Sunday, November 16, 2014

Try a Little Tenderness.


This week in the year 1966, one of the finest soul songs ever recorded was released as a single by the sorely missed Otis Redding -- "Try a Little Tenderness".


Redding tragically passed away a little over a year later on December 10, 1967. He was involved in a mysterious plane crash, which to this day has gone without any solid explanation. Within the music industry, Redding was known as a hard-working, honest, philanthropic and all-around friendly guy. His legacy has only continued to grow since his passing. I wish he was alive today, still pumping out heartfelt tunes that awaken the spirit. It's a shame he's gone -- just think of what he could have done with modern music! Soul music would have surely fared far better had he been around to take part in shaping it.

Yet, we have Otis' music to remind us of how great a man he truly was. The music is something that can never be taken from us. Music has made Redding and many other artists sadly taken away too soon immortal.

"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was released a month after Redding's death and went straight to number one on the Billboard charts. It was Otis' only number one single, as well as being the first song to ever reach number one after the death of the recording artist.


I like to think that somewhere out there, Otis is still making music.

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