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The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (1965)

Where the lyrics of The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads take you, and where it was really made.

A radio DJ's nickname for Otis Redding, Mr. Pitiful, became the title of the album's most successful track and his first top ten single.

Key places

Where the album was recorded in Memphis (1965)

Recording site Ardent Studios — The album's recording sessions took place at the Stax studios in Memphis, and Mr. Pitiful was recorded there in December 1964. The point marks the city of Memphis, not a specific building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads, also called Soul Ballads or Sings Soul Ballads
• Second studio album by American soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding, released in 1965
• Released in March 1965, with four songs from the album chosen as singles
• One of the first albums issued by Volt Records, a sub-label of Stax Records, and Redding's first on that label
• Like his debut Pain in My Heart (1964), mixes soul classics with originals by Redding and other Stax artists
• Unlike the debut, released both on Atlantic's subsidiary Atco Records and Volt Records
• Remastered CD and cassette issued by Atco on the Elektra label in 1991
• Digital MP3 download issued by Rhino/Atlantic on July 29, 2008
• Twelve songs, the majority of them soul ballads

Background

• Opens with That's How Strong My Love Is, written by Roosevelt Jamison and altered by Cropper
• The song was first performed by O. V. Wright on Goldwax Records, where Jamison and Wright both cut it
• Redding's version was released days after the original
• The Rolling Stones covered it shortly afterwards and included it on Out of Our Heads, released in July 1965
• Includes Redding's first top ten single, Mr. Pitiful
• Radio disc jockey Moohah Williams had nicknamed Redding Mr. Pitiful for sounding pitiful when singing ballads

Recording

• Recorded at the Stax studios in Memphis
• Booker T. & the M.G.'s and the Memphis Horns take part, with Wayne Jackson, Packy Axton and Floyd Newman in the horn section
• Isaac Hayes may have played piano here, possibly his first appearance with Redding, but this is disputed
• Hayes was not credited on the liner notes
• Tom Dowd's stereo mix replaced the early mono mix
• Steve Cropper and Jim Stewart agreed with Dowd's decision to install a two-track recorder during Mr. Pitiful
• Mr. Pitiful was recorded in December 1964 at Stax and was the first collaboration between Cropper and Redding

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Otis Ray Redding Jr. was born September 9, 1941 in Dawson, Georgia, and raised in Macon.
• He left school at 15 to support his family, performing in local talent contests and at Macon's Douglass Theatre.
• In 1958 he joined Johnny Jenkins' band, the Pinetoppers, touring the Southern states as singer and driver.
• A Stax Records session in 1962 led to a contract and his first hit, "These Arms of Mine".

Career

• His debut album Pain in My Heart was released by Stax in 1964; he later reached a wider pop audience.
• He performed at Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, toured Europe, and played the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967.
• "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was recorded shortly before his death and released January 1968, becoming his only Billboard Hot 100 number one.
• He died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967 in Lake Monona, near Madison, Wisconsin.
• He is known as the "King of Soul" and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Lindsay Planer of AllMusic gave the album a mixed review, three of five stars
• Planer liked That's How Strong My Love Is, It's Too Late, For Your Precious Love, Nothing Can Change This Love, and Mr. Pitiful
• Planer was less enthusiastic about Chained and Bound, I Want to Thank You and A Woman, a Lover, a Friend, which mimic aspects of Sam Cooke's sound
• Overall critical reception was mixed

Reappraisal

• The Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album five stars

Records

• Billboard 200: No. 147
• Billboard R&B album chart: No. 3
• Mr. Pitiful: No. 10 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100
• Come to Me, Redding's fourth Volt single: No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100
• Four songs from the album were released as singles in 1965

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ja.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Steve Cropper got the idea for Mr. Pitiful while taking a shower, and hummed the melody to Redding in the car on the way to the studio.
• The song was finished by the time they reached the studio and was recorded in two or three takes.
• The Memphis Musicians Union kept little or no session documentation before 1966, and Fantasy Records, who bought Stax in 1977, has none at all prior to 1966.
• It is unclear which song Isaac Hayes played on, Come to Me or Security, so his debut with Redding is known but the track is still in question.
• The album contains twelve songs, the majority of which are soul ballads.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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