#178 Otis Redding, 'Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul' (1965)

Previously #78

Similar to his last entry, ‘Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul' (#448), Otis Redding’s third album, is made up mostly of covers, and once again he was backed by Booker T. & the M.G.’s (Booker T. Jones, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Steve Cropper & Al Jackson Jr.), as well as Isaac Hayes on the keys. But like that other album, Redding completely made these songs his own, so much so that at the time, that a journalist had accused the Rolling Stones of stealing ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ from Redding.

Sam Cooke, who had tragically passed away 9 months before the release of this record, had 3 songs covered; ‘Shake,’ ‘Change Gonna Come’ and ‘Wonderful World.’ But as good as these covers are, the real gems on this record are the Otis Redding originals. ‘Respect’ is a song about a man pleading with his woman for some respect in exchange for anything she wants. Ironically, the more famous version of this song was a cover, released by Aretha Franklin 2 years later. Franklin had flipped the song on its head, demanding respect from her man and subsequently made it a feminist anthem. ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,’ another original, is not just arguably Redding’s finest song, but one of the finest Soul songs of all time. The emotion in his voice is so pulpable, it’s heart-wrenching. Redding would tragically die in a plane accident just over 2 years after the release of this record. It’s unfathomable to think that we lost two of Soul’s great singers within the space is EXACTLY 3 years (ok, 1 day short of 3 years).

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