Otis Redding died 50 years ago today - Great read from Rolling Stone

Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, arranger, and talent scout. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues.

My favorite Otis - Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

27 million plus views - Damn!!!
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-otis-reddings-sittin-on-the-dock-of-the-bay-w511338

When the phone rang at the Stax/Volt studios in Memphis in late November of 1967, guitarist Steve Cropper was surprised to hear Otis Redding on the other end, calling from the airport. "Usually Otis would check into the Holiday Inn or whatever hotel he was staying at and then he'd call for me to come over and do some writing," Cropper recalls. But this time Redding was too excited to wait. "I've got a hit," he told Cropper, so he wanted to come straight to the studio to flesh his idea out into a full-fledged song.

Jonathan Gould's 'An Unfinished Life' chronicles the little-known story and world-changing influence of the late soul great

Redding was right. When &quot Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" was released less than two months later, it became the singer's first million-seller and first Billboard Number One single. But the legendary soul singer never got to hear the finished version of his breakthrough single: He had died in a plane crash on December 10th.

Redding laid down numerous tracks in his final weeks, none more important than "Dock of the Bay." The roots of the song trace back to June of that year. In the middle of the month, Redding, backed by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, left the largely white crowd at the Monterey Pop Festival awestruck, making an impression rivaled only by the Who and Jimi Hendrix. Redding had won over white audiences in Los Angeles at the Whisky a Go Go nightclub the previous year and in Europe that spring, where his admirers included four guys from Liverpool taking a break from recording their new album. But Monterey Pop was on a different scale, and the unabashed adulation confirmed for Redding that he could cross over to become a major star.