OTIS REDDING- The Best See & Hear

OTIS REDDING

The Best See & Hear

Shout Factory

 

The loss of any artist is tragic, but it seems all the more difficult when a legend-in-the-making is taken before their talent has had a chance to fully flourish. Dawson, Georgia’s favorite son was 26 when he died– old enough for his gritty Southern sound to make him one of the world’s most influential soul singers, yet too young for his formidable songwriting skills to have reached full maturity. We’ll never know what Otis Redding might have accomplished had he lived into his thirties or forties. But The Best See & Hear offers a wonderful portrait of the greatness he managed to achieve in his short life.

 

There have been dozens of posthumous albums released over the 42 years since Redding’s untimely death. But this Shout Factory set distinguishes itself by including both a CD of his greatest Stax/Volt hits and a 12-song DVD directed by D.A. Pennebaker (Don’t Look Back, Monterey Pop).  Recorded live in concert in Oslo, Norway (April, 1967) and Monterey, California (June, 1967), with Booker T. & the MG’s serving as his backing band, the DVD shows Redding just beginning to reach his peak.

 

He attacks songs such as “Shake,” “Satisfaction” and “Respect” (which he recorded before Aretha Franklin hit the charts with her version) with a joyous fervor before letting labelmates Sam & Dave deliver a short, inspired set. Then he returns to bring down the house with a sweat-drenched take on “Try A Little Tenderness,” whipping the respectful European crowd into a frenzy.

 

There’s nothing new here that Redding fans haven’t heard before, but seeing one of Georgia’s finest artists pouring his heart and soul into a riveting show reminds us what a cultural treasure the state lost in that plane crash on December 10, 1967. –BRET LOVE

(originally appeared in Georgia Music Magazine)