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| Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul | 
 enlarge | List Price: $24.98
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 7 reviews)
Sales Rank: 6111
Category: Music
Artist: Otis Redding
Publisher: Rhino Records
Studio: Rhino Records
Manufacturer: Rhino Records
Label: Rhino Records
Format: Collector's Edition, Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.7
MPN: 422140
UPC: 081227993894
EAN: 0081227993894
ASIN: B0013SJ44Q
Release Date: April 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Ole Man Trouble | | • | Respect | | • | Change Gonna Come | | • | Down In The Valley | | • | I've Been Loving You Too Long | | • | Shake | | • | My Girl | | • | Wonderful World | | • | Rock Me Baby | | • | Satisfaction | | • | You Don't Miss Your Water | | • | I've Been Loving You Too Long (Mono Mix Of Stereo Album Version) | | • | I'm Depending On You (B-side) | | • | Respect (Mono Mix Of Stereo Album Version) | | • | Ole Man Trouble (Mono Mix Of Stereo Album Version) | | • | Any Ole Way (B-side) | | • | Shake (Live, 1967-Stereo Mix Of Single Version) | | • | Ole Man Trouble | | • | Respect | | • | I've Been Loving You Too Long | | • | Satisfaction | | • | I'm Depending On You | | • | Any Ole Way |
Disc 2
| • | Ole Man Trouble | | • | Respect | | • | Change Gonna Come | | • | Down In The Valley | | • | I've Been Loving You Too Long | | • | Shake | | • | My Girl | | • | Wonderful World | | • | Rock Me Baby | | • | Satisfaction | | • | You Don't Miss Your Water | | • | Respect (1968 Version) | | • | I've Been Loving You Too Long | | • | My Girl | | • | Shake | | • | Satisfaction | | • | Respect |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Otis Redding was a singer of such commanding stature that to this day
he embodies the essence of soul music in its purist form. from the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame s website page on Redding s 1989 induction
Though Otis Redding s career was cut tragically short by a plane crash,
his legacy and recordings are inestimably large. Intense, raw and emotional, his sound defines golden era Southern soul. Redding s third album, OTIS BLUE: OTIS REDDING SINGS SOUL, is considered his first LP masterpiece, and it ranks
#74 on Rolling Stone s list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, noting that it was recorded in a single 24-hour period in 1965, calls it, a virtual soul-music primer. The original album features a trio
of songs by Sam Cooke, Redding s idol, who had passed away shortly before OTIS BLUE was made. It also features his version of Respect a song he wrote, but that s an Aretha signature his great cover of (I Can t Get No) Satisfaction and other classic tracks. In its deluxe COLLECTOR S EDITION, this landmark
work is presented in both mono and stereo versions, along with rare and
previously unreleased bonus gems.
2-CD deluxe, expanded COLLECTOR S EDITION of Redding s 1966 masterpiece.Original album highlights include three classic Sam Cooke covers Shake, A Change Is Gonna Come, and Wonderful
World Redding s dramatic take on the Stones (I Can t Get No) Satisfaction, and his beautiful rendition of the Smokey Robinson classic My Girl. Plus, the Cooke-penned originals Ole Man Trouble and Respect. Disc One presents the original mono album. Bonus material includes six alternates and singles including previously
unreleased mono mixes of stereo album versions of I ve Been
Loving You For Too Long, Ole Man Trouble, and Respect. Also features six classic songs recorded Live at The Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles in April1966including Satisfaction
and Respect. Disc Two presents the original stereo album. An alternate 1967 version of Respect is featured as a bonus track. Deluxe DigiPak features a special collector s edition O-card plus a 16-page book with rare photos and new liner notes.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Wonderful soul album October 13, 2008
This is a fantastic record, very moving and Otis Redding's voice has never been better. This is the kind of CD you can just melt into - fantastic stuff and highly recommended.
Classic Album - made 100% better May 27, 2008
If you like Otis Redding, you should buy this newly remastered album. If you already have it, the stereo mastering work they did on this makes it worth the purchase alone, but you will also find several live cuts, unreleased b-sides and other gems that make this worth a purchase.
It is hard to believe that Otis recorded this entire album in 24 hours, it is even harder to fathom that he was just 26 when he did so. So much soul in such a young man.
A classic expanded May 17, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Admittedly, quite a few of the Collector's Editions (from Rhino/Warners), Deluxe Editions (from Universal) and Legacy Editions (from Sony-BMG) we've seen released lately have added little to a classic album, as they've often just rehashed the same tracks. That said, those rehashed tracks I mention are alternate takes, demos, live versions, often with a different feel from the final take you'll find on the official release, so it's often nice to see that the artist in question may not have done the same song twice the same way. Such is definitely the case with the Collector's Edition of Otis Blue.
First of all, you have the original album offered in both mono and stereo versions, and that alone can point up subtle difference in each track--frequently, the stereo mixes will have instruments or elements you may have missed in the mono mixes, and much the same can be said of the mono mixed vs. the stereo. And this is certainly true with Otis Blue; for example, the mono LP version of "I've Been Loving You Too Long (to Stop Now)" sounds like a very different take from that of the stereo LP version.
Secondly, there are often non-LP single cuts included, and that is certainly the case here--"I'm Depending on You" fits that bill, a breezy bit of fun from Otis and his always-excellent backing band. Thirdly, the alternate takes--the faster version of "Respect," recorded in 1967 (even after Aretha Franklin's version had topped the charts), certainly gives the listener the idea that Otis felt the song was worth returning to, although no one's sure exactly when or why (evidently, the master tape boxes don't offer much in the way of details).
Overall, it's a great package; indeed, the Otis Redding fan who already has all of Otis' classic recordings will not need this, as it won't add much to his collection. But for someone like me, who doesn't have them all but wants to have some Otis Redding in his collection (and indeed, any serious music fan really ought to), this set makes a great addition.
Sweet Soul Music May 6, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Otis Redding had the rare ability to take a well known song and make it sound all his own. The best example of that skill appears on this essential album. He takes the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" and transforms it from a guitar-driven rocker to a southern-fried R&B number. By replacing the seminal guitar hook with horns, Mr. Redding turns the Stones' complaint of into a plea. As with many soul singers, Mr. Redding has gospel roots and he covers three songs from the original gospel turned soul singer, Sam Cooke. "A Change Is Gonna Come", "Wonderful World" and "Shake" show his versatilty as a singer. The first is a gospel driven tune, the second is pure pop music and the third is a frenzied, rave-up shouter. "Shake" would become a staple of his live shows and his performance of it at the Monteray Pop Festival and in the film of the concert would help him reach the mainstream white audience. Mr. Redding wasn't just an interpreter of other people's songs, but a solid songwriter is his own right. The album contains the original version of "Respect" and while it doesn't have the defiance of Aretha Franklin's version, it still moves. "I've Been Loving You Too Long" my well be the best song he recorded and it contains one of the most heartwrenching vocals ever put down on tape. Otis Redding's life was tradgically cut short, but he left us with this record as a reminder of his immense talent. Otis Blue is one of defining soul albums of the 60's and one of the era's best albums period.
 Otis Redding's 3rd Album Gets The 2CD "Collector's Edition" Treatment April 29, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
HISTORY:
With the groundwork of his first two albums behind him, "Pain In My Heart" in 1964 and "The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads" in early 1965, Otis Redding stepped into the Stax recording studio on McLemore Avenue in Memphis on the 9th of July 1965 to quickly slap down his 3rd album. And quick was the optional word. In one long adrenalin fuelled session (broken up by night gigs the band had to attend - only to reconvene in the early hours of the morning), its 11 songs took less than 24 hours to produce. In fact, Otis flew out of Memphis the very next day to do another gig! It is of course now recongnised as a bona-fide 60ts soul classic and this "Collector's Edition" is here to celebrate that.
TOM DOWD was the Engineer, ISAAC HAYES, JIM STEWART and DAVID PORTER were the Producers and the Stax House Band were the session players:
WAYNE JACKSON and GENE "BOWLEGS" MILLER on Trumpets
ANDREW LOVE on Tenor Sax
FLOYD NEWMAN on Baritone Sax
ISAAC HAYES and BOOKER T. JONES on Keyboards
STEVE CROPPER on Guitar
DONALD "DUCK" DUNN on Bass
AL JACKSON, JR. on Drums
EARL SIMS on Backing Vocals
(Jones, Cropper, Dunn and Jackson, Jr make up the nucleus of Booker T. & The MG's)
"Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul" was released in the USA on the 15th of September 1965 on Volt 412. It charted on the Pop Albums chart at a lowly number 75, but hit the big number 1 spot on the R'n'B LP chart of that month. It was released in the UK in February 1966 on Atlantic ATL 5041, originally in Stereo only - but later re-issued in 1967, again on Atlantic, but this time in both Mono and Stereo (587 036 for Mono and 588 036 for Stereo). Any sixties variant of the vinyl album has always been hard to find in playable condition here in the UK - and pricey too - so this 2CD Rhino "Collector's Edition" released on Monday 28 April 2008 in a welcome addition for soul fans everywhere.
PACKAGING:
It has the same specialist gatefold digipak packaging that Universal's 2CD "Deluxe Edition" series and EMI's 2CD "Collector's Edition" sets have - all wrapped up in an outer titled slipcase. There's a 16-page booklet with detailed liner notes by ROB BOWMAN who has conducted interviews with the album's engineer, the late TOM DOWD, Bass Player DONALD "DUCK" DUNN and Trumpeter WAYNE JACKSON among others. It pictures US Volt 7" singles and UK Atlantic 7" singles from private collectors, has a few black and white shots of Otis himself and detailed session notes. The release has been prepared by PATRICK MILLIGAN and CHERYL PAWELSKI for Rhino with Otis' wife, Zelma Redding, adding her take on the re-issue in her own dedication - a very nice touch that.
CDs:
The master tapes have been REMASTERED by Rhino's long-standing collaborating engineers DAN HERSCH and BILL INGLOT at Digiprep studios (no date supplied) and the 40-tracks of the 2CDs are laid out as follows:
Disc 1 (72:30 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 11 is the original MONO MIX of the album, Volt 412
Tracks 12, 14 and 15 are mono mixes of the stereo album versions and are previously unreleased
Track 13 is the non-album B-side to "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)" issued April 1965 on the US 7" single Volt 126
Track 16 is the non-album B-side to "Satisfaction" issued in February 1966 on the US 7" single Volt 132
Track 17 is a stereo mix of the mono single version - it was first issued on the 1993 "Otis! The Definitive Otis Redding" 4CD Rhino Box Set
Tracks 18 and 20 were recorded live at The Whisky A Go Go sessions in April 1966 and were first released on the 1982 Atlantic LP "Recorded Live: Previously Unreleased Performances"
Tracks 19, 21, 22 and 23 are from the October 1968 Atco LP "Otis Redding In Person At The Whisky A Go Go"
Disc 2 (51:03 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 11 are the original STEREO MIX of the album (Volt 412)
Track 12 is the 1967 version of "Respect" which first appeared on the "Remember Me" album compilation from 1992 on Stax
Tracks 13 to 17 are from the "Live In Europe" album from October 1967 on Volt 416 and feature the Stax House band
As you will have noticed from the above breakdown, for the die-hard collector who already has all of Redding's issued material to date, this 2CD set only really has 3 previously unreleased tracks, and they're slightly alternate mono mixes of stereo album versions - so it's hardly the great haul of soul joy the lovely outside packaging promises. The mono mix of the album is new to CD of course, but again, some may feel, it's simply more of the same.
SOUND:
The mono mix of the album on Disc 1 is surprisingly clean - there is hiss on it given the less-than-sophisticated recording equipment and rushed nature of the recordings, but it is punchy and vibrant - and in many ways far more direct than the crude two-channel separation of the Stereo version. It's better than I thought it would be and a nice addition.
Both discs contain live material - and a few seconds into any of the tunes - it's easy to know why. Otis Redding `live' must have been an awesome wonder to behold - you can only imagine what it must have been like to be in that audience - to see this force of nature literally slay an audience - and you get a sense of it 30 seconds into "Shake". It explodes out of the speakers in that Sixties joyful way. The silver suit, the huge charisma, the guttural vocals, the band complimenting him - brass section choppy and tight - guitar, bass and drums funky as f**k - what a wow! In some respects, the live versions are far better than the studio ones `because' they're so `alive'. The live tracks are ballsy and far better recorded than you would imagine - they also give you a more rounded picture of the man and his talents - and to some degree - what all the fuss about Redding is all about.
The Stereo mix on Disc 2, however, is disappointingly drenched in hiss - and on the slower ballads like "Ole Man Trouble", the Sam Cooke cover of "Change Gonna Come", the William Bell song "You Don't Miss Your Water", the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles cover "My Girl" and particularly "I've Been Loving You Too Long" - it detracts way too much from the magic of the songs. Personally I find them very difficult to enjoy with a wall of hiss blasting out `over' the instruments. The hip shakers like Solomon Burke's "Down In The Valley", Sam Cooke's "Shake" and the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" fare far better - they sound great - really alive and kicking - with the wonderful low-down groove of B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby" being a particular highlight (has a wicked Steve Cropper guitar solo). Basically the effect on the stereo mix is that brass and piano are in the left speaker with the vocals and guitar entirely in the right with some imaging in between. It works brilliantly on the mid-tempo Sam Cooke cover "Wonderful World" too. And when I A/B the 1992 remaster by Rhino with this 2008 version, the differences are there - much LOUDER and CLEARER. It's just such a shame about the hiss levels on some of the tracks.
SUMMARY:
A classic album in a lovely package and one that fans will have to own. For those not wanting to fork out the near 15 price tag the hard copy commands, ITunes is offering the entire 40-track double set for 8.99 as a download (no booklet unfortunately).
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