1967 proved to be a landmark year for 26-year-old soul singer Otis Redding. Over the previous two years, he had successfully ridden a string of hit singles that would cross over from the R&B charts to sit near the Top 30 of the pop charts. Redding's performances on the Stax/Volt European tour and at that summer's Monterey Pop Festival would help make him a bona-fide pop star, but he would tragically die in a plane crash in December 1967 just as his mainstream breakthrough seemed certain.
Otis Redding's The Best: See & Hear
Otis Redding's The Best: See & Hear is a two-disc set, one CD and one DVD, presenting a dozen of the soul giant's hit songs on the audio portion, and another dozen performances by Redding and his Stax labelmates on the video portion of the set. Redding's work for the legendary Stax Records label represents some of the best Memphis soul ever recorded. The Best: See & Hear kicks off with Redding's two posthumous hits, the classic chart-topping "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay," which would hit number one on both the pop and R&B charts in early 1968, and the equally classic "Try A Little Tenderness," which rose to #4 on the R&B and #25 on the pop chart.
Redding had a significant and impressive number of R&B and pop hits before his death, however, and many of the best are included on The Best: See & Hear. Although he was beat to the punch (and to the charts) by friend Aretha Franklin with his original "Respect," Redding managed to score a #4 R&B/#35 pop chart hit with the song nonetheless. His cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" would prove to be as equally successful as the original, while the soul ballad "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)" would hit #2 on the R&B and #21 on the pop charts for Redding in 1965. "Tramp," a Redding duet with Stax's most successful female artist, Carla Thomas, is a delightful cover of the Lowell Fulson song that would go Top 30 pop and just miss the top spot of the R&B charts at #2.
The Stax/Volt 1967 Tour
The real treasure lurking between the covers of Redding's The Best: See & Hear, resting comfortably in the tray behind the CD, is the DVD part of the set. The DVD features twelve live performances - five from a June 1967 Redding appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival, seven from the 1967 Stax/Volt tour stop in Oslo, Norway, with Redding performing alongside his Stax labelmates Sam & Dave and Booker T & the MG's.
Redding's Oslo performance of the Temptations' "My Girl" may lack the vocal harmonies of the original, but it is no less stunning. After working up a good sweat with a dynamic romp on the raucous "Shake," the regal soul man delivers an emotionally powerful reading of "My Girl" full of subtlety and elegance. Booker T & the MG's classic "Green Onions" is always a delight, and their 1967 Oslo performance of the spry instrumental, with a young Donald "Duck" Dunn swinging his bass like a sword, and legendary guitarist picking out a sparse, albeit stinging solo behind Booker T. Jones' familiar keyboard riff, is simply priceless.
The Legendary Sam & Dave
The dynamic pairing of Sam Moore and Dave Prater, backed by the talented MG's - Stax's house band at the time - first disarm the audience with a super-charged, soul-drenched ready of "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" before jumping into a high-octane romp through their big hit, "Hold On! I'm Comin'."
Displaying all the energetic fervor and subtlety of a preacher at a deep South tent revival, by the end of the song the two soul shouters have the entire audience on their feet and testifying to the power of the rhythm and the blues.
Otis returns to the stage with a rip-roaring, horn-driven version of "Satisfaction" that teeters on the edge of chaos. Redding dances and jumps across the stage with an élan that Mick Jagger has been trying (and failing) to duplicate for better than four decades now. Redding's "Try A Little Tenderness" is one of the greatest songs in the history of soul music. With subdued backing instrumentation, Redding's powerful voice takes the center-stage spotlight with an incredibly nuanced reading of his R&B/pop hit. As the song builds to its inevitable climax, Redding is pouring pure emotion into the mic, his body barely containing the spirit and energy within.
Monterey Pop Festival
The 1967 Monterey Pop Festival performance largely duplicates the set list from the Stax/Volt tour stop in Norway, with similar, stellar results. A couple of additional songs are included here, though, including Redding's original "Respect." A monster hit for Aretha Franklin, Redding reclaims the song for his own with a memorable, earth-shaking performance. With rapidfire vocals and a driving rhythm supported by constant horn blasts, and complimented by Steve Cropper's timely six-string flourishes, Redding knocks the song out of the park.
The beautiful "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)" brings it down for a moment, the lovely ballad an R&B torch song that will melt the heart and get the blood flowing in any listener that still had a pulse and the smallest shard of romance in their soul. Redding's performance is one for the ages, with plenty of pleading, passion, and power. Monterey was the first time that Redding had performance in front of a mostly white audience in his homeland, and he made the most of the opportunity, his inspired showmanship vaulting him into the stratosphere.
The Reverend's Bottom Line
You can't say much about the dozen songs that make up the audio, or "hear" part of Redding's The Best: See & Hear...these are classic soul songs, among the best performances that classic 1960s vintage rhythm and blues have to offer.
Sure, all of this stuff has been released before, but not in this sort of package, and Redding's The Best: See & Hear provides listeners unfamiliar with Redding's legacy a compact package presenting audio and visual proof of the singer's greatness. When those who pick up a copy of The Best: See & Hear become enchanted with Redding's talents, let's hope that they'll delve a little deeper and maybe check out the artist's Otis Blue or Live In London and Paris, both classic slabs o' soul music. (Shout! Factory Records, released October 20, 2009)
