51. Otis Redding - Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (1965)

1. Ol' Man Trouble
2. Respect
3. Change Is Gonna Come
4. Down In The Alley
5. I've Been Loving You Too Long
6. Shake
7. My Girl
8. Wonderful World
9. Rock Me Baby
10. Satisfaction
11. You Don't Miss Your Water

In what appears to be turning into quite an awesome run of albums, here we have Otis Redding. This album is the torch being passed from Sam Cooke to Otis, who would then take up the mantle as the greatest soul singer. Otis wasn't quite as smooth as Sam Cooke, and true crossover success wouldn't come until after his tragic death in a plane crash, but he made up for it in sheer emotional and vocal range. In the 11 songs on this album (appropriately including 3 covers of Sam Cooke) Otis is sorrowful, tender, joyous, and above all, soulful and in full command of his powers.

The great thing about the cover songs is how he can make old familiar classics sound fresh: in 'My Girl', he makes up for the lack of backing vocals by trying to fill in their spots with random vocal asides, as well as twisting the vocal phrasing and melody around. It's even worse on his version of 'Satisfaction' where he pays absolutely no attention the the lyrics outside of the first verse, and even invents some of his own. And you know what? It's still awesome. Otis Redding don't give a fuck.

He improves on his idol Sam Cooke as well. 'Shake' is by far the most exciting song on the album, and if you watch him perform it live it's even better. 'A Change is Gonna Come' is so emotional and moving that it should've been Obama's campaign song. Except then all the birther maniacs would ask if that river he was born by was in the United States or not.

However, Otis also has some songs of his own to give us, and they are really something. You'll be surprised to see 'Respect' here, because the later Aretha Franklin cover was so successful and so associated with her that most people forgot that Redding wrote it in the first place. That's not to say his version is bad, but compared to Aretha pretty much any rendition is going to pale in comparison. However, it is in slower, more troubled songs such as 'Ol' Man Trouble' and 'I've Been Loving You Too Long' where Redding truly shines as a songwriter and performer.

The most astonishing thing about this album is that it was recorded (except for 'I've Been Loving You Too Long') in one day. Like, you stick Otis Redding and Booker T. and the MG's in a room for a day and this is what comes out. You can't argue with results like that. 9/10