Customer Reviews

Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul

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Forty three years after its first vinyl release on Volt and after two CD releases (mono on Atco; stereo on a rare Japanese reissue) - this album sounds as great as it always did. The major revelation is the stereo version newly remastered by the guys at DigiPrep - Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch - it is INCREDIBLE - having listened to this album for the full 43 years in stereo-I now hear things in the stereo version that I never knew were there! A must have version of perhaps the greatest soul album of all time.

HISTORY:
With the groundwork of his first two albums behind him, "Pain In My Heart" in 1964 and "The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads" in early 1965, Otis Redding stepped into the Stax recording studio on McLemore Avenue in Memphis on the 9th of July 1965 to quickly slap down his 3rd album. And quick was the optional word. In one long adrenalin fuelled session (broken up by night gigs the band had to attend - only to reconvene in the early hours of the morning), its 11 songs took less than 24 hours to produce. In fact, Otis flew out of Memphis the very next day to do another gig! It is of course now recongnised as a bona-fide 60ts soul classic and this "Collector's Edition" is here to celebrate that.

TOM DOWD was the Engineer, ISAAC HAYES, JIM STEWART and DAVID PORTER were the Producers and the Stax House Band were the session players:
WAYNE JACKSON and GENE "BOWLEGS" MILLER on Trumpets
ANDREW LOVE on Tenor Sax
FLOYD NEWMAN on Baritone Sax
ISAAC HAYES and BOOKER T. JONES on Keyboards
STEVE CROPPER on Guitar
DONALD "DUCK" DUNN on Bass
AL JACKSON, JR. on Drums
EARL SIMS on Backing Vocals
(Jones, Cropper, Dunn and Jackson, Jr make up the nucleus of Booker T. & The MG's)

"Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul" was released in the USA on the 15th of September 1965 on Volt 412. It charted on the Pop Albums chart at a lowly number 75, but hit the big number 1 spot on the R'n'B LP chart of that month. It was released in the UK in February 1966 on Atlantic ATL 5041, originally in Stereo only - but later re-issued in 1967, again on Atlantic, but this time in both Mono and Stereo (587 036 for Mono and 588 036 for Stereo). Any sixties variant of the vinyl album has always been hard to find in playable condition here in the UK - and pricey too - so this 2CD Rhino "Collector's Edition" released on Monday 28 April 2008 in a welcome addition for soul fans everywhere.

PACKAGING:
It has the same specialist gatefold digipak packaging that Universal's 2CD "Deluxe Edition" series and EMI's 2CD "Collector's Edition" sets have - all wrapped up in an outer titled slipcase. There's a 16-page booklet with detailed liner notes by ROB BOWMAN who has conducted interviews with the album's engineer, the late TOM DOWD, Bass Player DONALD "DUCK" DUNN and Trumpeter WAYNE JACKSON among others. It pictures US Volt 7" singles and UK Atlantic 7" singles from private collectors, has a few black and white shots of Otis himself and detailed session notes. The release has been prepared by PATRICK MILLIGAN and CHERYL PAWELSKI for Rhino with Otis' wife, Zelma Redding, adding her take on the re-issue in her own dedication - a very nice touch that.

CDs:
The master tapes have been REMASTERED by Rhino's long-standing collaborating engineers DAN HERSCH and BILL INGLOT at Digiprep studios (no date supplied) and the 40-tracks of the 2CDs are laid out as follows:

Disc 1 (72:30 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 11 is the original MONO MIX of the album, Volt 412
Tracks 12, 14 and 15 are mono mixes of the stereo album versions and are previously unreleased
Track 13 is the non-album B-side to "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)" issued April 1965 on the US 7" single Volt 126
Track 16 is the non-album B-side to "Satisfaction" issued in February 1966 on the US 7" single Volt 132
Track 17 is a stereo mix of the mono single version - it was first issued on the 1993 "Otis! The Definitive Otis Redding" 4CD Rhino Box Set
Tracks 18 and 20 were recorded live at The Whisky A Go Go sessions in April 1966 and were first released on the 1982 Atlantic LP "Recorded Live: Previously Unreleased Performances"
Tracks 19, 21, 22 and 23 are from the October 1968 Atco LP "Otis Redding In Person At The Whisky A Go Go"

Disc 2 (51:03 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 11 are the original STEREO MIX of the album (Volt 412)
Track 12 is the 1967 version of "Respect" which first appeared on the "Remember Me" album compilation from 1992 on Stax
Tracks 13 to 17 are from the "Live In Europe" album from October 1967 on Volt 416 and feature the Stax House band

As you will have noticed from the above breakdown, for the die-hard collector who already has all of Redding's issued material to date, this 2CD set only really has 3 previously unreleased tracks, and they're slightly alternate mono mixes of stereo album versions - so it's hardly the great haul of soul joy the lovely outside packaging promises. The mono mix of the album is new to CD of course, but again, some may feel, it's simply more of the same.

SOUND:
The mono mix of the album on Disc 1 is surprisingly clean - there is hiss on it given the less-than-sophisticated recording equipment and rushed nature of the recordings, but it is punchy and vibrant - and in many ways far more direct than the crude two-channel separation of the Stereo version. It's better than I thought it would be and a nice addition.

Both discs contain live material - and a few seconds into any of the tunes - it's easy to know why. Otis Redding `live' must have been an awesome wonder to behold - you can only imagine what it must have been like to be in that audience - to see this force of nature literally slay an audience - and you get a sense of it 30 seconds into "Shake". It explodes out of the speakers in that Sixties joyful way. The silver suit, the huge charisma, the guttural vocals, the band complimenting him - brass section choppy and tight - guitar, bass and drums funky as f**k - what a wow! In some respects, the live versions are far better than the studio ones `because' they're so `alive'. The live tracks are ballsy and far better recorded than you would imagine - they also give you a more rounded picture of the man and his talents - and to some degree - what all the fuss about Redding is all about.

The Stereo mix on Disc 2, however, is disappointingly drenched in hiss - and on the slower ballads like "Ole Man Trouble", the Sam Cooke cover of "Change Gonna Come", the William Bell song "You Don't Miss Your Water", the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles cover "My Girl" and particularly "I've Been Loving You Too Long" - it detracts way too much from the magic of the songs. Personally I find them very difficult to enjoy with a wall of hiss blasting out `over' the instruments. The hip shakers like Solomon Burke's "Down In The Valley", Sam Cooke's "Shake" and the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" fare far better - they sound great - really alive and kicking - with the wonderful low-down groove of B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby" being a particular highlight (has a wicked Steve Cropper guitar solo). Basically the effect on the stereo mix is that brass and piano are in the left speaker with the vocals and guitar entirely in the right with some imaging in between. It works brilliantly on the mid-tempo Sam Cooke cover "Wonderful World" too. And when I A/B the 1992 remaster by Rhino with this 2008 version, the differences are there - much LOUDER and CLEARER. It's just such a shame about the hiss levels on some of the tracks.

SUMMARY:
A classic album in a lovely package and one that fans will have to own. For those not wanting to fork out the near £15 price tag the hard copy commands, ITunes is offering the entire 40-track double set for £8.99 as a download (no booklet unfortunately).

During his lifetime, Otis Redding set the benchmark for soul music. He virtually defined the genre, and to this day, his music remains as fresh and vital as it was in the mid-sixties. "Otis Blue" was Redding's third album release, and the first to provide an unfettered view of his seemingly limitless ability. There is not an ounce of filler on this release, which is why "Otis Blue" so deserves the attention and privilege of a special "collector's edition' release. Here is a track-by-track synopsis of why you need to own "Otis Blue"
1) "Ole Man Trouble" is a Redding original that stands among the best recordings he has ever made. Steve Cropper's guitar provides the bricks and mortar for this intense slow burner with blues and country overtones.
2) What remains to be said about "Respect"? Yes, Aretha's interpretation put a powerful spin on the Otis Redding composition, but this version reminds us that the song was originally written from a man's perspective.
3) Sam Cooke wrote "A Change Is Gonna Come," and his version remains definitive, but Otis' interpretation is easily the most expressive recording of this intensely personal song about equality and civil rights.
4) Besides writing his own compositions, Redding had excellent taste when it came to covering other people's material. "Down in the Valley" is a Solomon Burke tune that Redding interprets with a deep-fried Memphis intensity.
5) "I've Been Loving You Too Long" is the ultimate example of a soulful pleader. Written with Jerry Butler, Redding bends notes and makes the hairs on your arm stand up from his painful vulnerability, only to build up to a level that captures all the pain of a man on the verge of breaking down.
6) Otis Redding was obviously a Sam Cooke fan, and easily his best interpreter. With "Shake," he surpasses Cooke's own version by allowing the band to groove with a rocking intensity that suits the song's topic.
7) Nobody will ever beat the slick city-groove cool of the Temptations original, but Otis takes "My Girl" to the country, adding a grits-and-soul type honesty.
8) "Wonderful World" is yet another Sam Cooke interpretation that gets the same organic treatment as "My Girl."
9) Virtually every quality that is attributable to the "Stax-Volt' sound is on full display on "Rock Me Baby," from the unique interpretation of the song's rhythm to the grooving guitar supporting the hot horn charts, not to mention Otis Redding's down-to-earth vocals.
10) With "Satisfaction," Otis Redding single-handedly turned the tables on the British invasion's penchant for interpreting American blues and soul classics. Keith Richards himself says that Redding's performance of his song is the way he intended it to sound in the first place.
11) "You Don't Miss Your Water" is another sterling example of Otis Redding's taste in cover material. William Bell wrote this song about love and hindsight, and Otis brings an intensity similar to that he displayed on "I've Been Loving You Too Long."
That covers the album in its original glory. The beauty of the Collector's Edition is that is also includes some stellar bonus material, including a generous sampling of Redding's live recordings in California (at the Whiskey a Go-Go) and excerpts from the classic "Live in Europe" album. Most welcome are the original non-LP B-sides from Redding's 45-RPM singles, including "I'm Depending on You" and "Any Ole Way." If you love soul, then you need to own "Otis Blue." If you don't love soul, then you never heard "Otis Blue." A+ Tom Ryan

Admittedly, quite a few of the Collector's Editions (from Rhino/Warners), Deluxe Editions (from Universal) and Legacy Editions (from Sony-BMG) we've seen released lately have added little to a classic album, as they've often just rehashed the same tracks. That said, those rehashed tracks I mention are alternate takes, demos, live versions, often with a different feel from the final take you'll find on the official release, so it's often nice to see that the artist in question may not have done the same song twice the same way. Such is definitely the case with the Collector's Edition of Otis Blue.

First of all, you have the original album offered in both mono and stereo versions, and that alone can point up subtle difference in each track--frequently, the stereo mixes will have instruments or elements you may have missed in the mono mixes, and much the same can be said of the mono mixed vs. the stereo. And this is certainly true with Otis Blue; for example, the mono LP version of "I've Been Loving You Too Long (to Stop Now)" sounds like a very different take from that of the stereo LP version.
Secondly, there are often non-LP single cuts included, and that is certainly the case here--"I'm Depending on You" fits that bill, a breezy bit of fun from Otis and his always-excellent backing band. Thirdly, the alternate takes--the faster version of "Respect," recorded in 1967 (even after Aretha Franklin's version had topped the charts), certainly gives the listener the idea that Otis felt the song was worth returning to, although no one's sure exactly when or why (evidently, the master tape boxes don't offer much in the way of details).

Overall, it's a great package; indeed, the Otis Redding fan who already has all of Otis' classic recordings will not need this, as it won't add much to his collection. But for someone like me, who doesn't have them all but wants to have some Otis Redding in his collection (and indeed, any serious music fan really ought to), this set makes a great addition.

If you like Otis Redding, you should buy this newly remastered album. If you already have it, the stereo mastering work they did on this makes it worth the purchase alone, but you will also find several live cuts, unreleased b-sides and other gems that make this worth a purchase.

It is hard to believe that Otis recorded this entire album in 24 hours, it is even harder to fathom that he was just 26 when he did so. So much soul in such a young man.

Otis Redding had the rare ability to take a well known song and make it sound all his own. The best example of that skill appears on this essential album. He takes the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" and transforms it from a guitar-driven rocker to a southern-fried R&B number. By replacing the seminal guitar hook with horns, Mr. Redding turns the Stones' complaint of into a plea. As with many soul singers, Mr. Redding has gospel roots and he covers three songs from the original gospel turned soul singer, Sam Cooke. "A Change Is Gonna Come", "Wonderful World" and "Shake" show his versatilty as a singer. The first is a gospel driven tune, the second is pure pop music and the third is a frenzied, rave-up shouter. "Shake" would become a staple of his live shows and his performance of it at the Monteray Pop Festival and in the film of the concert would help him reach the mainstream white audience. Mr. Redding wasn't just an interpreter of other people's songs, but a solid songwriter is his own right. The album contains the original version of "Respect" and while it doesn't have the defiance of Aretha Franklin's version, it still moves. "I've Been Loving You Too Long" my well be the best song he recorded and it contains one of the most heartwrenching vocals ever put down on tape. Otis Redding's life was tradgically cut short, but he left us with this record as a reminder of his immense talent. Otis Blue is one of defining soul albums of the 60's and one of the era's best albums period.

The slow beginning of Otis' professional fortunes was boosted by this milestone in soul music. In a nutshell, soul music's definition was emotion. His range of emotion and experience was vast and he conveyed that here with that gritty baritone. The three originals were his best at this point. Although "Respect" would be "stolen" just two years later, his version was a classic in its own right. But it was with "I've Been Loving You Too Long" that he established his true identity as the consummate pleader. It's little wonder this has endured as one of his signature cuts both live and in the studio. He was as deeply involved in his unarguable great taste in covers. He and the band took impressive turns with B.B. King and William Bell. He memorialized Sam Cooke thrice. "Shake" was the real standout that far outdid the original by stomping and romping it to a fury. Booker T. and the MGs and the Mar-Keys didn't play a subordinate role on this album either. They knew instinctively how to shade and build up intensity in a song. Steve Cropper was one of the funkiest guitarists ever and Al Jackson was amongst history's steadiest timekeepers. With that in mind, this version of "Satisfaction" was Otis' and the bands' genius at work at getting to the raw sense of a song's character - thereby fulfilling Keith Richards' initial vision.

With Otis, the studio and the stage were separable. There's some powerful live stuff that duplicates the studio stuff with some neat twists that reach the breaking point. His alternate takes are pleasant if minor additions. Both the stereo and mono mixes of the album are welcome. He handily sustains this expanded two-disc reissue. More hovering on the horizon I hope.

This forty track two disc collection of "Otis Blue", the 1965 soul masterpiece, the definitive Redding studio album to start with. This collection includes both the stereo and mono version of the recording... also live tracks of - Whiskey a Go Go, Live In Europe, alternate demos, three unreleased tracks. Otis Blue was recorded in a short twenty four hour period that launched the man and his music into stardom to the peak of his legendary career. Otis Redding pays tribute to Sam Cooke covering the hits, "SHAKE", "WONDERFUL WORLD", and "CHANGE GONNA COME" - notable Redding originals are "RESPECT", "OLE MAN TROUBLE", and "I'VE BEEN LOVING YOU TOO LONG". "A breath of fresh air" are the best words to describe hearing Otis Redding in stereo, the vocals are much more "vital and defined", most of Redding's studio albums are recorded in mono, sometimes leaving the vocals drowning in the river of soul. Buy all Otis Redding studio recordings, OTIS BLUE is the essential, maybe Rhino /Volt will release "The Dictionary Of Soul" in stereo. This collectors edition is a 2008 release, booklet included featuring the making of Otis Blue. DISCOGRAPHY - Otis Redding studio recordings - 1.pain in my heart 2.sings soul ballads 3.otis blue 4.soul album 5.dictionary of soul 6.king and queen (with Carla Thomas) 7. live in europe 8.the dock of the bay 9.the immortal Otis Redding - a man who sang with true grit, left us here to sing his songs.

This is a fantastic record, very moving and Otis Redding's voice has never been better. This is the kind of CD you can just melt into - fantastic stuff and highly recommended.

Sherlock Holmes and the Flying Zombie Death Monkeys