A Bite of Otis Redding 🍪
The man who lit up the stage
Monday Bites are bite-sized musician spotlights & playlists by Grace Lilly.
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My favorite musicians love Otis
That’s how I first started getting into his music. Grateful Dead, George Harrison, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Aretha Franklin… Otis influenced them all.
I can see why. Otis Redding sang from his soul, tapping into an emotional depth that hits you right in the face. And his electrifying live performances made each venue he performed in ignite with magic. Jerry Garcia said that “when he came on stage, it was like the whole place got about six times as big.”
Everyone wanted to witness his power.
According to legendary promoter Bill Graham, every artist in New York City asked to open for Otis when he came to play the Fillmore in 1966. Janis Joplin even showed up at 3pm the day of the first show to make sure that she’d be in front.
Good call, Janis — Otis’ Fillmore performances were so impressive that they left Graham a forever-fan:
“By far, Otis Redding was the single most extraordinary talent I had ever seen. There was no comparison, then or now... That was the best gig I ever put on in my entire life.”
That’s high praise coming from one of the most influential music promoters of all time. I wish I had been there to see it.
Otis Redding
The basics
🤝 American singer and songwriter
🤝 b. 1941 (Dawson, Georgia) - d. 1967 (Madison, WI)
🤝 Nicknamed the “King of Soul”, was a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues
Why you should know him: Ranked 8th on Rolling Stone’s list of “100 Greatest Singers of All Time” and 21st on their list of “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”
If you like
✨ Aretha Franklin
✨ Ray Charles
✨ James Brown
✨ Al Green
✨ Sam Cooke
Known for
🏆 His energetic, raw, gritty vocals and ability to convey strong emotion
🏆 2 Grammy Awards, Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame & the Songwriters Hall of Fame
🏆 His electrifying stage performances and use of interjections like “gotta, gotta, gotta”
🏆 His financial success: in 1967 alone, he earned more than $1M (〰️$9.4M today) and sold more records than Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin combined
🏆 5 of his albums were ranked by Rolling Stone on its list of the 500 Greatest albums of All Time
Bite-sized facts
🍪 Started singing in church choir as a child, learned guitar & piano, took drum & singing lessons starting at age 10, sang in his high school’s band
🍪 Quit school at age 15 to support his family, worked as a well digger, as a gasoline station attendant, worked with Little Richard's backing band and performed in talent shows
🍪 When he was 17, broke through when he sang Little Richard’s “Heebie Jeebies” at a local talent contest, won the $5 prize for 15 consecutive weeks
🍪 First played small shows in the South with his group, later at popular night clubs in London, Paris, and Los Angeles
🍪 Described as trustworthy, full of fun, an athletic family man, active in philanthropic projects & interested in supporting Black youth
🍪 Bought a 300-acre ranch in Georgia, which he called the “Big O Ranch”
Monterey Pop Festival (1967)
🌸 Turning point in his career, took him from local to national acclaim
🌸 Delivered an electric performance, captivated Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones
🌸 Up until then, was still performing mainly for Black audiences; after, there was a natural progression to reaching broader, national fame
🌸 Asked the audience, “This is the love crowd, right? We all love each other, don’t we? Am I right?” and got a big response (hear in the song “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”)
We love Otis
💗 Artists who’ve cited Redding as a major influence: Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye
💗 George Harrison called “Respect” an inspiration for “Drive My Car”
💗 Janis Joplin was influenced by his singing style, said she learned “to push a song instead of just sliding over it” after hearing Redding
Songs & dates
♫ 1962 Gets his first hit single “These Arms of Mine” after an unscheduled appearance on a Stax record company recording session led to a contract; becomes one of his most successful songs, selling more than 800,000 copies
♫ 1965 “Mr. Pitiful” becomes his first top-10 single, from his second studio album, The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads; includes top 100 singles “Chained and Bound,” “Come to Me” and “That's How Strong My Love Is”
♫ 1965 “I've Been Loving You Too Long” becomes his second best selling single, inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2011, considered by music critics and writers to be one of his finest performances & a soul classic
♫ 1966 “Try a Little Tenderness” peaks at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 after the music publishers unsuccessfully tried to stop Redding from recording the 1932 song from a Black perspective; backed by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, often considered Redding’s signature song
♫ 1967 Records his iconic “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay” just three days before his death in a plane crash, becomes the first posthumous No. 1 record on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts, sold approximately 4 million copies worldwide and received more than 8 million airplays
He said
⭐ “Do what you love, and success will follow.”
⭐ “Music has always been the bridge between souls, connecting people across cultures, races, and backgrounds.”
⭐ “Success is not measured by fame or wealth, but by the impact you have on others.”
⭐ “Music has the power to heal, to mend broken hearts, and to bring joy to even the darkest moments.”
⭐ “I love horses as much as singing.”
My Otis Redding Playlist
I gathered my fav Otis songs, from me to you with love. Like & save on Spotify and listen all week 💗
Where to start
Otis at his ranch
Watch Otis ride horses and frolic around his ranch in the music video for “Tramp”
〰️
Talking about how he got his start
Otis on American Bandstand in 1967 chatting with Dick Clark
Down the rabbit hole
If you wanna dive even deeper:
Live Olympia Paris (1966)
Enjoy 35 minutes of Otis Redding’s 1966 concert at L'Olympia in Paris, France. Watch on Youtube.
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“There’s a concert later, you should stay!”
Three nights ago, two supremely friendly art gallery staff members were telling me that there would be live music in one hour.
I was standing in a massive room at 54 Crosby Street in Soho (former location of the “cultishly adored” retailer Totokaelo), surrounded by art from a show put on by Stilllife, a Gen-Z founded art community that bridges the East and West.
My always-knows-about-cool-stuff friend Leah Huang had invited me and was on her way to meet me at the gallery.
Like all memorable New York City nights, our plans for the evening had already evolved. What had initially started as a simple mission to grab food now included going to this art show. And going to this art show now included going to this concert.
I wasn’t mad about it.
Something in the air that night put me in the perfect mood for spontaneity. It’s that time of year where summer is peaking out, just around the corner. The atmosphere pulls your body to go out, have fun, and say yes when asked, “Want to?”
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Explore
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Excellent synopsis of one of the greatest soul singers of all time. I’m a huge Otis fan but still found this a good read. We’ve had your playlist on rotation all day!!
Otis is not necessarily my favorite artist (although he's up there) but he's definitely my favorite singer. As in pure vocalist. And the fact that he had barely begun to hit stride before we lost him will always be heartbreaking to me.