Otis Redding Albums (11)
'Good to Me: Live at the Whiskey a Go Go, Vol. 2'
Release Date 1/1/1993
Tracks 12
Label Stax
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
No Otis Redding fan -- not even a casual admirer -- could possibly go wrong owning this disc. It needn't be said that there can never be too many Otis Redding live albums, but even allowing for that as a given, this CD -- an expanded, somewhat reshuffled version of the LP Recorded Live, which appeared to little fanfare in 1982 -- is worth special attention. Recorded at the same April 1966 dates whence came In Person at the Whiskey a Go Go, it is a little on the rough side, as singer and band struggle to get completely in sync, but once they do -- the version of "I've Been Loving You Too Long" presented here could be the best on record, an extended soul workout that just seems to ratchet up the fever and the tension past the point of no return, so it just seems like Redding is going to float away into the sky because there's no place left for him to go with the song -- this reviewer works up a sweat just listening to it. The rendition of "Security" here isn't far behind it, and as neither of those numbers was on the earlier In Person at the Whiskey a Go Go release, their presence here makes this disc a mandatory purchase. Not everything here comes up to that standard, but even Redding's version of "A Hard Day's Night" is worth hearing. The CD edition has been expanded with the inclusion of an introduction plus versions of three numbers -- "I'm Depending on You," "Pain in My Heart," and "These Arms of Mine" -- that are already represented on the first album. The sound is excellent and the annotation is thoughtful and informative, all making this disc essential listening for any fan. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
It was never supposed to be like this: "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" was supposed to mark a beginning of a new phase in Otis Redding's career, not an ending. Producer/guitarist Steve Cropper had a difficult task to perform in pulling together this album, the first of several posthumous releases issued by Stax/Volt in the wake of Otis Redding's death. What could have been a cash-in effort or a grim memorial album instead became a vivid, exciting presentation of some key aspects of the talent that was lost when Redding died. Dock of the Bay is, indeed, a mixed bag of singles and B-sides going back to July of 1965, one hit duet with Carla Thomas, and a pair of previously unissued tracks from 1966 and 1967, respectively. There's little cohesion, stylistic or otherwise, in the songs, especially when the title track is taken into consideration -- nothing else here resembles it, for the obvious reason that Redding never had a chance to follow it up. Despite the mix-and-match nature of the album, however, this is an impossible record not to love. Cropper chose his tracks well, selecting some of the strongest and most unusual among the late singer's orphaned songs: "I Love You More Than Words Can Say" is one of Redding's most passionate performances; "Let Me Come on Home" presents an ebullient Otis Redding accompanied by some sharp playing; and "Don't Mess With Cupid" begins with a gorgeous guitar flourish and blooms into an intense, pounding, soaring showcase for singer and band alike. No one could complain about the album then, and it still holds more than three decades later. Reissued on CD by the Atco label through Rhino Records in excellent sound. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
When a major artist dies, labels can usually be counted on to release anything and everything the artist had in the can, regardless of quality. In the case of Otis Redding, most of the posthumous releases were of a very high quality. One example is Tell the Truth, which was recorded the year he died, 1967, and remained unreleased until 1970. Though it falls short of essential, Truth has a lot to excite the soul icon's more devoted followers. Tracks like "I Got the Will," "Snatch a Little Piece," and "Demonstration" are pure Redding -- frenzied, passionate, relentlessly gritty Memphis soul that makes no concessions to pop tastes or Northern soul. "Out of Sight" speaks volumes about him -- while others would have been afraid to cover a song written and defined by James Brown, Redding confidently tackles the song with splendid results. Redding's last major hit, "Dock of the Bay," indicated that had he lived, he would have explored softer, Northern R&B sounds. But on this album (reissued on CD in the early '90s), it was Memphis all the way. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
While Otis Redding was already one of the biggest stars in soul music when he died in a tragic plane crash in 1967, as is some times the case his star rose considerably after his passing, and this 1969 release dusted off a set of unreleased tracks Redding had cut in 1967, one of which (the title cut) went on to become a sizable chart hit. Love Man doesn't hold together quite as well as Redding's best proper albums, such as Otis Blue and Complete and Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul, but it also manages to avoid sounding like a collection of out-takes and leftovers; as an album it's significantly stronger than the average R&B release of similar vintage, due to Redding's indefatigable energy and conviction as a vocalist and the ever-indomitable groove of Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Jr., and the other members of the Stax Records studio crew. If Love Man is flawed, it's not a matter of execution so much as material; while Redding's originals are good, none are quite up to the standards of "Cigarettes and Coffee" or "My Lover's Prayer", and covers like "A Lover's Question" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" are not ideally suited to Redding's style. But even the flawed material helps prove just how strong Redding's work was, even under less than ideal circumstances, and Love Man makes it clear he never gave less than %110 percent in the studio. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Otis Redding's talent began to surge, across songs and their stylesand absorbing them , with the recording of The Soul Album. In contrast to The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads, which was an advance over its predecessor but still a body of 12 songs of varying styles and textures, rising to peaks and never falling before an intense, soulful mid-range, The Soul Album shows him moving from strength to strength in a string of high-energy, sweaty soul performances, interspersing his own songs with work by Sam Cooke ("Chain Gang"), Roy Head ("Treat Her Right"), Eddie Floyd ("Everybody Makes A Mistake"), and Smokey Robinson ("It's Growing") and recasting them in his own style, so that they're not "covers" so much as reinterpretations; indeed, "Chain Gang" is almost a rewrite of the original, though one suspects not one that Cooke would have disapproved of. He still had a little way to go as a songwriter -- the jewel of this undervalued collection is "Cigarettes And Coffee, co-authored by Eddie Thomas and Jerry Butler -- but as an interpreter he was now without peer, and his albums were now showing this remarkable, stunningly high level of consistency. Also significant on this album was the contribution of Steve Cropper, not only on guitar but as co-author of three songs. Further, as revealed in the remastered Rhino CD, Stax Records was starting to put more into his LPs in thew recording, taking more time and delivering a better, fuller sound than on the two preceding albums, especially where Al Jackson's drums and the Mar-Keys' horns are concerned. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul'
Release Date 1/1/1966
Tracks 12
Label Rhino
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Recorded and released in 1966, Otis Redding's fifth album, Complete and Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul found the rugged-voiced deep soul singer continuing to expand the boundaries of his style while staying true to his rough and passionate signature sound. Redding's ambitious interpretations of "Tennessee Waltz" and especially "Try A Little Tenderness" found him approaching material well outside the traditional boundaries of R&B and allowing his emotionally charged musical personality to take them to new and unexpected places, and while his cover of "Day Tripper" wasn't his first attempt to confront the British Invasion, his invigorating and idiosyncratic take on The Beatles' cynical pop tune proved Redding's view of the pop music universe was broader than anyone might have expected at the time. While Redding's experiments with covers on this set were successful and satisfying, it was on his own material that he sounded most at home, and "My Lover's Prayer" and "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" are deep Southern soul at its finest, with Redding's forceful but lovelorn voice delivering an Academy Award-worthy performance. And once again, the Stax house band (centered around Booker T. and the MG's and The Memphis Horns) prove themselves both thoroughly distinctive and remarkably adaptable, fitting to the nooks and crannies of Redding's voice with their supple but muscular performances. With the exception of his duet album with Carla Thomas, Complete and Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul was the last studio album Otis Redding would fully complete before his death, and it proves his desire for a broader musical statement didn't begin when he encountered "the love crowd" at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Live in Europe was the first full-length concert album released on Otis Redding, and the last LP of his work that he lived to see issued. Recorded along the Stax/Volt tour of Europe in March of 1967, it featured Redding backed by Booker T. & the MG's. Their playing, along with that of Wayne Jackson (trumpet) and Andrew Love and Joe Arnold (tenor saxes), is more elegant and elegantly articulated than the work of his usual touring band, and this album is a sort of idealized Otis Redding concert. Some of it lacks the raw excitement of Live at the Whisky a Go Go (which was recorded a year earlier than the shows where this album was cut, but not issued until a year later), but in compensation one gets all of the virtuoso flourishes and details that one would expect from this ensemble. The audience, ecstatic at the rare chance to see the soul idol in concert, is very vocal in their enthusiasm for the singer and his songs, and "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" is practically a singalong number with some finely detailed playing from Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, and Al Jackson, Jr., who, with Wayne Jackson and company, also add some exquisite grace notes to the finale, "Try a Little Tenderness." Beyond the musical power of his performance, Redding's emotions are practically overflowing as he addresses the crowd in a very personal manner as he introduces "These Arms of Mine." The only flaw in this recording, if there is one, is that it does have only ten songs, but that was the nature of the shows on this tour. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'In Person at the Whisky a Go Go'
Release Date 1/1/1966
Tracks 10
Label Rhino
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
This album, released posthumously, captured Otis Redding's show at the Whisky A Go Go from April of 1966 in Los Angeles. What is essential here was that it captured Otis Redding's sound in a small club with his own touring band, as opposed to his work on stage with Booker T. & the MG's -- an ideal band, to be sure, which is why they were sent over to Europe with him and why they were at Monterey with him a year later, but not the group that Redding normally worked on stage with. This album is closer to how Otis Redding sounded in the years coming up and working his way to the top, and the way that his original audience on the chitlin' circuit heard him. The singer and his band (including a pair of tenor saxes, a trombone, and four trumpets, with James Young, Ralph Stewart, and Elbert Woodson pounding out the rhythm on guitar, bass, and drums, respectively, go through roaring versions of "Respect," "I Can't Turn You Loose," "These Arms of Mine," "Pain in My Heart," "Satisfaction" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and four more, in Redding's only full-length recording in a small-scale setting. They may not have the musical elegance of Booker T. and company, but they create this intense, hypnotic sound that is spellbinding. The set itself lasts less than 40 minutes but the singer and his band are so energetic, that it doesn't feel short or lacking. This album was, in more ways than one, Redding's equivalent to Sam Cooke's Live At The Harlem Square Club, and just as essential. Reissued in 1992 on the Atco label through Rhino Records. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul'
Release Date 1/1/1965
Tracks 11
Label Volt
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Otis Redding's third album, and his first fully realized album, presents his talent unfettered, his direction clear, and his confidence emboldened, with fully half the songs representing a reach that extended his musical grasp. More than a quarter of this album is given over to Redding's versions of songs by Sam Cooke, his idol, who had died the previous December, and all three are worth owning and hearing. Two of them, "A Change Is Gonna Come" and "Shake," are every bit as essential as any soul recordings ever made, and while they (and much of this album) have reappeared on several anthologies, it's useful to hear the songs from those sessions juxtaposed with each other, and with "Wonderful World," which is seldom compiled elsewhere. Also featured are Redding's spellbinding renditions of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (a song epitomizing the fully formed Stax/Volt sound and which Mick Jagger and Keith Richards originally wrote in tribute to and imitation of Redding's style), "My Girl," and "You Don't Miss Your Water." "Respect" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long," two originals that were to loom large in his career, are here as well; the former became vastly popular in the hands of Aretha Franklin and the latter was an instant soul classic. Among the seldom-cited jewels here is a rendition of B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby" that has the singer sharing the spotlight with Steve Cropper, his playing alternately elegant and fiery, with Wayne Jackson and Gene "Bowlegs" Miller's trumpets and Andrew Love's and Floyd Newman's saxes providing the backing. Redding's powerful, remarkable singing throughout makes Otis Blue gritty, rich, and achingly alive, and an essential listening experience. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads'
Release Date 1/1/1965
Tracks 12
Label 411
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The aptly named Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (1965) builds upon the strength and relative success of the vocalist's solo debut long-player, Pain in My Heart (1964). The format -- blending a few originals with well-chosen covers -- remained consistent. However, increasingly evident is the strength of Redding's interaction with Booker T. Jones (organ), Steve Cropper (guitar/piano), Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass), and Al Jackson, Jr. (drums), aka Booker T. & the MG's. That relationship is sonically solidified with the singer's seemingly innate ability to sculpt his leads around the powerful Memphis Horn section of Wayne Jackson (trumpet), Charles "Packy" Axton (tenor sax), and Floyd Newman (baritone sax). The results clearly speak for themselves with each of the album's dozen selections as all the proof one needs. Redding's testifyin' on the opener, "That's How Strong My Love Is," was powerful enough to garner the attention of several British Invasion bands. While it was the Rolling Stones' punkish cover that grabbed the most attention, to equal effect the Hollies and the Creation are among the others to have been similarly inspired. Adding to that cyclical experience are the obviously sincere updates of the Chuck Willis' R&B heartbreaker "It's Too Late," "For Your Precious Love" -- which had been a huge hit for the Jerry Butler-led incarnation of the Impressions -- and Sam Cooke's "Nothing Can Change This Love." Of the latter, Redding's take is arguably more powerful as the intimacy of his interpretation perfectly demonstrates the artist's uncanny aptitude for emotional evocation. The Redding-penned titles likewise reflect his mentors, as "Chained and Bound" easily adopts the pleading conviction apparent in one facet of Cooke's music. The samba groove of "I Want to Thank You" and the midtempo bounce of "A Woman, a Lover, a Friend" reflect the lighter, fun-loving side à la Cooke's "Another Saturday Night" and "Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha." Saving the best for last, the Redding/Cropper collaboration on the upbeat and bluesy "Mr. Pitiful" -- a nickname given to Redding by a local Memphis DJ -- became the platter's signature side, not to mention a significant crossover hit, landing in the Top Ten of the R&B survey and just missing the Top 40 Pop Singles chart by a solitary position. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide
