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Otis Redding
Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life | Jonathan Gould
10 posts | 4 read | 9 to read
The long-awaited, definitive biography of The King of Soul, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Redding's iconic performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. Otis Redding remains an immortal presence in the canon of American music on the strength of such classic hits as "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay," "I've Been Loving You Too Long," "Try a Little Tenderness," and "Respect," a song he wrote and recorded before Aretha Franklin made it her own. As the architect of the distinctly southern, gospel-inflected style of rhythm & blues associated with Stax Records in Memphis, Redding made music that has long served as the gold standard of 1960s soul. Yet an aura of myth and mystery has always surrounded his life, which was tragically cut short at the height of his career by a plane crash in December 1967. In Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life, Jonathan Gould finally does justice to Redding's incomparable musical artistry, drawing on exhaustive research, the cooperation of the Redding family, and previously unavailable sources of information to present the first comprehensive portrait of the singer's background, his upbringing, and his professional career. In chronicling the story of Redding's life and music, Gould also presents a social history of the time and place from which they emerged. His book never lets us forget that the boundaries between black and white in popular music were becoming porous during the years when racial tensions were reaching a height throughout the United States. His indelible portrait of Redding and the mass acceptance of soul music in the 1960s is both a revealing look at a brilliant artist and a provocative exploration of the tangled history of race and music in America that resonates strongly with the present day.
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Eggs
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I'm sittin' here restin' my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone🎶

Otis Redding was already having remarkable success in soul and R&B when he died in a plane crash in 1967. He was only 26 yo. In my hazy recollection of being 15 yo, this song stands out. Singer, writer, producer, talent scout. RIP

#sittinonthedockofthebay #songsofsummer @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

OriginalCyn620 ❤️❤️❤️ 5y
SW-T LOVE that song! 🥰 5y
46 likes4 comments
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EadieB
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cobwebmoth One of my favorite songs.😊 5y
OriginalCyn620 😎🎶💙 5y
36 likes2 comments
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kristinshafel
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1. Otis Redding (tagged)...more in comments!
2. Tom Waits is up there, Stevie Wonder, Phat Phunktion, Beyoncé...so many more
3. I LOVE seeing my friends play and classical concerts too, but some big pop music shows that come to mind: Primus/Bush (96), Weezer (97) Madison Blues Festivals (99,00) Slash (15), Metallica (17)...
4. Today: Ron Pope‘s Texas Wildflower Honey, Anderson .Paak‘s Celebrate, Janelle Monáe‘s Make Me Feel

#manicmonday @JoScho

JoScho Weezer 💙🎶🙌🏼 6y
kristinshafel Altamont, Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl, Jessica Hopper‘s First Collection, They Can‘t Kill Us, Mo‘ Meta Blues, Alex Ross‘s books, Slash‘s memoir, My Cross to Bear, Metallica Back to the Front, Willie Nelson memoirs, Carole King‘s A Natural Woman, Slonimsky‘s Lexicon of Musical Invective, Victor Wooten‘s The Music Lesson 6y
kristinshafel @JoScho That concert was epic. I hung out with them on their tour bus before the show, then they dedicated “In the Garage” to me during the show, and I was able to get backstage for a while after. I was 14 😲🤭 6y
JoScho I am officially green with envy!! We walked out at our wedding to “my name is Jonas” and danced to several weezer and Rivers songs during our wedding. I love them so much! 6y
18 likes4 comments
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kristinshafel
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My February reads. It was a great month! Dark Money, Otis Redding, and Broad Strokes were easily my favorites, with Shark Drunk close behind. I hope you all had a good month of reading, too. Happy #WorldBookDay! #februarywrapup

Beachesnbooks Love what you did with the Fire and Fury cover 😂 How did you like the Vandermeer? 6y
21 likes1 comment
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kristinshafel
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Pickpick

LOVED. Definitive bio of Otis Redding, and is a must-read for anyone interested in 1960s soul music and how popular music and race in America are and have historically been indelibly entwined. I stayed up all night finishing the last few chapters and even though I knew the ending, I still cried reading through the plane crash. This book gave bold, technicolor life to Redding, as musician and man, for me.

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kristinshafel
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Book mail! I‘ve been dying to read about music lately 👏📚🎶

14 likes3 comments
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MrBook
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#TBRtemptation post 4! Released in May. This is a definitive biography of the quintessential '60s soul singer, released on the 50th anniversary of his iconic '67 Monterey festival performance. It's not jar an in-depth look at his very successful life, but also a social history of his time and place. Brimming with important information! #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

58 likes5 stack adds
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Marchpane
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Pickpick

This book is not an intimate portrait of one man, but rather a huge whorl of history with Otis as its enigmatic centre - a Venn diagram of race relations, the birth of soul music, the British Invasion, hippies, civil rights, an inside look at the recording industry in its heyday, the cross-pollination of musical influences from Little Richard, Sam Cooke, the Beatles, Hendrix, Aretha... great for students of music history.

Marchpane Plus the book gives exhaustive detail of Redding's recordings, each track gets anywhere from two lines to a few pages. I'll never again be able to listen to the first few seconds of Ole Man Trouble without hearing its influence on Hendrix's Hey Joe. So satisfyingly nerdy. 7y
Buddys_Momma I really want to read this book---love Otis. Thanks for your review 👍🏽 7y
Izai.Amorim Great review 👏👏 7y
minkyb Excellent review! 7y
115 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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Marchpane
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#litsyreadingchallenge update: 20 books down, 5 to go!

@jessica

quirkyreader Hurrah for you🐸🐙. 7y
Cinfhen Awesome graphics 😍😍😍congrats almost there!! @jessica is this your wedding weekend??? 7y
Lauren_reading Awesome!!! 7y
See All 7 Comments
jessberk13 @Cinfhen not yet!! June 11! 7y
DrexEdit Excellent! I love the way you've filled in your grid! 7y
Sue Good job! 7y
99 likes1 stack add7 comments
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Reecaspieces
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Bailedbailed

I bailed on this read. I wanted to read about Otis,but this book read like a college text book. No flow. Just how many big words can the author use is one sentence (and believe me...50 is too many!). I usually do not like to post bad reviews. I do not want to damage someone's hard work based on my opinion. However, this book needed some major adjustment to make a good biography.