Otis Redding, The Best: See & Hear

By Adam McIntyre

A new release of a refreshingly different kind, Otis Redding: Respect Live 1967 is the bonus DVD accompanying Shout Factory’s new best-of Otis Redding CD. Despite being presented sort of strangely, the DVD of a pair of performances from 1967 is mandatory viewing for a vast cross-section of music lovers.

Here’s why: Otis Redding (yes) at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (hell yes) absolutely tearing it up (steady yourself on a solid piece of furniture) for a jaw dropping, leave-’em-wanting-more 16 minutes. I don’t care what else you’ve included on this disc, what bonus features you might have—this is what I wanted.

If all you’ve ever heard is “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay,” I’d use this disc to educate you about this singer who died in late 1967 one month before he hit superstardom with a “Ghost At Number One” phenomenon—it was partially the publicity from his tragic plane crash which allowed this Redding/Cropper-penned song the chance to be heard by a wider audience and given a deserved page in the great American songbook.

It’s a great song, and you can hear it in the ending credits if you really want—it’s on the CD, too. However, “Shake,” “Respect,” the show-stopping “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now),” “Satisfaction,” and “Try A Little Tenderness” are all on the DVD; these are the treats that Redding and classic R&B/Soul fans live for. The performances are electric, immediate, intense, and let me stress this above all else—fun. Casual listeners will tap their feet, and fans of Rock and Roll with any kind of heart will probably accidentally clap at least once, but I spent a few viewings standing close to the TV, smiling big, and wanting to feel the way Otis Redding seems to feel during this show, and wishing I could make an audience feel the way he does so easily.

He’s effortless, always full of frantic and gracious energy, and the audience at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 were having the time of their lives all tripping on acid and enjoying the fact that festival audiences hadn’t yet learned how to be rowdy assholes. Booker T and the MGs and the Bar-Kays are a brilliant young backup band—it’s just good to see, good to hear, good to feel and know this part of our history.

Also included on the DVD (inexplicably placed in the DVD menu before the Monterey Pop performance) is a Stax/Volt tour performance, also from 1967, which featured only a little Otis Redding, and an equal amount of Sam & Dave (this is a good thing) with “Green Onions” being performed by Booker T and the MGs, the legendary backing band for this tour. The audio is not quite as good, the footage is not quite as good (and black and white, which was still abundant in 1967), but the performances are still great. I wish this had been presented more as a bonus feature on the DVD, or at least after the Monterey performance, but I was really happy to see Sam & Dave tear it up—that was an unexpected treat.

The song list on the audio CD is very similar to what’s on the DVD, seemingly for the listener to compare and contrast the studio tracks with the live performances. Personally, I feel that while the studio performances on the CD have a beauty and appeal of their own, Redding had not yet realized his live potential in the studio. The live shows were all about those moments, whether euphoric and frantic or breathless and aching, and the studio performances are largely maps to reach those moments once given enough room. You’ll find yourself singing the live versions along with the disc and wishing Redding had been around a bit longer.

Track Listing:
1. (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay
2. Try A Little Tenderness
3. Respect
4. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)
5. Satisfaction
6. Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)
7. Tramp [Performed by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas] (For some reason, this is my favorite non-ballad track. Fun. “Otis, you country!” “That’s good.”)
8. Mr. Pitiful
9. Pain In My Heart
10. That’s How Strong My Love Is
11. The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)
12. I’ve Got Dreams To Remember (This one is just beautiful.)

If you don’t own any Otis Redding but have wanted some, get this. If you love Otis but don’t have the Monterey Pop show, get this. I personally plan on having an Otis at Monterey Pop party very soon.

To order this DVD/CD set directly from Shout Factory, please visit their website.

RELATED LINKS:

Otis Redding, Respect Live 1967 DVD, Popshifter March/April 2009 issue