Otis Redding died at 26 in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, just days after beginning work on “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” a song that marked a new direction in his music. Released after his death, it became his first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No. 1. The title “Crown Prince of Soul” is a descriptive epithet, not a formal award; Redding’s brief career and enduring recordings explain its force.
Who was Otis Redding?
Born in Dawson, Georgia, in 1941 and raised in Macon, Otis Redding grew up singing in church and competing in local talent contests. His route to a recording career ran through guitarist Johnny Jenkins and the Pinetoppers. In August 1962, Redding drove Jenkins to a Stax recording session in Memphis. When studio time remained, Stax let Redding record. “These Arms of Mine” became his first single for the label and the start of a close association with Stax. Stax’s artist biography and career feature recount the discovery.
Redding’s voice could sound tender and pleading, then surge into an urgent, physical performance. Songs including “Pain in My Heart,” “Respect,” “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and “Try a Little Tenderness” established him as one of Stax’s defining artists. The label’s feature counts six studio albums and more than two dozen singles released during his lifetime; it also says “These Arms of Mine” sold more than 800,000 copies. Those are figures reported by Stax, not independently audited totals.
His work reached audiences well beyond the label’s Memphis base. He performed in the United States, Canada, Europe and the Caribbean. His appearance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival helped introduce him to a broader audience, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame describes him as a commanding figure whose short career left him embodying soul music in its “purist form.” That is the language of the Hall’s archival biography, not a quotation from a named individual.
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Why did “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” sound different?
After Monterey, Redding spent time on a houseboat in Sausalito, California. The experience helped inspire “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” which he developed with Stax guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper. The song’s reflective, restrained mood differed from the more forceful soul performances that had made Redding famous. Stax describes it as a stylistic shift and reports Cropper’s explanation that they had been looking for a song Redding could sing as a crossover hit. Stax attributes that account to Cropper speaking with author Robert Gordon for Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion.
Redding and Cropper met to work on the song on December 7, 1967, according to Stax. The Songwriters Hall of Fame says it was recorded about three weeks before Redding died. The recording involved more than one stage of work, so those accounts should not be reduced to a single asserted date when the song was “finished.” Redding’s whistled outro was an unplanned choice. The project was his final recording work. Stax’s career feature, its song history and the Songwriters Hall of Fame profile provide the accounts.
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How did Otis Redding die?
On December 10, 1967, the plane carrying Redding crashed into Lake Monona near Madison, Wisconsin, while traveling to a concert. Redding, the pilot, his valet and four members of the Bar-Kays died. Bar-Kays trumpeter Ben Cauley survived; bassist James Alexander had traveled separately and was not on the aircraft. The Stax Museum also identifies the date, lake and destination. It is inaccurate to say every Bar-Kays member died in the crash.
What happened to the song after his death?
“(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” was released posthumously and became Redding’s first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No. 1. Stax reports that it held the top spot for four weeks and won two Grammy awards. The song’s quiet, open-ended sound came to stand for both the promise of Redding’s expanding artistry and the abrupt end of his life. Stax calls it his signature song; its history of the recording recounts its release and success.
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Redding was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994. Stax’s biography says the Recording Academy honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999. These recognitions followed a career that lasted only a few years as a recording artist, but whose recordings continued to define his place in soul music.
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For a studio introduction, Stax’s biography names Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul, Pain in My Heart and The Otis Redding Story. For the sound of Redding as a live performer, Stax documented Otis Redding: Live at the Whisky A Go Go: The Complete Recordings, a six-CD box set with an abridged vinyl edition. Stax says the set’s album notes by Lynell George won a Grammy. The label has also documented Stax ’68: A Memphis Story, a five-disc anthology of Stax singles released in 1968 that includes Redding material; it is label context rather than an Otis-focused collection. Current editions, stock and prices are not established here. See the Stax biography, live-set announcement, Grammy news and Stax ’68 feature.
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