Otis Redding

During a tragically short career, Otis Redding became one of the great voices in soul music. A Georgia native, he grew up sharecropping and singing in church. After making a name in talent shows, he played his first professional gigs with guitarist Johnny Jenkins, later a notable studio musician.

By the dawn of the '60s Redding had enough of a name to briefly join the Upsetters, whose former frontman Little Richard had sworn off rock & roll for gospel. An early solo single, "Shout Bamalama," didn't chart but became a garage-band standard a few years later. His career began in earnest when a talent scout referred Redding to the newly-formed Stax label; he did the first session in 1962 with Jenkins on guitar and Booker T. & the MG's as the band.

This proved the magic combination, as "These Arms of Mine," one of two songs recorded during that session, sold 800,000 copies—a success that helped put Stax on the map. "Pain in My Heart" was also a hit but led to legal problems, being an uncredited rewrite of Irma Thomas' hit "Ruler of My Heart" (whose writer Allen Toussaint ultimately got the credit). The hits continued with "Security," one of his more upbeat singles, "Mr. Pitiful" (written in response to a DJ's comment about his love for heartbroken songs) and "I've Been Loving You Too Long," co-written with the Impressions' Jerry Butler.

Ironically, he made a signature tune out of a cover song-"Try a Little Tenderness," first done by Bing Crosby—just as another singer made a signature tune out of a song Redding wrote: "Respect," a small hit for Redding but a major one for Aretha Franklin.

Now known to fans as the Big O, Redding wrapped up 1967 with two high-spirited duets, "Tramp" and "Knock on Wood" with another of Stax's stars, Carla Thomas. He also cowrote Arthur Conley's "Sweet Soul Music," the 1967 hit that salutes numerous soul greats including Redding himself.

Though each of these singles is now considered a soul classic, Redding had relatively little crossover success in his lifetime, never placing a song on Billboard's pop Top 20—even when covering the Rolling Stones and the Beatles (respectively with "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Day Tripper," both R&B hits).

He did however play to mixed audiences to great success at the Fillmore West in 1966 and the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Redding was bound for a concert in Madison, Wisconsin when his plane crashed on December 10 of that year, taking Redding at age 26 along with four members of the Bar-Kays who were also on the tour.

Just a week earlier he had recorded "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," co-written with the MG's' Steve Cropper and pegged as a likely hit. Released in January 1968, the song went Number One and became Redding's most enduring one, beginning a string of posthumous releases including "Hard to Handle" (later a Black Crowes hit) and a Monterey album with him and Jimi Hendrix each getting a side.