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Otis Redding

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soul, rhythm and blues, blues, motown, 60ssee all

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Otis Redding (1941 – 1967) was a highly influential singer from Georgia, USA. Along with others such as Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd and Carla Thomas, Redding was a key exponent of the raw and electrifying “Southern Fried” soul sounds coming from the Memphis-based / label. There were also similarities and interactions with artists such as Solomon Burke, Arthur Conley, Percy Sledge and Aretha Franklin.



Redding’s death in an air crash aged just 26 deprived soul music of one of its most promising stars. His biggest hit single, and a breakthrough to a mainstream audience, Play(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay, was released posthumously. Other notable tracks are PlayI’ve Been Loving You Too Long, PlayTry a Little Tenderness, PlayFa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song), PlayRespect (also a big hit for Aretha Franklin), PlayI Can’t Turn You Loose, Mr Pitiful, PlayShake and PlayTramp (with Carla Thomas).

Unlike their Tamla Motown brethren, artists at Stax could still see cotton fields being worked outside the studio and were not as vigorously coached into “white acceptable” forms of expression by label policy. Thus, the concurrent Stax/Volt releases of the time tend to be less polished and formulaic, still managing to cross blurring color lines. Atlantic Records, based in New York, also did not try to ‘manufacture’ its artists in the Motown fashion.

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