With the resurgent interest in soul music – I’m speaking specifically to Black Joe Lewis fans – it’s a joy to see one of Otis Redding’s best albums has been given the deluxe treatment by Rhino. 1965’s Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul has long been a touchstone for R&B aficionados and its reissue as a two-disc set has plenty of extras to make it worth your money, even if it’s something you already own.
Recorded in one monster 24-hour session, Otis Blue features Redding backed by the Stax house band, composed of Booker T. & the MG’s, Isaac Hayes, and the Mar-Key Horns (Wayne Jackson, Andrew Love, and Floyd Newman). Redding covers Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and “Wonderful World” with uncommon grit, while his stomping “Satisfaction” shows the Rolling Stones a thing or three about Southern soul.
The extras are of primary interest with the re-release. In addition to mono and stereo discs, there are six live tracks from the Whiskey A Go Go in 1966 and five from Europe, 1967, showing Redding at his adrenaline-fueled best, shaking up an audience and loving every minute of it. Add a couple of previously unreleased mixes and two long lost B-sides and Otis Blue times out at more than two hours of prime time soul.
This article appears in April 4 • 2008.