I first heard Otis Redding way, way back probably in 1964 when I was part of the small circle of British R&B fans who loved us some soul music even before it was known as soul music! Otis was ‘the man,’ a hard-edged gritty singer who sang songs like “Pain In My Heart” with the kind of conviction that reeked of authenticity and honesty. Otis was no joke. In fact, I remember distinctly hearing “These Arms Of Mine” in 1964 about a year after it came out (well, I was still listening to Cilla Black, the Beatles and Gerry & The Pacemakers in ’63!). It was stunning. But it would take a year or so before the British record-buying public would cotton on…and then it was with, of all things, a cover of The Temptations’ “My Girl,” Otis Redding’s first UK chart entry! By ‘65, trying to play catch up with our U.S. cousins who had begun to be stung by the Stax soul bug, us soul heads in the UK were fawning over the “Otis Blue” album.

When the Stax/Volt Revue came to the UK in March 1967, each and every night belonged to Big ‘O’”: Otis Redding just tore it up, opening with “Respect”, moving through “My Girl” and “Shake” and the Stones’ “Satisfaction” (which us soul folks believed Otis had really written but given to the Stones – yes, we had conspiracy theories in the world of R&B too!). A few months later, Otis would bowl over a pop/rock audience at the Monterey Pop Festival and by year’s end, he was gone when his private plane crashed into Lake Monoma in Wisconsin.

British fans like our American counterparts were devastated that at a mere 26 years of age, one of the greats in soul music would never grace the stage or recording studio. Fortunately, he did leave some previously unissued material that would see the light of day including the poignantly beautiful “I’ve Got Dreams To Remember,” the standout track on “The Immortal Otis Redding” album issued posthumously in 1968.

That song gives its name to a DVD released through Stax/Concord which is a definitive documentary on a man who would have celebrated his 66th birthday in September. Footage of Otis in action includes his last two performances taped at a local Cleveland television station less than twenty four hours before his death. There are images culled from the Redding family’s personal archives, a recently uncovered BBC radio interview from 1966 and on-camera reminiscences by Mrs. Zelma Redding and daughter Karla. The recollections of guitarist Steve Cropper (of The MGs) and trumpeter Wayne Jackson (of The Mar-Keys) of the first time Otis came to the Stax studios and a first-in-thirteen years interview with Stax co-founder Jim Stewart make this a ‘must have’ DVD for not only all Redding fans but for soul music lovers everywhere. Forty years on, Otis remains the same: a powerhouse pioneer with a one-of-a-kind talent.

David Nathan
a/k/a “The British Ambassador Of Soul”
Owner, www.soulmusic.com, www.soulmusicstore.com, www.soulmusicglobal.com

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