On the night of December 9, 1967, Otis Redding and his backing band The Bar Kays were in Cleveland to play a series of concerts and tape a few songs for a local TV show. Only five months removed from a legendary performance at the Monterey Pops Festival, Redding was one of the biggest draws in all of music. His touring schedule was packed and Redding had purchased a Beechcraft H18 airplane to shuttle him and the band to tour stops.
On December 10, Redding called his wife and kids then boarded the plane for the next show in Madison, Wisconsin. At 3:28 that afternoon, the plane crashed into the frigid waters of Lake Monona, only three miles from the airport. The left wing was sheared from the body of the plane, which remained afloat for a short time. Trumpet player Ben Cauley had unbuckled his seat belt prior to impact and was able to get free from the wreckage. None of the other eight passengers were as lucky.
Cauley could not swim and was hanging onto a seat cushion for his very life. As he bobbed helplessly in the icy water he could hear his friends’ cries for help. Powerless to come to their aid he watched as the plane sunk below the waves. The diving crew sent in to salvage the wreckage could only remain in the water for fifteen minutes at a time due to the water temperature. When the plane was recovered, Redding and the other passengers were found still fastened to their seats.
Otis Redding was only 26 years old when he died and he left behind a wife and two kids along with an incredible musical legacy. For casual fans, Redding is most often associated with the song “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”, which he recorded only four days before he died. That song is actually a poor example of Redding’s overall catalog as it was a very dramatic shift from Redding’s classic R&B/soul sound toward a more folk/rock vibe.
Long before “The Dock of the Bay”, Redding earned the title of The King of Soul. He was a multi-instrumentalist who was once part of Little Richard’s backing band. Redding was a pioneer of the Stax Sound and the finest purveyor of Southern soul music ever born. A gifted songwriter in addition to his singing prowess, Redding wrote the mega-smash “Respect” that was popularized by Aretha Franklin while The Black Crowes turned his song “Hard to Handle” into a hit 22 years after the original was released.
Redding always stood out among his peers and history has proved him to be among the most influential singers in history. The list of performers influenced by Redding is exhausting and it crosses multiple genres and styles. The Rolling Stones, Delbert McClinton, Marvin Gaye, Jerry Garcia, the Doors, Tom Jones, Led Zeppelin, The Blues Brothers, Etta James, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Al Green, George Harrison, Jay-Z and Kanye West all count themselves as students of Otis Redding.
Redding was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, his first year of eligibility.
“I Can’t Turn You Loose” released as a B-side single 1965, from the album “In Person at the Whisky a Go Go” 1968:
“Respect” off the album “Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul” 1965:
“Cigarettes and Coffee” off the album “The Soul Album” 1966:
“Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” off the album “Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul” 1966:
“Hard to Handle” off the album “The Immortal Otis Redding” 1968:
“Try a Little Tenderness” recorded in Cleveland the night before his death:
