Otis Redding
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Born: September 9, 1941
Dawson, Georgia Born as the son of a Baptist preacher, Otis visited the Highhschool in Macon, the hometown of Little Richard +++ Little Richard became, along with Sam Cooke, Otis' musical idols +++ Moving to Memphis, he started recording for smaller labels, such as FINER ARTS and CONFEDERATE +++ His recording of "Shout Bamalama", a Little Richard imitation, was released 1960 nationwide in the US on the BETHLEHEM label (subsidiary of KING) +++ In 1962 he recorded one of his own songs, the ballad "These arms of mine", at a session at the Stax Studios in Memphis +++ The record was finally released on the VOLT label and reached the lower US charts in 1963 +++ Other hits followed, but even "Respect" in 1965 (2 years later a huge hit for Aretha Franklin), had only moderate chart success +++ His composition, "Sweet Soul Music" - a million seller for Arthur Conley - did not even reach the charts +++ Nevertheless, in the mid 60`s, especially after his appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival, his audience increased steadily, both in the US and Europe +++ In 1967 he was voted World No. 1 Male Singer by the British MELODY MAKER magazine +++ 3 days after recording "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay", his biggest and only Top 10 hit, Otis was killed - he was only 26 years old +++ He died, together with five members of his back-up band, The Bar-Keys, during a plane crash at Lake Monona in Madison/Wisconsin +++ In 1968 Otis Redding received 2 Grammy awards for "The Dock Of The Bay" +++ He is still today regarded as one of the most influential soul artist of the 60's +++ |
