{"id":354,"date":"2017-03-16T22:56:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T22:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/2017\/03\/16\/otis-redding-by-pete-clemons\/"},"modified":"2017-03-16T22:56:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T22:56:00","slug":"otis-redding-by-pete-clemons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/2017\/03\/16\/otis-redding-by-pete-clemons\/","title":{"rendered":"Otis Redding by Pete Clemons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nOtis Redding by Pete Clemons<\/b><\/h2>\n
\nAnother article by Pete that was originally earmarked for the Coventry Telegraph.<\/b><\/div>\n
\n
<\/b><\/div>\n
\nGrowing up
\nduring my formative years the \u2018Live in Europe\u2019 LP by Otis Redding
\nwas a <\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

huge fave of mine. But of course, at that tender age, it was
\njust a bit of plastic with some songs on that you just took for
\ngranted. I just enjoyed it for what it was to me at that time. An
\nexciting L.P. of an exuberant singer, surrounded by lots of horns,
\nand who also threw in more familiar Rolling Stones and Beatles songs
\ninto the mix. But of course, it was a lot more than that.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nIt was
\nonly when I got older, and more interested in the background to such
\nalbums, that I discovered more about Otis Redding the person. I still
\nremember hearing the news that Otis had been killed but it did not
\nresonate that much to me at the time. However as time went on I
\nslowly began to learn where he had gotten to in his career up to the
\npoint of his death. And now I feel compelled to remember the guy who
\ngave so much, and continues to give, immense pleasure 50 years after
\nhis untimely loss.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBorn in
\nthe American south Otis, from all accounts, was a big man. Not just
\nphysically but he was very confident and very single minded. He was
\nalso an incredibly likeable man and a good people person. According
\nto his promoter Alan Walden he could have been a boxer. Problem was
\nthough it took an awful lot to provoke Otis. But when the he was
\ncornered he could, and would, come out fighting.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nOtis\u2019s
\nwife Zelma, whom he married during August 1961, described Otis as
\nhaving a <\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

strong religious background. He sang in the church as a
\nyoungster. And Otis was once quoted as saying \u2018in order to sing the
\nblues you have to have it in your heart in the first place\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nOtis
\nRedding enjoyed listening to singers like Little Richard and Sam
\nCooke and these people clearly influenced his own style of singing.
\nHis first hit record came in 1962 with a self-penned song titled
\n\u2018These Arms of Mine\u2019. The song became a \u2018live\u2019 favourite
\nwhich with the mainly black R \u2018n\u2019 B audiences he was performing
\nto. Through acquaintances the song was brought to the attention of
\nStax Records who took him into the studio to record and release it on
\ntheir sister label Volt. Stax and Volt would become known as the
\nMemphis Sound.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBy 1965
\nand on this side of \u2018the pond\u2019 U.K. youngsters also known as the
\nMods, and who would have been mainly white listeners, had by now
\npicked up on the recorded output of Stax, Volt and their distribution
\nlabel Atlantic Records. Otis and the Memphis Sound who back home,
\nwere still playing to mainly black audiences, were completely unaware
\nthat their music had been picked up in the United Kingdom.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nOtis
\nRedding\u2019s first trip to Europe was during 1965. This also included
\na series of shows in the UK when he headlined a tour that included
\nAlan Price on the bill. It was only then that Stax Records became
\nfully aware of the fact that the U.K. was already embracing their
\nsounds. Apart from the Mods, audience members during that tour also
\nincluded Tom Jones, Rod Stewart and Brian Ferry who were all left
\ninspired. <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA further
\nvisit to the U.K. in September 1966 was marked by an Otis Redding
\n\u2018special\u2019 when he took over a whole episode of the popular music
\nT.V. programme \u2018Ready Steady Go\u2019. For this Otis was accompanied
\non stage by established British artists like Eric Burdon and Chris
\nFarlowe.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAs the
\nMemphis Sound became even more popular in the U.K. Stax Records
\npromotions manager Al Bell, in trying to cover all angles, would send
\nnew single releases from all their artists direct to the growing
\npirate radio station scene.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAs his
\ncelebrity grew Otis also ensured that his family and his parents were
\nwell provided for. Yet despite his new found trappings of his
\nsuccess, and according to those who really knew him, Otis remained a
\ngrounded person.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAs the
\nnumber of gigs grew so did the studio-work. Otis Redding was also now
\nrecording old classics. One such song \u2018Try a Little Tenderness\u2019
\ncaused some controversy. This 1930s song had been covered previously
\nby the likes of Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby. But Otis approached
\nthe song from a totally different angle as he performed it with a
\nfast hot soul style as opposed to the slow smoother style that it had
\nbeen sung in on previous versions.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBuilding
\non Europe and the U.K.\u2019s keen interest in the Memphis Sound, and
\nalso sensing a commercial success, it was Al Bell who came up with
\nthe idea of sending Stax\/Volt Records, house band and all, across
\n\u2018the pond\u2019 by way of a concert tour.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA tour was
\narranged and Booker T and the MGs, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, The
\nMar-Keys, Arthur Conley and all the touring party arrived at Heathrow
\nairport early in the morning on a drab March day in 1967. Unsure by
\ntheir surroundings they were amazed to find that The Beatles very own
\nlimousines had turned up to escort them on the initial part of their
\njourney.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nThis was
\nthe first time out of America for the MG\u2019s studio band and they
\nwere blown away by the fact that their music was already being
\nembraced over here. Although Otis Redding must have mentioned it,
\nthey were now seeing at first hand, just how popular they were in
\nEngland.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAt each of
\nthe dozen or so dates on the tour they were greeted by an
\nenthusiastic crowd <\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

who would chant out Otis\u2019s name. And Otis
\nRedding would, in turn, react to the wild adulation. His confidence
\nsoared even higher and, between them they created an electric
\natmosphere. This energy also fed into The MGs who also stepped up
\ntheir game as their musical prowess soared.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBut the
\nEuropean tour changed everyone who had been a part of it. In the
\nwords of guitarist Steve Cropper \u2018everyone returned home thinking
\nthat they were superstars\u2026\u2026in their heads\u2019. They went to Europe
\nas struggling musicians and returned home as heroes. Otis Redding
\nreturned to his 400 acre ranch.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nSuspicion,
\nmoney and paranoia then came into the equation. Shortly afterwards
\n\u2018the Stax team\u2019 began to split up and Stax records started to
\nimplode to the point of almost disintegration. Atlantic Records, who
\nhad, up until then, had partnered up with and distributed Stax
\nrecords, would eventually sever its contract. Al Bell took full
\ncontrol of the label and went after radio stations in the U.S.
\nattempting to get more airplay in America.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nQuite by
\nsurprise Otis Redding and the MG\u2019s played prestigious Monterey
\nFestival in June 1967. At short notice he headlined the Saturday
\nnight after The Beach Boys had dropped out late on. Otis told the
\nMG\u2019s to just play the gig the way they had done in England. They
\ntriumphed. Even musicians like Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead were in
\nawe as Otis as he and the MGs reached a whole new audience.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nA live
\nrecord produced from the earlier tour of Europe was released in July
\n1967. It was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nBut 1967
\nalso saw Otis develop a vocal condition due to polyps. For weeks he
\ncouldn\u2019t sing, and for a part of that time, he couldn\u2019t even
\ntalk. But he could still write. And during this period Otis wrote
\nupward of 30 new songs including \u2018(Sittin\u2019 on) the Dock of the
\nBay\u2019. His musical creativity poured out during this period. Toward
\nthe end of 1967, and after his had voice recovered, Otis set to work
\nagain and with the help of MG\u2019s guitarist, Steve Cropper, recorded
\n\u2018Dock of the Bay\u2019.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nAt the
\nheight of his career Otis was cruelly killed while flying to a gig in
\nWisconsin during December 1967. Released as a single during January
\n1968, \u2018Dock of the Bay\u2019 reached number 1 in the U.S. and number 3
\nin the UK selling over 4 million copies worldwide.<\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Otis Redding by Pete Clemons Another article by Pete that was originally earmarked for the Coventry Telegraph. Growing up during my formative years the \u2018Live in Europe\u2019 LP by Otis Redding was a huge fave of mine. But of course, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsrainbow.com\/coventrygigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}