

His first records are little more than Little e Richard impressions and no one bought them. He then moved on to Johnny Jenkins & the Pinetoppers, whose single Love Twist, was a regional hit. He was inspired by another Macon GA singer, Little Richard, and Otis’ first proper job as a singer was replacing Richard as singer in the Upsetters, Richard’s band who suddenly found themselves out of work when Richard retired to be a preacher in 1957.

He sang gospel songs on the local radio station for a few dollars and entered – and won – talent contests to make a little money His father was often ill so times were hard and Otis had to leave school at 14 to work to help the family. Otis Redding was born on 9 September 1941 in Dawson GA, a very small town 150 miles south of Atlanta GA, and moved aged three to Macon GA, about 80 miles nearer Atlanta. Otis’ label Stax wanted a piece of that and had a plan in place, with Otis at the centre. It’s just that it was interrupted by a plane crash on 10 December 1967. Motown too had dominated the charts in the mid-Sixties, cleverly matching R&B with pop rhythms and arrangements on the Temptations and the Four Tops with stunning success. After years as a full-throated blues shouter, he was aiming for a calmer style, in that gap in the market created by the death of Sam Cooke, that other slightly gravelly voiced gospel-turned-poppier singing star, who but had been shot dead in December 1964. Back home in the US, he was huge R&B star, topping the R&B charts bit not crossing over to the whiter pop charts. In the UK he had been phenomenally popular, especially among young white mods and had had pop hits like My Girl. He was not yet a huge superstar and in fact became such only after he died, with a posthumous worldwide number in ( Sitting On) the Dock of the Bay recorded just three days before he died. in D.C.It is 50 years this month since Otis Redding died aged only 26 in a plane crash in Madison WI, killing him and four members of his backing group, the Bar-Kays. Animal that eats while floating on its back crossword clue.Largest animal ever to exist on earth crossword clue.

