The King Of Soul!
Dubbed the King Of Soul (a nickname he shares with another legend, Sam Cooke), Otis Redding was an American singer-songwriter who wrote some of the most famous songs of all time.
His career was tragically cut short only five years after his first studio album was released as Otis Redding tragically in 1967 died in a plane crash.
His first significant release was These Arms Of Mine in 1962 on Stax Record label, developed with record label house band Booker T. and The M.G.’s.
Otis would form a strong bond with the band and continue to work and write with the members until his death.
Even though Otis is most known for songs he wrote himself, one of his biggest hits was actually a cover, Try A Little Tenderness, written in 1932 and recorded by many singers before Otis, including Frank Sinatra.
Otis wasn’t afraid to record other people’s tunes, Wonderful World being another classic he immortalized.
His two most famous songs, Respect would become better known once Aretha Franklin recorded it, and (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay wasn’t released until after his death.
Another great tune that was released posthumously and has become a standard by covers bands the world over by Otis is Hard To Handle.
It did well at the time and then had a resurrection when The Black Crowes released their version in 1990 and had their biggest hit with this Otis Redding classic.
Otis Redding tunes | Related pages
(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay
Learn how to play (Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| G | B7 | C | A |
Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun, I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ comes…
Hard To Handle
Learn how to play Hard To Handle by Otis Redding and the cover version by The Black Crowes using chords, lyrics, and the original recordings.
| Bb7 | Bb7 (A7 Bb7 Eb6) | Bb7 | Bb7 (A7 Bb7 Eb6) |
Baby, here I am, I’m a man on the scene…
Respect
You can learn how to play Respect by Aretha Franklin using chords, lyrics, TAB, backing track, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| G7 | F7 |
(Oh) What you want, (Oh) Baby, I got it…
Wonderful World
You can learn how to play Wonderful World by Sam Cooke using chords, lyrics, and the original recording.
| B | G#m |
Don’t know much about history…