Customer Reviews

Dreams To Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology

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In addition to "Dreams To Remember", there are two other Otis Redding collections, that merit consideration, each for entirely different reasons. The first is for the casual fan, "The Very Best of Otis Redding" which are two seperate releases and each CD contains 16 studio cuts, for a total of 32 songs. The second is the exhaustive "Definitive Otis Redding" with 162 cuts on 4 CDs; far more material than a casual fan may ever want to own. "Dreams To Remember", the most recent collection on Rhino, occupies a space somewhere between casual and serious.

The lightweight "Very Best" is good, but there are too many "covers" included. Everyone wants to hear the Otis version of "Satisfaction", but the inclusion of cover versions of "My Girl", "Day Tripper", "Amen" and "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" make the second volume of "Very Best" almost unendurable upon repeated listenings. The clever buyer will realize that "Dreams To Remember" has a price eligible for free shipping on Amazon, while buying the two seperate volumes of "Very Best" does not qualify for free shipping, so the ultimate price of the "Very Best" adds to about the same price as "Dreams To Remember" when you factor shipping costs. So do the math...for the same price as "Very Best" which contains 32 cuts, you can purchase "Dreams To Remember" which contains 55 cuts and none of the insipid pop covers, but does contain more of his signature deep soul sound, plus a few "live cuts" from his groundbreaking performance at Monterey Pop. "Dreams To Remember" trumps the two volume "Very Best", hands down.

Finally there is the all encompassing "Definitive" 4 CD collection. Anytime you shell out a premium retail price for an exhaustive anthology, it begs the question of how much is too much of a particular artist. There are definite throwaways on "Definitive" that become a painful exercise in listening, unless you beleive Otis could "do no wrong." It's no suprise that the venerable Rhino, which started as a collector's boutique label, is responsible for compiling and releasing all of three of these fine collections. An important final word of caution is in order: Rhino has yet to release any digitally remastered collections of Otis Redding. Indeed, no one stateside has released any remastered Redding material. The price heavy 4 CD "Definitive" Otis Redding of today, may be tomorrow's "Obsolete" Otis Redding. Until the remastered Otis is available, a nice compromise is this satisfying "Dreams To Remember" collection.

If you're like me, you recognize 7 or 8 songs -- the big hits -- on this set and you're wondering if Redding has enough great songs to fill two CD's. I took the plunge because I loved those 7 or 8 songs; Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay, Try a Little Tenderness, Mr. Pitiful, and others. The answer is yes. Otis just tears you up, wrecks you, brings you to your freaking knees, song after song after song. Now, I'm thinking maybe I should have bought the 4 CD set. You've got to have Otis Redding in your collection and you don't want to just have the 7 or 8 hits. Trust me, you want to put Otis on and leave him on. This is a great set.

This is a very slick two-disc set. Great care has been taken to put together an accurate timeline which touches on all of the major highlights of Redding's career. Reading the booklet while grooving to the music is a moving experience - one that Rhino Records should be proud of. Readers are led from Otis Redding's discovery to the tragic plane crash that ended his life.

Otis died at the age of 26 - which makes it all the more amazing that his music has endured like it has. These two discs contain a total of 50 tracks, many of them from live shows. If you love soul music, this is one collection that you honestly should not be without. For a personal selection, try song #13 on disc 1, "Change Gonna Come."

Otis is probably my favorite male vocalist of all time. Not as precise as Frank Sinatra, not as high as Marvin Gaye and not as deep as Barry White. Otis Redding simply sang from his heart. No matter what he sang, he made it his own and brought it ALL on home. The man could sing "Old McDonald Had A Farm" and make you get chills, for God's sake.

His legacy is indelible. And the highlights are all here.

The studio cuts are great. Each and every one of them. No need for that skip button here, folks. Just lay back and groove to the epitome of 60's soul music. However, the best is saved for last. To explain...

Jimi Hendrix is my favorite artist of all time. When he first came out on the scene, he was well-known in Britain, but had yet to mark his territory in the U.S. His chance came at the Monterey Pop festival in 1967 (Summer of Love). He took the stage, scared some girls, humped the amps and played the HELL out of his guitar. When it was all over, he burned it. It was a truly phenomenal performance. He would have been the obvious #1 highlight were it not for Otis Redding.

Otis had the same thing to prove as Jimi. He was relatively unknown to that particular audience, so he came out with barrels blazing. His stint at the festival was truly one of those memorable go-for-broke experiences. He exuded more energy and charisma than a normal person would be able to handle. He hopped around onstage and worked the crowd to a fever pitch. After a mere five songs, he said, "I got to go, y'all, I don't wanna go!", gave the audience a smile and walked offstage. With that, he was forever cemented into the minds of all who attended. Six months later, he would die in that horrible plane crash.

That performance is captured here at the end of disc two. My personal favorite is "Try A Little Tenderness," but the entire set is absolutely PERFECT. You must hear it to believe it. If you don't like it, you don't like great music.

HIGHLY recommended.

Now I don't usually like to fall into the trappings of buying any kind of "greatest hits" collections if I can help it, 'cause I've found that more often than not some really great and significant songs of the artists' career are left off, in favor of maybe less-than-stellar pop radio hits. I usually prefer to go out an' purchase all their albums if they interest me enough to do so. That would've been the case with ol' Otis Redding too except that when I saw this in the record store, I fell in love with the cover design, a caricature of Otis looking sad and comtemplative, standing in front of a theater marquee on a dimly-lit street at night, in front of what looks like an early model Chevrolet. That jus' screamed nostalgia to me, an' made me wish I had been around in the mid-'60s to go to a nightclub or theater and hear Otis' powerful voice writhe an' shout his beautiful passion into his microphone.

I'm serious, you ain't never heard a voice with more pure, gritty, unbrideled SOUL than that of Otis Redding. He sang his songs with an honesty and truth that can't be falsified, and that contemporary performers need to really take note of, if they expect to really, TRULY move people. I went through a really bad break-up this past year, an' Otis' voice was one of the only things that soothed and comforted me enough to allow me to sleep peacefully at night. Another difference is that no matter what it was with Otis, whether it was a pop radio hit or not, there was always meaning and feeling behind it. Listen to the ballads more than anything. 'Pain in My Heart', 'I've Been Loving You too Long (to Stop Now)', 'You Don't Miss Your Water' and 'Cigarettes and Coffee' and any of the mournful and heart-broken ballads, are jus' the stuff of genius and pure artistry. 'Mr. Pitiful', 'Down in the Valley', 'Let Me Come on Home' and 'I Love You More than Words Can Say' and all the rest are jus' everything that you want out of ol' Otis. The spirited and down-tempo 'My Lover's Prayer' is jus' one of the CLASSICS of our time, as is 'Just One More Day', a really powerful number 'bout letting go an' dealin' with the stress of love, life an' e'ything else this cruel world bestows on us. He does a brave and inspiring version of Sam Cooke's 'Change Gonna Come' that will move you an' give you chills, especially when he sings "It's been too hard livin', an' I'm afraid to die, I don't know whas' up there beyond the clouds..." Also present here is his raucous and pounding original version of 'Respect'. Aretha Franklin may have made it famous with her anthemic reading of it, but it was already a classic, y'all.

But my personal favorite number is the deeply moving 'I've Got Dreams to Remember' in which he lays on the heartache thick, sounding on the verge of tears and an emotional breakdown, as a female vocal group coos in sweetly sympathetic response. My eyes welled up with tears one night when I played this for my now ex-girlfriend to try to show how much pain I was in over her (It didn't work how I thought it would, but it's a sad memory for me to hold on to). And of course I couldn't leave without mentioning Otis' biggest hit '(Sittin' on the) Dock of the Bay', the simple, somewhat lonely lament that has become something of his calling card. His lonesome whistling at the end gives much weight to the lyrics and atmosphere.

You'd do yourself well to look at the photos an' read the booklet while listening to this music, 'cause it will allow you to envision the man and his time period while also giving you a plethora of history an' information 'bout Otis from his discovery working in Johnny Jenkins' band to his first days as a songwriter through his fame, and his historic performance at the Monterey Pop Festival, the recording of which is presented here on the 2nd disc in its entirety. Shame how the story had to end with Redding's death in a plane crash, yet another incredible talent that perished having given the world only a sliver of his life's potential. But lucky for us, the music is still here, and his influence is apparent in all the subsequent soul singers that have emerged since then. His guttural delivery and passion was one of a kind. To put it together in one statement, this man is amazing and the songs he has written and performed are nothing short of pure soulful art. If you are a fan of soul, R&B, rock or any black-originated music, don't hesitate to add something from Otis' legacy to your collection. In the short amount of time I've listened to him, he has fast become one of my all-time favorite singers. That should be enough to convince you right there.

This release, by Rhino, is by far the finest product you can buy and in many ways is the final word on Otis Redding, in the age of the compact disc. All of the the charting (and many that bubbled under) hits are here and most are in their original mono format. Sounding punchier than ever; contrary to another review here, these tracks are indeed remastered (probably just a simple boost in the levels to top it out).

Also, included are many songs that weren't necessarily 'hits' but were marvelous album tracks showcasing Otis' growth as a singer and the super sweet Stax house band. I also wanted to mention the packaging which is absolutely stellar. The cover art is designed with a gritty 'urban' look with the drawing emphasizing Otis in front of Stax on E. McLemore Ave. The booklet is informed and has a nice breakdown of Otis the singer and artist as well as track info.

All in all, DREAMS TO REMEMBER is both the broadest and most succinct collection of his recordings; perfect for the novice or the obsessive.

(NOTE: I've also owned OTIS! - The Definited Collection Box Set and the Very Best of)

I actually own the Otis "Definitive Collection" 4-disc set, which is more like SIX stars, really. But for the casual Otis fan, Rhino did a great job of condensing most of the bigger set's gems into this more affordable 2CD pack.

Added to that, it offers (I'm pretty sure) Otis' entire set from Monterey Pop Festival, which is pretty hard to find on CD these days. You can't go wrong with either set, but if you're not quite sure how much you want to spend, go for this one first.

You'll be hard-pressed to find a finer R&B/Soul anthology on the market.

Fantastic! The opening number, "Shout Bamalama" really gets you into the groove of the dynamite tracks on this album. This is especially driven home by the live at Monterey Festival tracks at the end of CD 2. Not only is this collection a tribute to one of Soul's greatest artists, but it is also a underlying recognition of the magnificence that the Stax house band Booker T. and the MGs brought to the tunes of "The Big O". From his relentless pounding of "Satisfaction", to the heart wrenching ballads, this really is a must buy for all those fans (old and new) who apreciate job satisfaction where music is concerned.

I cannot tell you how long it has taken me to find this collection. I have searched for this for months, and today I finally found a copy -- $50 Canadian -- not cheap but worth every penny. It's a shame that it is so hard to find Otis Redding on CD. He is one of the greatest singers ever, and yet in this day and age of countless Britney and Mandy Moore collections, you are hard-pressed to find an Otis compilation. Some of the older ones are out there ("The Very Best Of" and "Ultimate") but they are not remastered and are not as comprehensive as this one.

"Dreams to Remember" is beautifully presented by Rhino, who continue to set the bar in compilations. All the tracks are top-notch including "These Arms of Mine" and "Love Man" (two favorites featured in the film "Dirty Dancing"), "Try A Little Tenderness", the extraordinary version of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and of course, "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay". There are also some live tracks, which are essential because Otis was highly regarded for his live performances.

If you are able to find this collection, I urge you to buy it. And I urge music stores to stock up on their Otis CDs! LOL

I grew up listening to Otis Redding's style of music and wept when he was taken away so early in his career. However, after listening to the CD's included in this set, I can relive the energy and enthusiasm this incredible artist exuded.

If, after listening to this music, you don't "feel" the soul, then I suggest you check your pulse to see if you're still alive 'cause no one can beg and plead like OTIS!!