Otis Redding's Musical Lifestory - Essay Example

Term: Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding born on 9th September 1941and died on 10th December 1967, was an American soul singer and songwriter. He is one of the foremost figures in soul and rhythm and blues music. His open-throated melodic was an influence on soul singers of the 1960s, and he developed the style of Rhythm and Blues that was the basis of the Stax Sound. After his appearance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, he recorded "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" a song he wrote that became a number one hit record after his demise in jet crash (Brown 22). Redding was born and brought up in Georgia. At the age of 15, he dropped out of school to help his financially struggling family by working with the band, The Up setters, and playing endowment shows for money. In 1958, he became a part of Johnny Jenkins band, the Pine toppers and linked with them on a United States tour as a driver and a musician. An unscheduled showing on a session led to a breakthrough in his career (Gillet 79). He had a recording deal with record label Stax Records and debuted the album, "Pain in My Heart". This album had his debut single on Stax records, "These Arms of Mine". Initially he was more popular among African Americans, but with time, he became equally popular among the general American population. His first gigs were small gigs in the South. Internationally, Otis performed in Paris and London among other places. Because of his influence on other recording artists, he got referred to as the "king of soul." Otis Redding gets viewed as the most influential gentleman soul artist of the 1960s, the Motown period. He was among the first artists to extend his appeal to Caucasian audiences with a tender, impulsive style that displayed smooth and sophisticated Motown music (Guralnick 84). Being among the influential soul musicians of the 60s, he characterized to the most music lovers of the time the power of deep soul and the hoarse, brassy arrangements, emotional manner and gritty vocals with both aching ballads and party tunes. Otis was the most consistent promoter of the Stax sound; he recorded his music at Memphis studios. This helped to transform Rhythm and Blues into modern day soul. His live performances were as popular as his music recordings and his stage presence drove mobs wild. He became a favorite at venues like, the Howard Theater in Washington D.C, the Apollo in New York, the Whiskey A Go Go in California and at different venues in the South. Otis’ European trips, between 1966 and 1967, acquainted him with an all-inclusive new audience. Backed by Stax house band in 1966, he performed before his first sizeable, mostly Caucasian American audience at Monterrey Pop Festival in Los Angeles. He became a massive hit with the crowd with the song “Summer of Love”, and it placed him to become one of the music industry’s successful crossover artists (Hirsley 89). His early demise at the age of 26 in a jet crash was tragic since he got close to breaking through to a wider pop audience. He was also at a point of leaping forward as an artist in terms of his expression in his music and sophistication of his songwriting and singing. With his number one single “the dock of the bay" he sold over a million records. Otis at his peak got viewed as a perfect, versatile performer. He started his music recording career in the early years of 1960s. At that time, he was working in the band of guitarist Jenkins. In 1962, he took advantage of a chance to record the ballad "these arms of mine" at one of Johnny Jenkins session (James 102). When it became a hit, Otis solo career was making a debut. His hits did not start to fly until 1965 when "Mr. pitiful," "satisfaction," "I cannot turn you lose" and "respect” that later turned into a massive pop hit by Aretha Franklin became huge sellers. Redding wrote most of his music. Booker T and the MGs guitarist Steve Cropper assisted him in song writing. Otis’ success got confined to the soul market; his singles charted insignificantly on the pop charts at that time. He was nonetheless extremely appreciated by a lot of white groups, especially the Rolling Stones, who covered Otis’ “Pain in My Heart " and "Thats How Strong My Love Is." Otis also returned the favor with "Satisfaction.” One of Otis huge hits was a duet with Stax star Carla Thomas, "Tramp," in 1967. In the same year, he began to showing signs of making considerable inroads into the Caucasian audience, particularly with a well-attended performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. This represented a significant rise as far as observation of more strongly personal emotions. Other singles became subsequent hits, and a sizeable number of other unreleased music got issued in the wake of his demise. He recorded a lot of terrific music at Stax that are now available on archived reissues. This became portrayed in the many new music releases at the moment from his samples (White 22). Just the month preceding his death, Otis had recorded an unfinished song he co-wrote with Steve Cropper and Booker T. Cropper and other musicians finished the record “Sitting at the Dock,” and in 1999, it became the most-aired songs in the history of America, it aired more than seven million times. Otis’ songs have gotten sampled for decades by the likes of Etta James, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, The Grateful Dead, Al Green, Pearl Jam, John Mayer, Christine Aguilera and Kanye West. Among many other honors, he got awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999 (Gillet 71). His legacy is in his uplifting of the soul music genre into an emotive and sensitive tool. His legacy is not only talked of the observable phenomenon in the world but also of a spiritual reality. He put harmony and peace into a song, such as "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay." The philosophical and delicate nature of Otis songs showed that he was the king of soul music. He also demonstrated the way to an integrated, fresher and newer form of music. Otis Redding’s recording history lasted for five years, from 1962 to 1967, but made him one of the greatest soul singers of all time. His career was short lived that he was never able to enjoy the success of his hit tune, “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” a record that Otis so perfectly changed into a masterpiece of pop art that most artists still would not dare to attempt. His slow, moaning sounds on ballads made him known as Mr. Pitiful. His up tempo tunes were his forte and catapulted him to become the first African American soul artist to make an immense break into the white niche. Redding’s versions of “Satisfaction” and the Beatles’ “Day Tripper” were fundamental in earning him pop radio airplay, a target he had been trying to reach without sacrificing his origin and the black community audience. He did change his music; he loved it, and had already received accolades for it. The idea of altering his style to boost record sales never occurred to him. He had perfect vocals, a good rapport with his sidemen and became totally committed to his music. This strong character attributes should be emulated by modern day artists (Brown 130). In concert, Otis routinely incited pandemonium through thunderous intensity of his performances this included vocal ad-libs and false endings. Redding stole the show at Monterey with these devices in his performances as a new audience, made of the youth from diverse cultures passionately opened up to his music. Redding’s studio works with songs like “Try a Little Tenderness” and “Fa, Fa, Fa, Fa, Fa” created a new sound known as the Memphis Sound, this attracted others like Aretha Franklin to Tennessee with hopes of capturing its spirit. His energy on stage, face smirking with sweat showed that he controlled his audiences with precision. Otis was a marvel, one of the greatest live performers, singer, true rocker and a masterful ballad like his childhood hero, Little Richard. All the music he recorded is worth having a listen (David 78). Redding became a musical influence to many artists like the Beatles who got inspired by the Motown Records and Stax soul music. The Rolling Stones together with Guitarist George Harrison recognized Redding’s as an important influence. More artists who acknowledged Redding’s influence are bands like Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Grateful Dead, The Doors, and most soul/R&B musicians such as Marvin Gaye, Etta James, Aretha Franklin, William Bell, Al Green, and Arthur Conley. We have several musicians from the 20th century who have mixed his songs, perhaps the most outstanding being the Grammy Award-winning Otis by Kanye West, featuring Jay-Z. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, his place of induction in 1989, made Reddings name closely related to the term soul. British readers of the music newspaper Melody Maker voted Redding as 1967’s top vocalist superseding renowned Elvis Presley. Despite the fact that some critics pointed to Redding’s vocal range limit, few matched his raucous voice that could send shivers down the spine. He had an emotional drive, and his voice remains enthralling. No doubt Redding’s voice matched the vocal intensity of artists like Marvin Gaye and Al Green. In addition to his extraordinary voice is the extensive range of his classic songs, with guitarist Steve Cropper. They are some of the most lasting moments of soul music. Redding gets deemed as the soul music giant, despite his three year unrivalled achievements (Guralnick 43). Redding’s story is the practical example of the zero to hero tales. It is an encouragement to young emerging artists to pursue their dreams and work towards it. He is a testimony that race should not be a barrier to a career. It is possible to make it into the music world and supersede renowned music moguls. There are still countless alluring assumptions in rock & roll history based on what achievements Redding would have attained, and the directions he would have explored. As it is, he recorded significant music wealth at Stax, which is available on considerately archived reprints. Works Cited Brown, Geoff. Otis Redding. Edinburgh: Canon gate U.S, 2003. Print David, Ewen. All the years of American popular music. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1977. Print Gillet, Charlie. The Sound of Rock and Roll. New York: Outer bridge& Dienstfrey, 1970. Print Guralnick, Peter. Soul Ballad: Rhythm and Blues and Freedom. Texas: Harper & Row, 1986. Print Hirshey, Gerri. The Soul Music Story. New York: Times Books, 1984. Print James Brown. The father of Soul Music. New York: Thunders Mouth Press, 1997. Print White, Charles. The Life of Little Richard. Nevada: Harmony Books, 1984. Print Read More