Album of the Day-May 20
Otis Redding — The Soul Album
Otis Redding — The Soul Album
20.May.2020
Otis Redding
The Soul Album
1966
Otis Redding is to music what peanut butter is to jelly…yea, you can have one without the other, but together? Perfection.
This fourth album is called The Soul Album, but that’s marketing…and while I understand it, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again…and again…and again, there are two kinds of music, good and bad — both are subjective.
Stratifying some artists into specific genres can be pointless, Otis Redding is one of those artists.
As the story goes, in 1962, Redding drove guitarist Johnny Jenkins to a recording session at the Stax Records recording studio. Not bearing any fruit, it was cut short. Rather than lose the time, session producer Joe Galkin gave the remaining time to Otis, who recorded two songs — one of which was “These Arms of Mine” with Jenkins on guitar and Steve Cropper on piano.
Stax Records co-founder Jim Stewart signed Otis Redding, released “These Arms of Mine” as a single on Stax (then called Volt Records)…the single would go on to sell more than 800,000 copies.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Otis Redding took over for Sam Cooke after he was unceremoniously killed in 1964. By 1966, Redding was more just a soul singer. Redding’s raspy baritone (some might argue tenor) was enough of a difference to Cooke's crystal clear tenor to add enough of an edge to appeal to rockers while still appealing to both black and white audiences.
On The Soul Album Redding is backed by Booker T & the MG’s, arguably the greatest backing band in history. At this point, Redding wasn’t writing too many of the songs. He is only credited as co-writer on three of the songs, “Just One More Day”, “Good to Me”, and “Any Ole Way” but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t leave his imprint on every other song.
“Cigarettes and Coffee” can be a plea to stay together just as easily as it can be a dull meeting of two lovers out late at night. Take your pick. His cover of Sam Cooke’s “Chain Gang” is probably a little more joyous than it deserves, but it’s still got some punch in it.
It’s that plea that Redding injected into almost all of his songs.
However, it’s on “Any Ole Way” which Redding co-wrote with Booker T & the MG guitarist Steve Cropper that you can hear just a touch of what was to come with “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.” Not so much stylistically but more in the power of its simplicity. Both songs share a lyrical tautness that accentuates their impact. Not coincidentally, both songs were written by Redding and Cropper.
It was with the previous album 1965's Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul that rock artists began to take note. Redding did a double whammy in 66 with The Soul Album and then Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul. All three aren’t just highlights of the man’s career, but highlights of the Stax Records sound.
By the time he was invited by Jerry Wexler to perform at the Monterey Pop Festival in June of 1967, Redding was at the peak of his powers. And the white rock and roll audience had been primed. On that day, Otis Redding, again backed by Booker T. & the MG’s, gave what is considered by many what was one of the best performances, certainly the most electric, of the festival.
It was to be Otis Redding’s last major performance.
You can take your pick on what Otis Redding album to listen to. Any of his six studio albums are great, I just happen to like The Soul Album best…but like all of it, it’s subjective.