Otis redding biography soul singers like
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Otis Redding
American singer and songwriter (1941–1967)
Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singer-songwriters in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. Nicknamed the "King of Soul",[3] Redding's style of singing drew inspiration from the gospel music that preceded the genre. His vocal style influenced many other soul artists of the 1960s.
Redding was born in Dawson, Georgia, and his family soon moved to Macon. He dropped out of high school at the age of 15 to support his family, working with Little Richard's backing band, the Upsetters, and performing in talent shows at Macon's historic Douglass Theatre. In 1958, Redding joined Johnny Jenkins's band, the Pinetoppers, with whom he toured the Southern states as a singer and driver. An unscheduled appearance at a Stax Records recording session led to a contract
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Otis Redding
(1941-1967)
Who Was Otis Redding?
Singer-songwriter Otis Redding was discovered after recording "These Arms of Mine." Known for his sincere emotional delivery, Redding became the voice of soul music. As his career was taking off, he died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. The song "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" became his first and only No. 1 hit in 1968.
Early Life
Otis Ray Redding Jr. was born on September 9, 1941, in Dawson, Georgia. When he was 5 years old, Redding's family moved to Macon, Georgia, where he grew up listening to the music of Sam Cooke and Little Richard. In the late 1950s, Redding joined the Upsetters, the band that had formerly backed Little Richard.
Recording Hits
In 1960, Redding moved to Los Angeles, California, where he began releasing singles. He returned to Georgia a year later and recorded "Shout Bamalama." He befriended guitarist Johnny Jenkins and joined his band, the Pinetoppers. During one
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Fifty years ago, on månad 10, 1967, a private plane carrying Otis Redding and the members of his touring band stalled on its final approach to the municipal airport in Madison, Wisconsin, and crashed into the waters of Lake Monona, killing all but one of the eight people onboard. Though Redding was only twenty-six years old at the time of his death, he was regarded by growing numbers of black and white listeners in the United States and europe as the most charismatic and beloved soul singer of his generation, the male counterpart to Aretha Franklin, whom he had recently endowed with the hit song “Respect.” In the preceding year, on the strength of his triumphant tours of Britain, France, and Scandinavia, his appearances at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco, and his domineering performance at the Monterey Pop Festival, Redding had pushed beyond the commercial constraints of the so-called “Chitlin’ Circuit” of ghetto theatres and Southern night clubs. He was determined to be