Customer Reviews

Otis Blue

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You can own this album for years,listen to it a lot even and I'll tell you:one of these days when your in just that certain mood it will simply whack you over the head! Next to Ray Charles,Sam Cooke and James Brown Otis Redding stands right in the same league as being one of deepest and most self expressive of soul's earliest interpretive singer/songwriters. Very few people I know other than Otis and those people could've written and sang the living end out of tunes like "Ole Man Trouble" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long". On these slow crawling Memphis soul classics the backup of Booker T & The MG's smokes,smolders and burns all the way down to the ground and just keeps going as Otis's voice expressess levels of extacy,pain and pathos that goes so deep into the gospel thing that you honestly except the man to keep howling "MY GOD ALMIGHTY!" at the end and,much as with Al Green after him who actually did, a lot of times it comes pretty near close. You'll get very little argument from me that this guy was definately Stax records' biggest soul innovator (Rufus Thomas doing the same on the funk end later),working not too long if not right along side the charts and radio with the soul masters that came emmediatly befire him. Of course this album in particular showcases him applying the same skills to purely interpretive singing,utterly individualizing the music of Sam Cooke on "A Change Is Gonna Come","Wonderful World" and and kicking n' funky version of "Shake",all of which take the intense gospel fire as opposed to Sam's drawn out and pleading style. The latter is particularly impressive as an uptempo tune. Considering Otis's obvious fixation on dealing with Sam Cooke material there are few better examples of Redding's flair with his material than these tunes. Most impressive to me is "Down In The Valley",usually done up as a very straight and ultra slow lullaby and here Otis's crawling,funkified rendition COMPLETELY alters the intent of the song into this broadly scoped southern gospel soul fave up that just gives you goosebumps! Otis's most well known composition from this album is "Respect". Now his original is equally as funky as the Queen Of Soul's however,there is a far heavier and slower southern flavor of course AND the composition itself is more obvious emphasized with more defined hooks and choruses;no "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" on this tune-the man belts it out with the real deal and without any hint of cockiness. Despite obvious and sometimes cold blooded competition with Motown and Stax Otis pits himself up with David Ruffin on "My Girl" but on the other hand doesn't polish one bit of his performance. Otis crushes any barriers with BB Kings "Rock Me Baby",singing the blues with his own joyous flavors and making not only the song but the entire genre swing his way on this one song. "Satisfaction" takes the obviously R&B inflected Stones' original and totally Memphasizes it with horns and more of that gospel shouting. And to top it all off is William Bell's "You Don't Miss Your Water",a fine almost Redding composition-like slow gospel soul piece again. One of the very finest examples of 60's soul one can find and key to just about any music collection.

The Original Volt Records release contains all 11 tracks unlike the latter Vinyl release that only has 10!!

Track Listings
1. Ole Man Trouble - Otis Redding, Redding, Otis
2. Respect - Otis Redding, Redding, Otis
3. A Change Is Gonna Come - Otis Redding, Cooke, Sam
4. Down In The Valley - Solomon Burke
5. I've Been Loving You Too Long - Otis Redding, Redding, Otis
6. Shake - Otis Redding, Cooke, Sam
7. My Girl - Otis Redding, White, Ronald
8. Wonderful World - Otis Redding, Adler, Lou
9. Rock Me Baby - Otis Redding, King, B.B.
10. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Otis Redding, Jagger, Mick
11. You Don't Miss Your Water - Otis Redding, Bell, William

If you really want to know the meaning of Soul then listen to this album by Otis. This album shows how his rapidly developing talent had matured into excellent writing on his own songs such as "Ole Man Trouble", "Respect" and his biggest hit "I've Been Loving You Too Long".

Even the usual covers you get on most albums are delivered by Otis with that feeling of Soul which enhances how they were done by the original artists. Just see what I mean by his versions of " Change Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke, "My Girl" by Smokey Robinson, which was a hit for the Temptations, and so on.

One of the reasons the music on this album is so good, is that Otis was a multi talented artist who could sing, play several instruments and at around this time he was becomming a producer. So he could easily demonstrate to the musicians exactly what he wanted.

Here he is in control, because he makes the musicians do what he wants in order to put across the feelings he expresses with his excellent voice. Now off course for this to be successful he needs outstanding musicians and here he has them in the form of Stax's house band Booker T and The MG's and the horns of The Mar-Keys, which together makes a formidable combination.

This is a special album because most times I have to play it twice, as it brings back memories of life when I first heard it back in 1965 and memories which are still here today. I just can't get enough of it. Every track is special. So if you're a Otis fan like me then this is a must for your collection. If you're new to Soul music then this is an enjoyable road to begin and especially good to stimulate your curiosity of Otis's other works of art. So sit back and enjoy the Otis experience of real Soul.

this is as good as the original i bought 40 yrs ago simply the best

Not too many tracks, and some are so/so. (As if Otis is ever mediocre)

Worth it for Down in the Valley alone.

For my money that song is as good as Otis gets..

Knowing that I loved the few Otis Redding songs that I had heard, my boyfriend picked this CD up for me one night. It was one of the best presents I have ever received, I absolutley love it!

This is a soul classic. It is the best Otis Redding album, and I believe one of the best albums of all time. Every song on this album could be a chart topper.

there is good music and there is g r e a t music...
Otis band could not be better..
and this loveman is much more than a skillful, wonderful soulsinger, he is a poet of the heart