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Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul

Otis Redding - Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul Audio CD

A fair review of the Otis Redding "Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Otis Redding reviews here, or go back to the Otis Redding tabs.

Band: Otis Redding
Title: Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul
Rating:

Release Date: 1991-06-11
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Ole Man Trouble 2: Respect 3: Change Is Gonna Come 4: Down in the Valley 5: I've Been Loving You Too Long 6: Shake 7: My Girl 8: Wonderful World 9: Rock Me Baby 10: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction 11: You Don't Miss Your Water

Just good. Get this album.
It's hard for me to write a review of this album, because Redding is just a good musician and singer. Otis Redding is purely good soul music. This album has been one of the favorites in my collection, and it's played frequently.

If you're a fan of soul, or rock n roll, or pretty much anything else. You'll like this album. Especially if you keep an open mind and an open heart ;) he has a lot to give. .

excellent transaction... very pleased
The product arrived in a more than timely fashion and was as described. very good seller. . . will use again.

4'5 Almost Perfect - But In Need of More Otis Songs
The kind of Soul that Otis sang derive as much from Gospel then it does from Blues. Otis Redding represents Southern "Deep Soul" more then anyone, with it's brassy arrangements and it's energic resolute vocals always delivered with alot of emotion and passion. In a time where alot of artists represented the manufacted Motown, Otis worked for Stax and he was also able to write his own music once in a while, even if that wasn't the standard for any albums at the time. The talented Georgian got a Pain in My Heart and The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads both albums gained modest success but would enentually have a huge influence on White British Rock bands such as the Rolling Stones that wrote the song "Can't Get No (Satisfaction)" under the infleunce of his music. Otis always toured constantly and eventually the interest for the young singer grew bigger. In 1966 he recorded his moist famous albhum thus far, "Otis Blue", generally regarded as one of the greatest classic Soul albums of all time. The album is a classic cause Otis is finally chosing which direction he wants to follow and the album itself manage to become a crossover hit. Together with Booker T. & the MG's Guitarist and occasional songwriting partner Steve Cropper and keyboardist/arrangers/procucer Isaac Hayes they create one of the finest Soul album of it's time. The deliverence in lyrics is just as immense as the impressive arrangements and together they're unstoppable. But there is one problem stopping it from pefection, only 3 out of 11 songs are Otis Redding originals where the rest are covers. Well, Most albums looked like this at the time, and Otis makes a great job on whatever he performes but it's hard to make a fair judgement when the covers are some of the most famous songs of all time.

The opener is called "Ole Man Trouble" and was written by himself, one of his best songs for sure. The second song needs no further presentation cause it's "Respect" tha song that he first wrote and Aretha made her own. A cover of his recently deceased idol Sam Cooke (died in December 1964), the political civil rights song "A Change Is Gonna Come" that also Aretha covered by the way is amazing. Otis version is delivered with more Soul while Cooke producers did what they could to make him a pop star. Still, I prefer Cooke's version. A Salomon Burke cover of "Down In The Valey" is also good and seem taylormade for his own style. The Otis penned "I've Been Loving You Too Long" proves he's also capable of performing ballads but unfortunately this was the last song he wrote for this album. Sam Cooke's "Shake" is performed in classic Otis manner with alot of energy and passion and is good aswell. Temptations "My Girl" is rather simular to the original while Cooke's third song "Wonderful World" is better under Sam's guidance. "Rocky Me Baby" is very bluesy and was actually written and perfomred by blues legend B. B King. Reddings version of "Satisfaction" is undescribably good, even if it's a hard to compete with a classic's classic like this he's very close this time. Closer, "You Don't Miss Your Water" a cover of a William Bell song is a ballad, a pretty good one.

Overall, Otis Redding is an excellent performer and icon for classic Soul, and while this is one is coherant packed with good songs of classic Soul, it suffers from Otis originals, "Respect" is excellent for instace but he should have included more personal songs cause he was a good writer. However, I still recommend it to anyone interested in classic Soul and in a perfomer that gives 101% of his energy in every cut, but if you want to explore his genuine songwriting gifts, look elsewhere. What's even more tragic is when he was finally getting more mainstream success and finding his own path with more personal material he died from a plane crash in 1967. His posthumous single "(Sittin On) the Dock Of The Bay" reached #1 on the charts in 1968 and became a immortal Soul classic, but at that time he wasn't around to celebrate it. Who know's what he would've amount to later in his career. However, This album is a good start in getting to know the man and his legacy.

as good as it gets
I have another CD that is similar and I just can't find anything bad to say about either one. I lost my old tapes of Otis Redding so I was thrilled when I found this CD. I was lucky to see him up close at Basin Street West in the 60's (San Francisco) not long before the tragic plane accident. It was the best performance I have ever seen BAR NONE ! This Cd is not as good as that experience but if I close my eyes and no one else is around it brings me back to that night, almost . .

A curiously overrated album (in my opinion, anyway) from a great musician
The man created more than his share of masterpieces, cranking out brilliant slabs of R&B by the pound. There's no question about it: your soul colletion isn't complete without some Otis Redding in it. His voice was a (nearly) can't-fail mixture of grit and emotional resonance. He was also a charismatic performer and an excellent songwriter; his final single, "(Stittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" is simply one of the most heart-breakingly beautiful songs of all time, a work of devestating genius that has, on multiple occasions, reduced me to tears.

Having said that, I simply can't reccomend this album as the soul masterpiece that other people seem to think it is. Granted, it has some fantastic moments- "Ole Man Trouble" is a superb midtempo ballad with some pleading vocals, slashing guitars, and a hypnotic rhythm. His version of "Rock Me Baby" drips with raw, salivating sexuality, and "Respect" (which would, of course, soon be covered by Aretha Frankin") is a rousing anthem with some pounding drums and a great horn line. Plus, Otis' voice is full of infectious passion. There's also a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" that transforms the song into a relentless, gritty R&B basher. Again, Redding delivers an incredibly exuberant vocal- just listen to those verses!

The problem with this album, however, is that there are far too many tracks here that are little more than filler. My biggest gripe is with Otis' version of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come. " Now, the original was an absolute masterpiece, a soul-crushing heart-shredder that's every bit as powerful as "Dock Of The Bay. " Otis' rendition isn't terrible, per se, but it robs the song of virtually all of its supernatural power. He remains faithful to its haunting, mournful melody, but sings without any of Cooke's emotional directness. He darts around the lyrics, adding little asides that ruin the focus of the song. He also tinkers with the lyrics, undermining Cooke's brilliant wording. The result is a castrated rendition of a masterpiece, one that strips the original of its cathartic power while contributing nothing new to it. Aside form that, there's an unexciting "Down In The Valley," and the overly sugary "I've Been Loving You Too Long" (sorry, I know it's supposed to be one of his best, but it just doesn't do anything for me). Also, his by-numbers take on "My Girl" isn't going to replace the Temptations' version.

The songs that I haven't already disussed are pretty good, but not exactly revelations: "Shake" has some inticing rhythms, but can't sustain its excitement all the way through, and "Wonderful World" similarly overstays its welcome. "You Don't Miss Your Water" fits the R&B archetype to a tee- which means that even though it's performed expertly, it feels like you've already heard the blasted thing a billion times before.

So, it's a pretty good album. I feel somewhat odd, seeing as how I appear to be the only person who doesn't absolutely adore it, but. . . eh, what're you gonna do? .

You can see a complete list of all Otis Redding discography, or go back to the Otis Redding tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.