Customer Reviews

Immortal Otis Redding

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

On November 10, 1967, soul music's version of "The Day The Music Died" happened. A plane crashed in Lake Monona near Madison, Wisconsin. Aboard were soul star Otis Redding & 4 members of the band The Bar-Kays. All but one Bar-Kays member perished in the crash. Otis, then on the verge of breaking through to pop audiences, was only 26 at the time. Naturally, with his death, unreleased recordings were released posthumously, probably more as a tribute to him than as a last-ditch attempt to cash in on his name. 1968's THE IMMORTAL OTIS REDDING was one of those rare posthumous albums that didn't tarnish the career Otis had worked so hard to build.

"[Sittin' On] The Dock Of The Bay", of course, was recorded just 3 days before Otis' death & became the first posthumous #1 hit of the rock era. It seemed that Otis was more popular in death than he was alive. The DOCK OF THE BAY album (1968) had its share of previously unreleased songs that were later released & became hits. Apparently, Otis was quite prolific, for the songs kept pouring out afterward & the appropriately-titled THE IMMORTAL OTIS REDDING is just even more icing on the cake.

Unlike his absolute best album (and one of the greatest ever made) OTIS BLUE (1965), which mostly contained covers, IMMORTAL has more originals on it, proving Otis was just as accomplished a writer in his own right (he did, after all, write "Respect"!). The truly moving "I've Got Dreams To Remember" (#41 pop, #6 R&B)was co-written by Otis with his wife Zelma & considering that his death was just around the corner, it's enough to bring a tear to the listener's eye. The same goes for the traditional (but swingingly arranged by Otis) "Amen" (#36 pop, #15 R&B), which had been a hit for the Impressions 5 years earlier. Otis' version is just as heartfelt & proof that he hadn't forgotten his raising as a child of the church.

Other somber tunes that didn't become hits include "A Waste Of Time" (a forgotten masterpiece of Southern soul), "Champagne & Wine", "You Made A Man Out Of Me", Ray Charles' "A Fool For You" & "Think About It". This is definitely perfect midnight music to either mend your broken heart or give the one you love a little somethin' (wink wink).

But while Otis may be an expert at loving up a storm, he still has the equal ability at getting the listener up & moving. "Hard To Handle" (#51 pop, #38 R&B) was no doubt exposed to a new audience thanks to the Black Crowes' 1990 revival & I was even surprised to find that it was a cover. While the Crowes' version is just as much their own, Otis' version still moves like hell. "Nobody's Fault But Mine" (B-side to "Dreams)", "A Thousand Miles Away" & "The Happy Song" (#25 pop, #10 R&B) work just as well at bringing up the dullest of parties.

While the digging up of a deceased artist's unreleased material would border on the obscene & darn near disrespectful, with Otis Redding, it was clear that the music he hadn't released yet or still intended to work on further was just as good (and, in some cases, better) than what did get released. In fact, Otis had so much music left in the can, that 4 posthumous albums were released & the verdict is that it was indeed worth it (can anyone tell me if LOVE MAN has ever been released on CD?). THE IMMORTAL OTIS REDDING proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that while Otis may have left us at only 26, his music is indeed immortal & that probably he had plans to dazzle us with even more great music. Now, we can only wonder.

I've been listening to this masterpiece since its release and it remains as raw and emotive a statement today as it did 30 years ago. This is the full spectrum of the Otis personna: swaggering, boisterous and powerful; innocent and wide-eyed; pleading for forgiveness as the unfaithful lover. It goes on and on, each cut slicing back another part of Otis' genius. "Dreams to Remember" may well be the greatest song he composed -- and he composed many. The backing of his long time studio cohorts is sensational -- Steve Cropper's minimalist twangings compliment Otis' vocals superbly. I'm a rather tough critic, even on my favorite performers, but this is about as good as r&b ever got.

When you have heard too much motown or James Brown, and want something a little different, a little grittier, Otis Redding is your man. Otis' music is the most honest to goodness, balls to the walls soul you will ever experience. There is no lie whether he is begging or pleading for his woman's love or when he's shouting gospel on "Amen." And the sparse yet powerful playing, especially by the Memphis horns, add the funky backround that is the trademark Otis sound. There is definitely more going on in his music than you will get with Motown. Otis is like the Led Zeppelin of soul, the heaviest and hardest but not quite as famous as the Beatles. This album is by far his best. Short and very sweet.

one for each great song on The Immortal Otis Redding. Put this in your player and prepare to be taken by it. You'll laugh, dance, and most of all, feel love while listening to this collection. By the time I got to the 9th cut, Champagne And Wine, I thought I had heard enough soulful Otis to hold me for a long time, but it keeps coming; A Fool For You, Amen and all the rest of these gems are nothing short of mesmerizing. I'm very happy I decided to purchase this CD. The sound-quality is also excellent.

OTTIS REDDING SOunds Fantastic.His VOice is in Top Form.The SOngs&Material Here are Very Soulful.This is a Must Have.The Best Cut is A Waste Of Time.The Staxx Vibe is in The House.

Otis Redding's passing and the appropriation of the original Stax catalog in 1967 was the biggest one-two punch out southern soul probably ever endured during it's orginal run in the mid to late 60's. Even so it would appear that up to the very end Otis Redding was musically prolific and moving in new directions even. One of the elements that characterizes this album is how Redding,long thought of as more of an interpretive singer actually emphasizes his excellent songwriting here and throws down some real showstoppers such as the deeply funky "Hard To Handle"-a tune that has not only been covered from everyone from Tom Jones to The Black Crowes but provides the important link between the sound of Stax in the 60's and what Al Green would do a few years later with the Hi sound,minus some of the light orchestration. He even follows up another one of his classics in "The Happy Song",a more upbeat and chorded variation on "Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)" from earlier.

The only cover tune here would have to be "A Fool For You",originally a bluesy Ray Charles hit which for this offering really brings out that country churchy/gospel cry in Otis's voice-pleading and preaching rather than confessing in Charles. The album likewise concludes with his version of "Amen",which becomes a gospel medley in Reddings hands. One of the things,listening to this album today is that it shows you how much-especially in the hands of people such as James Brown and Curtis Mayfield how much soul and R&B made a very big about face rhythmically;from being more a vocal medium with some elements closer to rock and roll to the complex rhythmic patterns of the different funk and jazz hybrids of the genres in the next decade. Now in more recent years this kind of "deep 60's soul" has become the basis for much of the retro music in R&B. All the same it should be noted if Redding had lived he'd have even progressed so this music was likely the transitional element in a change he was planning to make rather than another variation on a theme. So in the end there's much to get excited about here.

This one was released after Otis died back in the days when you only knew about a new record if you walked past a record store window or went inside.

anyway, this is in my opinion Otis' best record. it could have been a money grab, but it isn't.

it's Otis at his finest.....and it has this wonderful groove thing going on throughout.

highly recommended.

bd

Crossover night for Otis took place in June 1967 at Monterey where he garnered a whole new audience. He provided insight to the "Love Crowd" from the universe in which he emerged. After that show he redefined himself and set out to stretch his music and had created an amalgamation of disparate styles while still extolling the virtues of R&B tradition. Most evident is that he was incorporating more rock and tackling funk into his music than what came before. Yet these brilliant song structures have the same economy and clarity.

This is a masterpiece diffused with personal introspection. He's forged an individual sound with the responsive backing unit of Booker T. & The MGs' and the Mar-Keys. This is a crucial collaboration in which every musician has empathy towards the material and this can be attributed to their unity.

The tricky key changes and brass arrangements seem to amplify the desire in the lyrics. The use of the stop-start break on "Nobody's Fault But Mine" is an ideal touch. Otis's rough-and-ready baritone elevates the spirit of each song and it's revealing in its totality. His delicacy of expression on "Think About It" complements its pointed analysis. He's playful on the suggestive "Hard To Handle". The poignancy in his voice on "I've Got Dreams To Remember" is truly gut-wrenching. An extraordinary revival of "Amen" is straight out of a country Georgia church as though Otis was baptizing new lives. On the readymade classic "The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)", he weaves a narrative with his subtle humor as he devilishly gloats. This song stands as my absolute favorite in his entire canon.

This towering figure in American Soul Music bestowed a beautiful gift and the world is better off for it. This is an eminently powerful draft of his final recordings and a true find.

The only regret you have listening to Otis Redding is how abruptly and tragically his work was abbreviated. As important as his work is, to not only American soul but all music, he was really was just getting started when he died in a 1967 plane crash.

This album, obviouly released after, shows Otis making great soul music and doing what he always had--progressing by leaps and bounds and taking the entire art with him on his mammouth shoulders. The music here is getting harder, funkier, the riffs more sharply cut, such as on "No Body's Fault But Mine," which Led Zepplin mutated for Presense.

Not only soul--although it is its definition--these are also the gritty ingrediants of funk, which people like George Clinton would brew with Hendrix to make the psychadelic funk of the counterculture.

If Redding would have partaken in this, you really, really have to wonder, but in and of itself, his work is both everything, and not nearly enough.

The opening track is worth the price of admission. A must have for serious music fans.