Southern Soul: Part 3
But they didn't begin to hit until their third Stax single "You Don't Know Like I Know," in November, written by the team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, who'd supply the duo with most of their hits (as well as penning tunes for many other Stax artists). By the time they reached the charts, with "You Don't Know Like I Know" in fall 1965, Otis was already an established artist, with several hits to his name, including "I've Been Loving You Too Long (to Stop Now)" and the influential "Respect."
"For all the chart successes, soul music hadn't really crossed over into the mainstream. The legacy of 'race music' still hung over it." |
Redding was being seen as one of the great artists of the day, hitting with "I Can't Turn You Loose" (hurriedly composed in the studio) and his cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" - which he'd never heard prior to going in to record it, during the two-day session that produced Otis Blue. 1966 saw him entering the most fertile period of his career, with "My Lover's Prayer," "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)," and "Try A Little Tenderness" (which he learned from Sam Cooke's medley version on Live at the Copa) all charting. Like everything recorded at Stax - indeed, like virtually all soul music - none of the arrangements were written on down.
It was all about "head arrangements," some very loose, as with the Mgs, who could do that because they'd become so tight as a unit, some complex, such as Redding, where the horn lines not only had to carry their own weight, but also take the place of backing vocals. "Otis always had the hardest head arrangements," Floyd Newman told writer Rob Bowman. "He knew every line and every hole in every place. He knew where he was going on every song, what beats he wanted the lines to fall on. He could walk right in and sing it ."
In a curious backtrack to soul's roots, in 1966 Stax even issued a blues record, from the great Albert King, who saw his fortunes resurrected with the label. Championed by Estelle Axton, King cut "Laudromat Blues," which gave him his first national hit since 1961, and paved the way for the great "Crosscut Saw," another hit, later that year. But it was a time when Stax had the Midas touch. There was Carla Thomas's "B-A-B-Y," which climbed to #14 in the pop charts, and the second disc by a newcomer, Eddie Floyd, called "Knock On Wood," which gave the label what was, surprisingly, only their third number one tune. Curiously, Stax head Jim Stewart hadn't found much in the song, originally only pressing up a few demo copies; it wasn't until Atlantic's Jerry Wexler heard it that things started moving.
To close out the year, at the behest of Stewart, Otis Redding and Carla Thomas recorded a duet album, King and Queen. While neither artist was enthusiastic at first, the end result was magical, and in April 1967, a single pulled from the disc, "Tramp," (a cover of a Lowell Fulson hit) rode to #26 on the pop charts. But Redding was hardly out of the charts at the time, hitting with other covers, like "I Love You More Than Words Can Say" (#78) and his version of Sam Cooke's "Shake," (#47) taped on a package tour of Europe by Stax artists. It wasn't just Redding; the label was in what might well have been its most fertile period during the first half of the year. Sam and Dave scored with the epic "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby," Albert King took "Born Under A Bad Sign" (probably better known through the Cream version that followed a few months later) to #49 R&B, Booker T. and the MGs had a top ten smash with "Hip-Hug-Her," and new signing the Bar-Kays went to #17 with their debut, "Soul Finger" - one of the first discs with the word soul in the title. Everything was magic.
However, for all the chart successes, soul music hadn't really crossed over into the mainstream. The legacy of 'race music' still hung over it. If any one person could change that, it was Otis Redding, and when he was invited to appear at the Monterey Pop Festival, backed by Booker T. and the MGs, with the Mar-Key horns, there was little doubt he won over the crowd from the Summer of Love. Used to rock and pop acts, they were unprepared for the way Otis could tear them up, and the reaction was stunning, as the crowd mobbed the stage, confirming what a lot of people had known for years - Otis was a star.
He had a quiet fall, however, recuperating from an operation that removed polyps from his throat. By November he was back in the studio, however, for a marathon three-week recording session, putting down the material he'd written during his inactivity. The very last of the songs he committed to tape, on December 6 and 7, 1967, was "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay."
The following day he left to play some weekend shows in Nashville, Cleveland, and Madison. He never returned. The small plane carrying Redding and the Bar-Kays crashed into Lake Monona, Wis.. Only two of the Bar-Kays survived. Set to truly crack the big time, Redding died before he had the chance to break through to another level. But a month after his death, "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" was issued. Written on a house boat after his Monterey appearance, it was quieter, more reflective, but no less soulful than his earlier work, a man reaching his true maturity.
His first top 20 hit, it spent four weeks in the pole position, selling over a million copies, and rapidly acquiring classic status. In some ways, with the death of Otis Redding, the heart went out of Stax. Although an artist, rather than part of the immediate label team, he'd embodied so much that was right about the label - its grit, energy, and vibrancy. Nothing could ever be the same again.
Related Articles in the 'Southern Soul Primer' Category...
- Southern Soul: Part 1
- Southern Soul: Part 2
- Southern Soul: Part 4
- Southern Soul: Part 5
- Southern Soul: Part 6
- Southern Soul: Part 7
- Southern Soul: Part 8
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