The King of Soul Who Did Not Get to Reign
Otis Redding started as a teenager from Georgia trying to imitate Little Richard, and within a few years became one of the greatest voices in the history of soul. He wrote hits, conquered stages, gave Aretha Franklin 'Respect', and broke through to the white audience with an unforgettable performance at the Monterey Festival. Just as he was about to become an international star and embark on a new musical path, he was killed in a plane crash at the age of 26.
For less than half an hour at the Monterey Pop Festival, Otis Redding managed to achieve what he had been trying to find for years. In front of a young, white audience that had come mainly to see Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Who, he took the stage in a bright green suit and within minutes turned from a big soul music star into one of the most talked-about names in America. At 25, after years of grueling performances and a string of hits that failed to truly break into the mainstream, his future suddenly seemed limitless.
Just six months later, he was killed in a plane crash. Redding was only 26, and in the studio remained an unfinished version of (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay, the song that was supposed to mark the next stage of his career. When the song was released after his death and reached number one, the world discovered too late what those who had seen him on stage already knew: one of the greatest voices in the history of soul was cut short just as he was about to become a huge star.
The Path to Stardom
Redding was born on September 9, 1941, in the town of Dawson, Georgia, but grew up in Macon, a southern city where gospel, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll were present on almost every street corner. His father worked at an Air Force base and his mother took care of the family, and young Otis began singing in the local Baptist church choir. Like many of the great soul singers of the time, his real school was the church. Already as a teenager, it was clear that his voice was bigger than the rooms in which he sang. He participated in a local talent contest where the prize was five dollars, won 15 times in a row, and was eventually asked to stop competing to give others a chance.
His great idol in those years was Little Richard, also a native of Macon. Redding adopted his hairstyle, clothes, movements, and the way one can turn a performance into an almost uncontrollable outburst. At the beginning of his career, he sometimes sounded like an especially talented imitator, but behind the screams and energy, another voice was already hiding: rough yet vulnerable, very masculine, and at the same time completely exposed.
In 1958, Redding joined guitarist Johnny Jenkins and the band The Pinetoppers. He served as a driver, equipment hauler, and sometimes a singer, often doing all of these in the same evening. At 18, he met Zelma Atwood, soon their first son was born, and in 1961 they married. Zelma became the anchor of his life and the one who would continue to preserve his legacy decades after his death.
The Stax Sound
Redding's breakthrough happened almost by accident. In 1962, he drove Jenkins to Memphis for a session at the Stax record label. Jenkins' recordings were not progressing well, and at the end of the day, Redding asked to use the remaining time in the studio. Redding started with a rhythmic song that did not make much of an impression, and then sang an original ballad called These Arms of Mine. In an instant, the atmosphere in the room changed. Instead of the wild imitator of Little Richard, standing before the Stax staff was a singer who sang as if every word cost him physical effort.
In the following years, he became the central force of Stax and one of the artists who defined Southern soul. Unlike the polished and planned sound of Motown, the music created in Memphis was raw, sweaty, and closer to the church and the small clubs of the South. Behind Redding played members of the mixed house band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Redding did not know how to read music, but he knew exactly what he wanted to hear. He would hum the horn parts to the musicians, signal the rhythm with his hands, and push the band until the song sounded as he imagined.
Legacy and Tragedy
Monterey introduced him to white America as one of the greatest performers in the world. Redding was now on his way to a new status, but also understood that he did not want to repeat himself. At the end of the summer of 1967, while staying in Sausalito, California, he sat in front of the bay and began to write a song different from anything he had recorded before. Instead of the vocal outburst that became his trademark, he wrote about a man who left his home in Georgia, arrived on the West Coast, and is now sitting in front of the passing ships, without a destination or desire to keep moving.
On December 10, 1967, he flew with his touring band members, the Bar-Kays, for a performance in Madison, Wisconsin. As the plane approached the city in difficult weather conditions, it crashed into Lake Monona. Redding, his tour manager, the pilot, and four band members were killed. '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' was released in January 1968, reached number one on the American chart, and stayed there for four weeks. The irony was cruel: Redding had spent years looking for the song that would break the boundary between black music and American pop, and when he found it, he was no longer there to see it.
