A great party record, this one - plenty of cracking dance tunes, and a decent quota of slow tunes for later on.
It's also some of the best quality soul music ever produced, and all of it produced during a very short period of time - during the mid-60s, until Redding died in a plane crash in ... Read review
Otis Redding will forever be defined by "(Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay", the hit song ... more
he recorded just days before perishing as the result of a plane crash. A spectacular stylist, Redding made the most of his brief career: he also wrote "Respect" (l...
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These Arms of Mine Pain in My Heart That's How Strong My Love Is Mr. Pitiful I've Been ... more
Loving You Too Long Respect I Can't Turn You Loose (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction My Lover's Prayer Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song) Try a Little Tenderness Shake Happy Song (Dum-Dum) Tramp (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay I've Got Dreams to Remember
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Disc 1 Respect Try A Little Tenderness Love Man Shake Mr Pitiful I Can't Turn You Loose ... more
Pain In My Heart You Left The Water Running My Lover's Prayer Tramp Chained And Bound That's How Strong My Love is My Girl Cigarettes And Coffee It's Growing The Match Game Nobody Knows You I'm A Changed Man Your One And Only Man The Dock Of The Bay Disc 2 I've Been Loving You Too Long These Arms Of Mine Hard To Handle That's What My Heart Needs Security Satisfaction Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa The Happy Song Come To Me A Change Is Gonna Come Lovely Dovey You Don't Miss Your Water I've Got Dreams To Remember Down In The Valley Just One More Day You Made A Man Out Of Me Tell The Truth For Your Precious Love Free Me I Love You More Than Words Can Say
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Otis Redding will forever be defined by "(Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay", the hit song ... more
he recorded just days before perishing as the result of a plane crash. A spectacular stylist, Redding made the most of his brief career: he also wrote "Respect" (later made famous by Aretha Franklin) co-wrote "Hard to Handle" and "Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)", and recorded a defining version of "That's How Strong My Love Is"--not to mention his takes on "My Girl" and "Satisfaction". As incendiary live as in the studio, Redding outshone the Drifters and Ben E. King at the Apollo, was the star of package tours, and was a major hit at Monteray Pop; Bob Dylan even offered him the song "Just Like a Woman", though Redding turned it down. It's pretty safe to say that if his career had lasted as long as Marvin Gaye's, Redding's legend would have would have the same impact.The Very Best of Otis Reddingcollects 40 tracks from the singer's too-short career, and serves as both a more-than-complete overview and hits collection; it also charts Redding's evolution as he moved from his beginnings as a Little Richard-alike belter and found his own voice on "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)", "Try a Little Tenderness", and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay". For fans not ready to shell out for the more complete, four-discOtis!box set, this is the ideal Redding collection. --Randy Silver
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Advantages: superb, timeless songs Disadvantages: no more recordings / performances from Redding
...of it produced during a very short period of time - during the mid-60s, until Redding died in a plane crash in 1967, aged just 26.
Redding himself wrote many of the songs, songs as good as:
# "These arms of mine" - his first single to chart, in 1963, it's a simple ballad, almost 50s crooner style. It's just a love song, about a guy pleading to his girl, but oh so persuasive.
# "Respect" - Aretha Franklin ... ...love is". But with any 'Best of' there's bound to be someone's favourite track missing, and this is such a strong collection that I can't really criticise the it for that.
Soul music at its very best, as it will never be performed again.
... more
A great party record, this one - plenty of cracking dance tunes, and a decent quota of slow tunes for later on. It's also some of the best quality soul music ever produced, and all of it produced during a very short period of time - during the mid-60s, until Redding died in a plane crash in 1967, aged just 26.
Redding himself wrote many of the songs, songs as good as:
"These arms of mine" - his first single to chart, in 1963, it's a simple ballad, almost 50s crooner style. It's just a love song, about a guy pleading to his girl, but oh so persuasive.
"Respect" - Aretha Franklin recorded the definitive version, but it's definitely worth hearing the Otis original.
"Love man" - It might sound like a macho boast but I'm not so sure. When Otis stammers "cau cau cau cause I'm a love man" it sounds more like a man who's realized his power and is, well, OK with it.
Steve Cropper, Booker T and the MG's guitarist, was a regular writing partner, as well as playing on most of the tracks. How about these 3 Redding/Cropper songs:
"Mr Pitiful" - I can't remember whether this song features in the Blues Brothers or The Commitments movie, (it's probably in both) but this was exactly the 'feel' they were trying to achieve. But of course, Otis does it best.
"Fa fa fa fa fa (sad song)" - It's hard for me to see this as a sad song, as it feels quite uplifting, and is even a a bit of a singalong song, with Otis prompting "Our turn…" and "Your turn…"
"(Sittin' on) the dock of the bay" - the posthumous hit, and this was the first Otis Redding song I ever heard. One of his best songs, a gentle song that somehow makes your emotions swell. It's about loneliness and missing home, on one level, but is seems to touch on many other deeper subjects, in a meditative kind of way. The whistling at the end really doesn't sound as naff as it ought to have, either. Seeing the Reeves and Mortimer sketches (bad taste, yes, but so funny) never took the edge off the emotional power of this song, either - it will always stand the test of time.
There are some covers, maybe less than you'd usually expect from an artist recording in the 60s. "My girl" is similar in some ways to the Temptations' original, but there's none of the sweet harmonies, and instead a vocal that is somehow more rasping and, yes, soulful, as well as the brassy Stax treatment. The Sam Cooke songs, "A Change Is Gonna Come" and "Shake", are fairly faithful covers, injected with extra pazzaz by the instrumentalists. "Satisfaction" - I'm a Rolling Stones fan and I love this song, but Mick Jagger always sounded a bit like a spoilt brat on it. Redding's version is completely convincing - things are bad for him, he can't get no satisfaction, and it's not just about not getting his girl, or something - it's about being black in an unequal world. The fuzzy guitar riff is more subdued, converted into a dirtier, bassier sound, and the extra horns inject something else into the song. In my view, this is probably the most successful cover of a classic song (by that I mean you don't immediately want to play the original version to hear it how it should be), notwithstanding even the Byrds covering Dylan.
"Tramp", sung with Carla Thomas, sounds like a real slanging match. Apparently Carla improvised her taunts, and for the most part Otis just accepts them - until she accuses him of having no money ("You probably haven't even got twenty-five cents"). He comes back with an empassioned response - a list of cars he owns, but also "I'm a lover". 'Nuff said. Much as I love Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's loving duets, this was the perfect antidote. I think Ike and Tina Turner may have taken something from it too (musically, I mean, not in their troubled private lives!).
Then there's "I've been loving you too long", co-written with Jerry Butler, who sang with the Impressions. The vocal performance on this song is amazing, he manages to sound extremely vulnerable, like he doesn't know where he is - and almost like he doesn't even know what he'll be singing in the next line. I've left "Try a little tenderness" until last. Although it's impossible to choose a favourite track, this one and "I've been loving you too long" are the two that affect me most deeply. I first heard "Try a little tenderness" when I saw the movie of the Monterey festival. The song is a standard (made popular by Bing Crosby), but Otis made it his own, in one of the most soulful performances - no, the most soulful performance - I have ever seen. I'd rather watch the film version than hear it on record, but this a close second best. Any album with these songs is a winner in my book, but there are 40 songs in total on this collection. So you can't really go wrong.
The only disappointment for me, was that there's no "That's How strong my love is". But with any 'Best of' there's bound to be someone's favourite track missing, and this is such a strong collection that I can't really criticise the it for that.
Soul music at its very best, as it will never be performed again.
Product Information for "Very Best Of Otis Redding, The - Otis Redding" »
Product details
Title
Very Best Of Otis Redding, The
Performer
Otis Redding
Genre
R&B
Sub Genre
Soul
Release Date
30/10/2000
Label / Distributor
Atlantic / Cinram Logistics
Pieces in Set
2
Studio / Live
Studio
Stereo
Stereo
Format
Performer
EAN
95483808724
Catalogue Number
9548380872
Additional notes
Album Notes
This collection of the best songs of soul legend Otis Redding features 40 tracks, including the unforgettable classics "Respect," "My Girl," "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," and others.
Titles on disc 1
1.
Respect
2.
Try A Little Tenderness
3.
Love Man
4.
Shake
5.
Mr Pitiful
6.
I Can't Turn You Loose
7.
Pain In My Pocket
8.
You Left The Water Running
9.
My Lover's Prayer
10.
Tramp
11.
Chained And Bound
12.
That's How Strong My Love Is
13.
My Girl
14.
Cigarettes And Coffee
15.
It's Growing
16.
Match Games
17.
Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
18.
I'm A Changed Man
19.
Your One And Only Man
20.
Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay
21.
I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)
22.
These Arms Of Mine
23.
Hard To Handle
24.
That's What My Heart Needs
25.
Security
26.
Satisfaction
27.
Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)
28.
Happy Song (Dum Dum)
29.
Come To Me
30.
Change Gonna Come
31.
Lovey Dovey
32.
You Don't Miss Your Water
33.
I've Got Dreams To Remember
34.
Down In The Valley
35.
Just One More Day
36.
You Made A Man Out Of Me
37.
Tell The Truth
38.
For Your Precious Love
39.
Free Me
40.
I Love You More Than Words Can Say
Ciao
Listed on Ciao since
17/07/2001
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