During his lifetime, Otis Redding set the benchmark for soul music. He still defines the genre, and to this day, his music remains as fresh and vital as it was in the mid-sixties.“

Otis Blue” ratchets up and refines the ‘soul’ sound that had been developing, making it simultaneously grittier and sleeker. Solomon Burke and Sam Cooke are the two largest touchstones here, supplying much of the material and plenty of inspiration. They supply four of the eleven tracks here, and each of them is revelatory. Years earlier, Burke took “Down in the Valley,” an old, timeworn piece of Americana and injected new life into it by changing the words a bit and adding a spark to the arrangement. Otis Redding does his own version of Burke’s version, revising it once again into something contemporary, and he miraculously ends up with something deeply inspiring. There are no less than three Sam Cooke songs here, but Redding reworks each of them brilliantly. He even makes the pop song “Wonderful World” sound positively funky. Cooke was a hero of Redding’s who died just months before this record was released, and he sings “A Change Is Gonna Come” with a reverence that the artist and song deserve, while adding a pungent punch to “Shake” that was lacking on Cooke’s original.

Most impressive are the obvious hits, such as “Respect” and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” both soul classics in their own right, and interestingly, representing two of only three original compositions here. The third, “Ole Man Trouble,” is as timeless as either hit, and it stands among the best recordings Redding has ever made. “Rock Me Baby” was a showpiece track for B.B. King, and Redding shares the spotlight with lead guitarist Steve Cropper (who also produced this masterpiece). “You Don’t Miss Your Water” was a hit for William Bell in 1961, and Redding updates it with his stunning ability to plead-sing in a manner that can make the hairs on your arm stand up, much like he does on “I’ve Been Lovin’ You Too Long.” Most interesting is a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction”, a version that Keith Richard himself believes trumped the Stones’ own record. That may be an exaggeration, but the power and conviction of Redding’s delivery was so convincing that some critics accused the Rolling Stones of stealing the song from Redding!

As his third album, Otis Redding was just getting started with “Otis Blue,” but it now stands as a highpoint in a career that abruptly ended in tragedy. If you love soul, then you need to own “Otis Blue.” If you don’t love soul, then you never heard “Otis Blue.”

September 1965 - Billboard Charted #75

Ole Man Trouble

You Don’t Miss Your Water