Otis Redding (1941–1967) was the voice of Southern soul, cutting sides at Stax in Memphis with Booker T. & the M.G.'s until a plane crash took him at 26. Otis Blue (1965) is one of the great soul albums, and (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay topped the Hot 100 after his death. Find Otis Redding vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Otis Ray Redding Jr. was born in Dawson, Georgia on September 9, 1941 and raised in Macon, Georgia. He launched his recording career in the early 1960s and signed with Volt Records (a Stax Records subsidiary) in 1962. He recorded at the Stax Records studio in Memphis with the Stax house band Booker T. & the M.G.'s and the Memphis Horns - establishing the foundational template for Southern soul as a recognized genre. His landmark 1965 album Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul - featuring his cover of the Rolling Stones's I Can't Get No (Satisfaction) and his original Respect (subsequently made famous by Aretha Franklin) - is widely cited as one of the most important soul albums in popular music history. His June 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival brought him to new white rock audience attention. He died in a plane crash on Lake Monona near Madison, Wisconsin on December 10, 1967 at age 26, along with four members of his backing band the Bar-Kays - only Bar-Kays trumpeter Ben Cauley survived. He had recorded (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay just four days before his death; the posthumous single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1968 - the first posthumous single to top the chart. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. His foundational influence on soul, R&B, and broader popular music history is widely cited as one of the most important contributions to the form.
Otis Redding's sound is foundational to Southern soul as a recognized genre - combining soul, Southern soul, R&B, deep soul, Memphis soul, and rhythm and blues with his distinctive vocal delivery (use of expressive vocalizations, gospel-influenced phrasing, and emotional intensity), and arrangements drawing on classic gospel and R&B traditions alongside the iconic Booker T. & the M.G.'s / Memphis Horns Stax sound. His foundational influence on soul, R&B, and broader popular music history is widely documented.
Original Volt Records and Stax Records pressings of the Otis Redding catalog are foundational items in soul collecting. Multiple anniversary editions, audiophile reissues (Mobile Fidelity, Acoustic Sounds, Analogue Productions), and the comprehensive Concord/Stax reissue programs have been released.
Listeners new to Otis Redding typically start with Otis Blue (1965) or The Dock of the Bay (1968).
