Otis Ray Redding, Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the greatest singers in popular music and a major artist in soul and rhythm and blues. His singing style was powerfully influential among soul artists of 1960s and helped exemplify the Stax Sound. Initially popular mainly with African Americans, Redding later reached the broader American popular music audience. He and his group first played small gigs in the South, then debuted in the western United States at LA's popular Whisky a Go Go. They later performed in Paris, London and other European cities. After appearing at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival Redding wrote and recorded the iconic "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" with Steve Cropper. The song became the first posthumous number-one record on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts after his death in a plane crash. The Dock of the Bay became the first posthumous album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart. (Read more at Wikipedia.)
Links to Peel[]
The Otis Redding track 'Ole Man Trouble' was a major favourite of Peel, who selected it as one of 40 songs for his 40th birthday and for the 1965 Peelenium. Regular listeners were familiar with his story about hearing the song for the first time, as recounted to Andy Peebles in My Top Ten (1984):
I used to live in Oklahoma and work for a radio station just outside Oklahoma City.[1] I used to do gigs on Indian reservations in the south of the state; it’s one of these things which sounds “come on, he’s making this up”, but it is true. And I used to work with a band called Dann Yankee & The Carpetbaggers, who were wonderful people, and we were driving back from the gig, it must have been 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, listening to a radio station coming from Memphis, and this next record came on. ... We actually pulled over to the side of the road ... we were just transfixed.[2]
Although Peel was familiar with Redding from his years in America, the DJ focused on other kinds of music on his Perfumed Garden and Top Gear shows when he returned to the UK in 1967, the year of the singer's death. (Nevertheless, Redding had some credibility with musicans and audiences of the hippy era, and he was invited to perform at the celebrated 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, one of the key events of the so-called "summer of love".) In later decades, when soul became a more regular feature of Peel's programmes, Redding was heard relatively often, including festive Christmas songs and a second Peelenium choice in the form of 'Try A Little Tenderness'. In addition, the Detroit Cobras made #15 in the 2001 Festive Fifty with a cover version of Redding's early hit Shout Bama Lama.
Festive Fifty Entries[]
Otis Redding, "I've Been Loving You Too Long", from MIPF 1967
Redding performing "I've Been Loving You Too Long" at Monterey, 1967, where he was rapturously received by the audience.
- None
Sessions[]
- None
Peelenium[]
- Peelenium 1965: Ole Man Trouble
- Peelenium 1966: Try A Little Tenderness
Other Shows Played[]
- 1967
- 13 August 1967: 'I'm Sick Y'all (7" b-side of Try A Little Tenderness)' (Atlantic 584070)
- 1972
- 25 February 1972: That’s How Strong My Love Is (LP - The Best Of Otis Redding) Atco
- 03 June 1972 (Radio Luxembourg): Ole Man Trouble (LP – Otis Blue/ Otis Redding Sings) Atlantic
- 1973
- 24 April 1973: Ole Man Trouble (single – Respect b-side, 1965) Volt
- 1974
- 23 July 1974: unknown
- 1978
- 01 March 1978: Ole Man Trouble (LP - Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul) Atlantic
- 01 March 1978: Change Gonna Come (LP - Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul) Atlantic
- 01 March 1978: I've Been Loving You Too Long (LP - Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul) Atlantic
- 01 March 1978: Rock Me Baby (LP - Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul) Atlantic
- 1979
- 30 August 1979: Ole Man Trouble (Atlantic) (40th birthday records)
- 30 October 1979: Mr Pitiful
- 01 November 1979: I've Been Loving You Too Long
- 1980
- 20 February 1980: That's A Good Idea
- 18 March 1980: I Can't Turn You Loose (EP) Atlantic
- 1981
- 25 March 1981: Ole Man Trouble (JP tells a story about the first time he heard Otis Redding during his time in America.)
- 1982
- 26 April 1982: I Can't Turn You Loose (LP - Recorded Live: Previously Unreleased Performances) Atlantic
- 29 April 1982: Good To Me (LP - Recorded Live: Previously Unreleased Performances) Atlantic
- 29 April 1982: Chained And Bound (LP - Recorded Live: Previously Unreleased Performances) Atlantic
- 29 April 1982: Ole Man Trouble (LP - Recorded Live: Previously Unreleased Performances) Atlantic (JP: "I first heard the single version of that when I was driving back with a band called Dan Yankee and the Carpetbaggers from a gig on an Indian reservation in the south of Oklahoma, driving through the woods at about three o'clock in the morning, something like that. And that came out of the radio. Terrific it was.")
- 29 July 1982: I've Been Loving You Too Long
- 1983
- 24 January 1983: Wonderful World (LP - Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul) Volt
- 1984
- 31 January 1984: Ole Man Trouble (LP - Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul) Volt
- 21 February 1984: I've Been Loving You Too Long (LP - Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul) Volt
- 21 May 1984: These Arms Of Mine
- 23 May 1984: Pain In My Heart
- 1987
- 04 May 1987: I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)
- 1988
- 15 February 1988: I Can't Turn You Loose
- 1989
- 04 January 1989: These Arms Of Mine (3xCD - The Otis Redding Story) Atlantic
- 16 January 1989: Come To Me (album - The Otis Redding Story) Atlantic
- 25 January 1989: Chained & Bound (3xCD - The Otis Redding Story) Atlantic
- 01 February 1989: That's How Strong My Love Is (3xCD Boxset - The Otis Redding Story) Atlantic
- 08 February 1989: Keep Your Arms Around Me (3xCD - The Otis Redding Story) Atlantic
- 1991
- 01 December 1991: These Arms Of Mine' (LP 'The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-68')
- 1992
- 18 January 1992: Pain In My Heart
- 09 February 1992: Come To Me (9-CD v/a album - The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968) Atlantic
- 22 February 1992: There Goes My Baby(album - It's Not Just Sentimental (The Unheard Otis 22 Tracks)) Stax / Volt
- 08 March 1992: Remember Me(album - It's Not Just Sentimental (The Unheard Otis 22 Tracks)) Stax / Volt
- 20 March 1992: Little Ol' Me (album - It's Not Just Sentimental (The Unheard Otis 22 Tracks)) Stax / Volt
- 04 April 1992: Gone Again(album - It's Not Just Sentimental (The Unheard Otis 22 Tracks)) Stax / Volt
- 10 April 1992: Stay In School(album - It's Not Just Sentimental (The Unheard Otis 22 Tracks)) Stax / Volt
- 11 April 1992: I've Got Dreams To Remember(album - It's Not Just Sentimental (The Unheard Otis 22 Tracks)) Stax / Volt
- 16 May 1992: 'That's How Strong My Love Is (9xCD compilation-The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968-Vol 4)' (Atlantic)
- 24 December 1992: 'White Christmas (Compilation LP-Soul Christmas)' (ATCO)
- 1993
- 25 June 1993: I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (CD – Good To Me – Live At The Whiskey A Go Go – Volume 2) Stax
- 1998
- 02 September 1998: I've Been Loving You Too Long (LP - Otis Redding/Jimi Hendrix Experience Live) Reprise
- 23 November 1998 (BFBS): 'Mr. Pitiful (Compilation CD-And I Need A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues)' (Débutante Deluxe)
- 1999
- 28 October 1999: Ole Man Trouble (LP-Otis Blue) Volt (Peelenium 1965)
- 02 November 1999: Try A Little Tenderness (LP-The Otis Redding Dictionary Of Soul - Complete & Unbelievable) Volt (Peelenium 1966)
- 2000
- 21 December 2000: Merry Christmas Baby
- 2001
- 20 December 2001: Ole Man Trouble (Volt) (to follow Okkervil River’s ‘Listening To Otis Redding At Home During Christmas’)
- 2003
- 18 December 2003: 'Ole Man Trouble' (LP - 'Otis Blue')' (Atlantic)
- Other
- My Top Ten: Ole Man Trouble
- Jerry Wexler : Soul Man: These Arms Of Mine / I Can't Turn You Loose
- 16 Sep 1966: I Can't Turn You Loose (8)
See Also[]
- Christmas Video Gallery P-R
- Record Collection: V&A LPs
- KMEN British Pop Top Ten
- Peel's 77 All Time Favourite Records List
- OOR
- Disc & Music Echo: Peel Columns
- Sounds
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ See KOMA.
- ↑ As Peel noted in the same programme, he had a similar story about hearing the Elmore James song 'Stranger Blues' for the first time. See My Top Ten (Transcript).