Track Listing

1. Shake
2. Mr Pitiful
3. Respect
4. Love Man
5. Satisfaction
6. I Can't Turn You Loose
7. Hard To Handle
8. Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song)
9. My Girl
10. I've Been Loving You Too Long
11. Try A Little Tenderness
12. My Lover's Prayer
13. That's How Strong My Love Is
14. Pain In My Heart
15. Change Is Gonna Come
16. Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay
17. Cigarettes And Coffee
18. These Arms Of Mine
19. Tramp

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3579 in Music
• Released on: 1992-12-07
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Shortly after his breakthrough appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival, Otis Redding began talking of making a record that would be to soul music what Sgt. Pepper's was to rock. Sadly, "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was the only song he recorded for this project before his untimely death, and so The Dock of the Bay wound up being a mixed bag of non-LP singles and previously unreleased material. Of course, Redding was such an amazing singer that even a ragtag collection of his stuff is worth checking out, and this album certainly has its fair share of high points, including "Tramp", a sassy duet with Carla Thomas; the funky "Don't Mess with Cupid"; and the unbelievably poignant "Ole Man Trouble". --Dan Epstein

Customer Reviews

Try a little Otis
'Sitting on the Dock of the Bay', surely one of the most recognisable tunes of all time with its carefree whistling bringing it to a close. However, dear Otis has so much more to offer than just this one track released after his tragically premature death. Otis possessed one of, if not the, greatest soul voices of all time and this album is a joy to listen to from start to finish. From the uplifting horns of 'Shake' at the start through to the witty dialogue between Otis and Carla Thomas on the fantastic 'Tramp' you can't help but get involved in the music and share some of the passion Otis put into it. You may have heard many of the songs , 'Hard to Handle' in the film The Commitments and The Rolling Stones 'I Can't Get No Satisfaction' being two of the most obvious, but, in my opinion, Otis' version is simply always the best, whether it be an original or a cover. Its almost impossible to pick out highlights on an album so full of classic sounds and lyrics but if I had to choose one favourite track I think I would have to go for another song that appeared in The Commitments, the outstanding 'Try A Little Tenderness'. This song starts at a casual pace gradually building up to a moving finale with Otis' voice at its most awe inspiring. You feel he could go on forever and, in kind, you could listen forever. Whilst I admit to knowing very little about soul music surely Otis is what its all about. As Carla says in the aforementioned 'Tramp', "You know what Otis, you're country, your straight from the Georgia woods", to which he replies "That's good". And that seems to be the thing about Otis and his music, its real.

Not the definitive Dock of the Bay mix...
I don't have a lot to add to the other reviews of this excellent CD. However; Buyers and listeners should be aware that the mix of "Dock of the Bay" which appears on this collection is - as on so many other compilations - the rather gutless stereo mix that was created in the 1970s and which unfortunately gets most airplay. I have a 1968 mono single and although the "Dock..." track on this CD is undoubtedly the same performance, it's definitely not the same mix - it's an inferior one!

The original mix, which is far more powerful musically is available still on CD, and if you buy (from Amazon of course!) an album called "The Definitive Sound of Atlantic Soul" you will get the original mix, which has a heavier beat and makes much more of Steve Croppers great guitar backing. You'll also get a great many other excellent Atlantic cuts.

I just wish that the copyright owner would stop peddling the gutless mix and get back to the original.

The rest of this album is definitely classic and original stuff though - so do buy this one too.

Soul Legend
Ironically, the tune for which Otis is best known is untypical of his work. He had made his reputation as the No 1 Soul man with gritty Southern Soul, and had begun to appeal to Rock audiences after his appearance at Monterey. That meant that he was looking to vary his style to make it more acceptable to white audiences, hence "Sittin' on...", a much more mellow tune than he had ever before recorded.

Unfortunately he never saw it's release, he died in the plane accident thta killed him, his manager and all but one of his band The Markeys. Otis would have been a huge star, he died just as the Soul bandwagon was becoming unstoppable. His death in 1968 robbed the world of a finding out just what he could have become. What a shame it is that his work has become best known because of a film where people make pale (literally) versions of his classics.

This collection covers most of his best known songs, although not in chronological order, showing the vast vocal talent that Otis possessed. His ability to take a song and make it his own is clear on both the uptempo ("Respect") and ballads ("Try A Little Tenderness"). It is likely that you will have most of these in your collection if you are a Soul fan, but for the more casual listener, this is a very good place to start - and it includes the sublime "That's How Strong...", on it's own worth the price. Recommended.