Reminiscing by the Dock of the Bay

from Popmatters.com

A Blues for Otis: The Life and Legacy of a Soul Legend
[7 December 2007]
by Claudrena N. Harold

Forty years ago on the frigid afternoon of December 10, 1967, a Beechcraft plane carrying the legendary soul singer Otis Redding plunged into the icy waters of Lake Monona, Wisconsin. Of the eight passengers aboard the twin-engine aircraft, trumpeter Ben Cauley of the Bar-Kays was the lone survivor. News of the crash and Redding’s death spread quickly across the country. Feelings of loss and grief were particularly strong in the South. To thousands of blacks living below the Mason-Dixon Line, Redding was a cultural hero who personified the promise of the New South and the revolutionary possibilities of the ‘60s.

Over the five year period between his signing with Stax in 1962 and his unfortunate death, Redding had become a permanent fixture on black radio, amassed enough money to provide his wife and family with a respectable lifestyle, and gained international recognition as one of the most amazing singers of his generation. Success, however, never diluted Redding’s soul. Coming off at times as the quintessential race man, Redding was firmly rooted in the cultural rhythms of the black South. An incredibly gifted singer-songwriter possessed of the rare combination of supreme intelligence, unwavering ambition, and emotional depth, the Macon, Georgia, native brilliantly synthesized the evangelical fervor of the black church, the rambunctious vibes of rock ‘n’ roll, the plaintive cries of the blues, and the rhetorical brilliance of Southern black vernacular culture.

But the reason Redding stands out as an immortal soul icon is rooted in much more than his broad musical palette. Intensely emotional on record and on stage, Redding unhesitatingly bore witness to pain, exposed his own vulnerabilities, and expressed emotions at odds with conventional and emergent notions of black masculinity. Tearjerkers like his “Pain in My Heart”, “Try a Little Tenderness”, “My Lover’s Prayer”, and the criminally underrated “You’re Still My Baby” spoke honestly and profoundly on the power of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. To a degree underappreciated then and now, Redding’s music presented an image of black domestic life and gender relations more complex and more humane than many sociological musings on the purported perils of black family life.

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