the loss the world soon learned of.
Portrait: Stax Records (publicity photo) · Public Domain · via Wikimedia Commons