Customer Reviews

The Very Best of Otis Redding

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Wonderful music. If you love soul, this is for you. Listen to My Loves Prayer, you can feel it! Its too bad his career was cut so short

It was the summer of 1967. Otis Redding was in the midst of the performance of his life at Monterey International Pop Festival. What he was referring to of course was the way Aretha Franklin had turned his song "Respect" into one of the biggest hits of the year. His version topped out at #35 on the pop charts a couple of years earlier. But I digress. Otis Redding was just beginning to hit his stride as summer turned to autumn in 1967. This veteran performer had been around for a while. The fact is that up until this point he had made the Billboard Hot 100 a total of 19 times although his records usually ran out of gas somewhere in the middle of the chart. His tunes fared much better on the Soul/R&B charts where 8 of them had made it into the Top Ten. It is really difficult to understand why the man had not had greater commercial success up until this point. After taking a few months off Otis Redding returned to the studio in early December 1967. There he recorded a song he had co-written with Steve Cropper. Everyone thought it was a mistake. His wife hated it. Three days later Otis Redding was dead at 26, a victim of a tragic plane crash in Wisconsin.
When the story appeared in the newspaper I remember thinking to myself "Who is that?" And although I had been collecting records for about three years I had never heard of him. Despite his enormous talent Otis Redding had just not quite connected with general audiences. Less than two months later in January of 1968, Volt records released that tune his wife and friends hated so much. "(Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay" went all the way to #1 on the Pop charts and remained there for a month. Everyone was now beginning to realize just how talented this man had been. There are a few different Otis Redding collections around but I find this to be the best of the lot. You'll hear his version of tunes that went on to become hits by other artists like 1965's "I Can't Turn You Loose" and his dynamic version of the great blues standard "Try A Little Tenderness". In the meantime, you'll also enjoy the exhilirating work of the Stax/Volt house band who were undeniably at their peak during this time. For me other favorites on this compilation are the 1968 hit "The Happy Song (Dum-Dum") and Otis' high energy duet with Carla Thomas "Tramp". An informative 12 page booklet with interesting biographical information and chart data for each track is also included. Believe me you cannot go wrong with this one. Highly recommended.

Otis Redding, born September 9, 1941 in Dawson, Georgia, was one of those rising young stars taken from us - not through alcohol or drug abuse - but by the fickle finger of fate. Like Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, Jiles Perry Richardson [The Big Bopper], Patsy Cline, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Cowboy Copas, and Jim Reeves [to name just a few], Otis perished in a December 10, 1967 airplane crash.

He was just 26 years old, and already he had 21 R&B hit singles to his credit, most of which also scored on the Billboard Pop Hot 100. Following his death he would have another 10 posthumous hits, including his greatest, Sittin' On The Dock Of Bay, which he recorded just three days before the crash and which ultimately reached # 1 on both the R&B and pop charts early in 1968.

In this first of two 16-track volumes re-issuing earlier vinyl LPs, Rhino includes that hit, along with four bonus tracks, and all 16 [unlike Volume Two] were among his 30 charted hits. It starts off with his first ever hit for the Volt subsidiary of Stax Records, These Arms Of Mine, which hit # 20 R&B/# 85 pop in late March 1963, and also includes one of his hit duets with Carla Thomas [Tramp which reached # 2 R&B/# 26 pop in spring 1967].

The insert contains a complete discography of the contents to go with six pages of notes written by Kevin Phinney and six nice photos of Otis and, in addition [in spite of another review] the AAD sound quality is just fine.

Love this CD! Not a bad track on here!

Otis Redding was regarded as the leader of the great southern soul singers of the 60's. Thats really saying something when you regard the competition-Solomon Burke, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, James Carr and Percy Sledge, to name but a few. This album has all the major hits- "Dock of the Bay", "Try a Little Tenderness","Respect","I Can't Turn You Loose" and his version of The Stones' "Satisfaction". The only major omission is "Hard to Handle", but thats nitpicking. This is a solid collection of some of the best Soul music ever recorded.

Rhino's The Very Best of Otis Redding is a wonderful 16-track "Greatest Hits" compilation of soul music by the late singer. Not only was Redding a great singer, but he was also an accomplished songwriter; 10 of the tracks on this album were written or co-written by Redding (including "Respect," which was famously covered by the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin). One can't listen to this "Very Best of..." collection and wonder what soul music could have been had Redding survived the airplane crash that silenced him on Dec. 10, 1967.

No wonder, then, that a generation of rock and rollers embraced his music after his death. Most of them (myself included) had not heard of him before his death. As The Very Best of Otis Redding shows, he left a rich legacy that is surprising for such a young man.

Like most of the great singers of the genre, Redding sang his songs with such heartfelt emotion feelings that he drew the listener into feeling he or she was actually in Redding's heart and soul.

I was only 13 when I first heard Redding's posthumous No. 1 hit, (Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay. When I read the liner notes of this CD, I was saddened by the fact that he never got to realize how big a hit that song became. (Three months after his premature death, (Sittin' on) The Dock of The Bay climbed to become No. 1 song on the charts.

While I enjoy the entire album, my three favorite songs on this CD are (Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay, That's How Strong My Love Is, and I've Got Dreams to Remember.

If you want a good soulful music CD by one of the greats of the genre, The Very of Otis Redding is definitely worth your money and your time.

Otis Redding is perhaps my all-time favourite singer, and "Shake and Other Hits" is the first CD by him that I bought. Although this basic compilation consists of only 10 songs and excludes some of his best work like "Sitting On the Dock of the Bay", I still recommend this CD to anyone who is not familiar with Redding's work and wants to be introduced to it, and to people who simply have aesthetic musical tastes. This CD includes a lot of my favourite songs by him, among them several duets with Carla Thomas, who is also outstanding.

1. "Shake" I couldn't think of a better opening song. Nothing defines good southern music as well as this song, right away I feel like I'm being transported into an Atlanta night club. You'll really wanna move to this one.
2. "Hard To Handle" Such a great song. I love the funky piano intro. Most people are more familiar with the Black Crowes' cover, but this one is way better.
3. "Slipping and Sliding" This one is so catchy.
4. "Happy Song" Simple catchy melody with sweet lyrics that make you choke up if you listen them. Or you could ignore the lyrics and just enjoy the song. It's like a hologram- no matter which way you perceive it, you'll get something good.
5. "Tramp" Tee hee this song makes me laugh. Otis and Carla acting out a hilarious argument dialogue over a catchy beat. It's better than any rap song. It sounds ridiculous at first, but it will grow on you, I assure you.
6. "Try A Little Tenderness" I hate ballads, but this is an exception because Otis's voice can make any song good.
7. "Knock On Wood" My favourite Otis/Carla duet. Carla Thomas is a great singer with a beautiful voice, yet so underrated. I'd pick her over Diana Ross any day.
8. Ballad. Yawn. Next.
9. "Lovey Dovey" Another Carla Thomas duet . Cute lyrics with a wall-sound brass intro.
10. "Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)" Sort of like a reprise to "Happy Song", yet ironically the tone of this song sounds happier than the other one, at least in my opinion.

If you have an ear for substantial classic soul/rock music, check this guy out; you won't be disappointed.

I have this cd and it prompted me to finally buy the box set of this excellent artist. This is a good place to start. If you like this it will really get you into his music. When you listen to "These arms of mine,Try a little tenderness,Pain in my heart,Shake and Tramp. My mom call these serious @ my house songs, lights off baby. Program some of these songs on the cd player and find out what happens. :)*grin*

This CD is great for anybody, ecspecially R&B and soul lovers. I love just about all the songs on this CD. His #1 Pop and R&B hit '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay', is included. As well as a Rolling Stones cover of 'Satisfaction' and an Aretha Franklin cover of 'Respect'.
What I like about this CD, is that it has 4 bonus tracks included. These songs are 'That's How Strong My Love Is, My Lover's Prayer, The Happy Song (Dum Dum) and I've Got Dreams To Remember.
The sound quality is not the best, but it's descent. Inside the jewel case, there are pictures and a mini biography on Otis Redding (On the inside of the packet that is shown as the front cover.)
I would recommend this CD to anybody. Like the title says, It Is The Best Of Otis Redding.

i first heard about Otis on the oldies station on the airplane. i had to find out who the singer was. i listened to the station over and over waiting for the song to come again and again.

this cd has all the classic Otis Redding songs, an shockingly good cd. just amazing