Customer Reviews

Tell the Truth

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

 

 

This is the album I take to that deserted island. Otis Redding was incapable of making a bad record, but this one, this one is brilliant. The fact that it's better heard than adequately described by anyone, won't stop me from trying. A little on the pop side and not the Otis of 'These Arms of Mine', it's still deep pocket, extremely affecting southern soul music.
I've been listening to this for way over 30 years and damn if it isn't better now than it was then.
Every song got an ear candy hook and brothers and sisters I say unto thee, that tracks 4-5 and 6 are three of the best songs he -or anybody- ever did.....that 'Slippin' and Slidin' cuts the original, and 'Match Game' and 'Swingin' on a String' are as good as 4-5 and 6. Ain't nothing wrong with the one's not mentioned either.
I Love Destiny's Child, Cray, Lucky Peterson, Ricky Fante', Alicia, Prince....good is good, but this album is incomparable. 50 stars if they had it.

By the time this collection of Otis Redding recordings came out Stax and Atlantic records were not kissin' cousins (Their partnership had been broken for over a year now), so it's safe to say Jim Stewart & Steve Cropper didn't go the extra mile to 'Deliver' Atlantic a masterpiece collection of Unreleased Otis Redding material, Plus Otis had been dead for 3 years! There were NO BILLBOARD CHARTED SINGLES from this collection. Some of the tracks were Very Dated: "Out Of Sight", "Johnny's Heartbreak" BOTH from early 1964-1965. "A Little Time" (Mid 1965). To make matters worse "Snatch A Little Piece" is a later version of "A Little Time"! How the good folks at Atlantic let that one slip by, we'll never know. There's not ONE Otis Redding album that doesn't include 2 (Two) or 3 (Three) ballads...NONE TO BE FOUND HERE! This is STILL a very enjoyable collection, but make this the last one to complete your collection. There was still some unreleased Jewels & Gems on Otis Redding which can be found on the "Remember Me" collection for Stax/Fantasy records released sometime ago that proves there was some decent material in the can.

To "Tell The Truth", this is not the best Otis Redding compilation out there, it's true Redding never really recorded a bad song, this album has no where near the impact of his other posthumous titles, "Dock Of The Bay", "Love Man","Remember Me", "The Immortal". The first three songs on "Tell The Truth" are classic Redding written all over - "Demonstration", "Tell The Truth", and James Brown's "Out Of Sight", the rest of the songs on this recording are on the average side, very average material...collect all of Otis Redding's recordings, make this one your last.