I remember being a kid and my dad picking up an Otis Redding compilation in, like, Asda or Tesco or something. I remember him coming home and playing it immediately; Respect, Mr Pitiful, I Can’t Turn You Loose, (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay. Bona fide brilliance in every damn song.
A few years later, as I grew into my teens, I got a bit disillusioned with Otis. I regret that feeling now, but when I found out that a lot of the songs on the collection were covers, I felt a little betrayed. I had been led to believe Otis was a great songwriter, and he could be (who would argue with Respect or Dock of the Bay?), so I was puzzled as to why he did My Girl and Satisfaction. I was pissed. I almost viewed him as no better than the boy bands who were littering the charts at the time.
Of course, now I recognise how wrong I was. Otis was, in fact, one of the greatest interpreters of all time. He could bring out sides to these songs that you didn’t even know were present.
Most of Otis’ albums featured at least one Sam Cooke cover. It was clear that Otis held Sam in high esteem (and the reason why is obvious). Because of Otis’ popularity in the UK, I often think that Sam gets overlooked somewhat in this regard, despite being one of the most significant artists of all time, and - next to Ray Charles - probably the most important artist in the development of soul music. So, here’s the Top 5 Otis Redding Songs That I Didn’t Initially Realise Were Actually Sam Cooke Songs. Both men bring a different take on each of these songs, which shows you what incredible singers they were, and I’m showcasing them side by side in order to make this apparent, and not to compare, because both men were incomparable.
5. You Send Me
Sam’s first pop single after leaving his gospel group The Soul Stirrers behind. Released in 1957, it’s miles ahead of the other R&B records released that year and pointed the world in the direction that soul music would eventually go. And just to piss off the entire recording industry, Sam - a black man - wrote, produced and recorded the song himself. I bet that riled them up…“how dare a black man be so talented?”
Like a lot of Otis’ renditions of Sam’s songs, he made it slightly funkier and a lot less smoother (that might have as much to do with Stax’s house band, Booker T & The Mgs, though it could also be down to Otis‘ southern grit). This was actually from Otis’ debut, Pain In My Heart, which was released the year of Sam’s death.
4. Bring It On Home To Me
A 1962 hit for Sam (although, the B-side Havin’ a Party charted first). This would go on to become one of the most covered songs in the history of soul music. As a bit of miscellaneous trivia, that’s also Lou Rawls singing back up and trading “yeahs” with Sam.
Otis recorded his version with fellow Stax artist Carla Thomas on their duet album King & Queen, which was inspired by the Marvin Gaye duet albums of the same period (with Mary Wells, Kim Weston, Diana Ross and, most successfully, Tammi Tarrell). The duet gives the song a completely different dynamic and sounds a little more like a reconciliation than the plea of Sam’s version.
3. Chain Gang
Legend has it that Sam was on tour and stumbled across an actual prison chain gang. He and his brother felt bad for the guys and gave them several cartons of cigarettes. Sam’s second-biggest US hit in 1960.
Otis recorded this one in 1966 on The Soul Album. His version is much funkier than Sam’s version. In fact, I’m listening to it as I type this and I’m doing the geeky white guy dance. Weirdly, there’s something quite Louie Louie-ish about the intro.
2. A Change Is Gonna Come
Sam thought Dylan’s Blowing In The Wind should have been written by a black man. So, he wrote his own. He recorded it in 1963, but it wasn’t released until after his death in 1964, and was only a modest hit at the time. However, a few years later the song became an unofficial anthem of the civil rights movement.
By the time Otis recorded the song two years later on his Otis Blue album, the civil rights campaign was well and truly in full swing. Otis’ version is a bit more energetic than Sam’s original. Which is odd given that it’s a ballad. Obviously, Otis would have his own defining posthumous ballad in the form of Dock of the Bay.
1. Shake
The B-side for A Change Is Gonna Come. Rousing song that, unfortunately, Sam doesn’t ever seem to have played live (I can’t find any recordings of it anyhow).
Otis again recorded this on Otis Blue. His version is listed in The Songs That Shaped Rock & Roll. Again, a lot less smooth than Sam’s version…gets a bit funkier, as per the style at the time and perhaps it suits the theme of the song a bit better than Sam’s arrangement.
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