final presentation - group 2 - otis redding.pptx - Scott D. Lipscomb

O"s Redding 

h,p://thehoboride.blogspot.com/2011/12/this-‐day-‐in-‐rock-‐history-december-‐10.html

Early Life 

• O"s Redding was born 

on Sept 9 th , 1941. 

• He is from Dawson, 

Georgia. 

• He dropped out of 

school at the age of 15, 

in order to support his 

family by working for 

other musicians and 

singing at talent shows 

• (O"s redding) 

h,p://www.soulwalking.co.uk/O"s 

%20Redding.html

Early Career 

h,p://addictedtovinyl.com/blog/2009/08/14/new-‐o"s-redding-‐best-‐of-‐due-‐from-‐shout-‐factory-‐on-‐october-‐20th/ 

 

• He started off his 

musical career by 

working with Li,le 

Richard’s band, The 

Upse,ers 

• A few years later, he 

started working with a 

different band, The 

Pinetoppers 

• (O"s redding)

His Big Break 

• While working with the Pinetoppers, Redding finally 

got his big break. 

• He signed with Stax Records and released his first 

solo album on Jan. 1 st , 1964. 

• His songs included “Pain In My Heart”, “(Sibn’ On) 

The Dock of the Bay”, and “These Arms of Mine” 

• He was inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 

1989 

• (O"s redding)

Death 

• On Dec. 10 th , 1967, the 

plane carrying O"s 

Redding and his back up 

band crashed into Lake 

Monona on their way to 

Madison, WI. 

• Even though his career 

was short, Redding 

made a huge impact on 

the musical world. 

• (O"s redding) 

h,p://portalwisconsin.wordpress.com/ 

2010/12/06/the-‐day-‐o"s-‐redding-dieddecember-‐10-‐1967-‐lake-‐monona-‐wi/

Musical Style 

• Vocal talent 

– O"s had an intriguing voice that “created a new 

emo"onal standard for southern soul” 

• Band 

– He was backed by one of the best rhythm sec"ons 

in history; Booker T. & the M.G.’s

Musical Style (cont.) 

• No backing vocals 

– Started the use of horn dialogue, in place of 

tradi"onal backing vocals, for call-‐and-‐response 

segments 

• The King of Soul 

– Music was filled with vocal melismas, extended 

periods of interpola"on, and improvisa"on 

– O"s had a strong connec"on with the music

Performance Style 

• Stage fright 

– O"s never got over his stage fright, and it would 

show during his performances 

– He would prac"cally freeze from the waist down

Performance Style (cont.) 

O"s and The Bar Keys 

h,p://moonjunk.tumblr.com/post/ 

10445700307/o"s-‐redding-‐and-‐his-‐backing-‐band-the-‐bar-‐keys 

 

• Band leader 

– The band members 

were all friends of 

O"s and would 

always have fun on 

stage together 

– O"s was able to 

command the band 

just by reac"ng 

powerfully to the 

music

Performance Style (cont.) 

• Audience 

– He loved to make a connec"on with his audience 

– Constantly aware of the listener, and constantly 

interac"ng

• Li,le Richard 

– Went on tour with Li,le 

Richard 

– His inspira"on and idoliza"on 

gave O"s Redding a style 

imita"ng Li,le Richard in his 

youth 

– Later, his idol Li,le Richard 

inducted him into the Rock 

and Roll Hall of Fame 

• Sam Cooke 

– Sam Cooke’s dis"nc"ve 

trademark high notes are 

found in much of O"s 

Reddings’ music 

Main Influences 

• (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008; 

Brennen, 2008) 

Li,le Richard 

h,p://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005153/

Other Influences 

• Eric Clapton 

• Jimi Hendrix 

• Both can be heard in his 

later more rock and roll 

works like “Hard to 

Handle” 

• (Gulla, 2007) 

Jimi Hendrix 

h,p://www.rollingstone.com/music/ar"sts/jimi-hendrix

Influenced by O"s Redding 

• Almost all other soul singers of the 1960’s were 

influenced by O"s Redding 

• He is omen referred to as “The King of Soul” because 

of his strong original influence 

• There are many ar"sts that feature covers of his 

work 

– Aretha Franklin, The Doors, Pearl Jam, Kelly Clarkson, Willie 

Nelson, Al Green, Kanye West, The Black Crows, and many more 

• (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008; Brennen, 2008)

Influenced by O"s Redding (cont.) 

• His sons Dexter and O"s 

III also went into music 

forming the Reddings 

• Came out with a Top 10 

R&B song called 

“Remote Control” 

• Consider their father a 

great inspira"on 

• (Shmoop Editorial Team, 2008; 

Brennen, 2008) 

The Reddings 

h,p://www.cdandlp.com/item/ 

2/36918-‐220204-‐0-‐1-‐0/115371016/the-‐reddings-‐if-looks-‐could-‐kill.html

Style and Fit 

• Music of the 1950’s and early 1960’s consisted mainly of 

white males. There were very few female ar"st/groups 

who were popular at that "me. The Bri"sh Invasion of 

the 1960’s, the emergence of Motown Records, and the 

evolving nature of Rock and Roll during this period would 

see ar"st become more experimental, innova"ve and 

risky with their music. 

• During this "me period the roots of rock and roll(Pop, 

C&W, and R&B) and the emergence of the basic rock and 

roll styles (Mainstream, Rockabilly, and Som Rock) were 

the popular genres. 

• Folk, Country, and Blues s"ll remained relevant

Musical Style of the 1960’s 

h,p://thebeatlesautographs.net/ 

h,p://www.eonline.com/celebs/Elvis_Presley/ 

110703 

h,p://www.britannica.com/ 

EBchecked/media/102011/ 

The-‐Supremes-‐late-‐1960s 

• Some of the top ar"st 

during the 1960’s 

include: 

– The Beatles 

– Elvis 

– Beach Boys 

– Ray Charles 

– Rolling Stones 

– Supremes 

– The Byrds 

– Bob Dylan 

– 4 Seasons 

– Sam Cooke

Musical Style of the 1960’s (cont.) 

• O"s’ simple style followed some characteris"cs of ‘soul 

music’ during the era and managed to stay uncomplicated. 

Although influenced by ar"st like Li,le Richard, Sam Cooke 

and even the Beatles (Si#ng on the Dock of the Bay), O"s 

preferred the successful formula of simple, blues 

influenced ‘soul music’. 

– “Basically, I like any music that remains simple and I feel this is 

the formula that makes 'soul music' successful. When any music 

form becomes clu,ered and/or complicated you lose the 

average listener's ear. There is nothing more beau"ful than a 

simple blues tune. There is beauty in simplicity whether you are 

talking about architecture, art or music.” (1) – Soul Magazine

Social Influences 

• Civil Rights Movement 

– The Civil Rights Movement was a 

movement sustained by music. 

– Provided ar"st such as O"s the opportunity to pursue 

business ventures and live the ‘American Dream’ 

• Owned O"s Redding Enterprises. 

• Through performances, music publishing, royal"es and 

record sales, he earned more than a million dollars in 1967 

alone (2) 

• Counterculture Movement 

– Movement driven by youth, produced a market for 

rock, soul, pop, reggae and blues music.

Social Influences-‐People 

• There was a constant threat 

against the lives of blacks 

and those supported 

change, from black and 

white dissenters 

• Dr. Mar>n Luther King Jr 

– “I Have A Dream” Speech promoted 

social unity 

• John F. Kennedy 

– Elec"on changed the poli"cal 

dynamics of the country 

– Assasina"on 

• Medgar Evers 

– NAACP field secretary. Assassinated 

by a member of the Ku Klux Klan in 

Jackson, Mississippi. 

• Malcolm X 

– Assassina"on 

Mar"n Luther King Jr. 

h,p://muslimma,ers.org/2011/03/03/ 

what-‐does-‐the-‐civil-‐rights-‐movement-mean-‐for-‐muslims/

Poli"cal Influences 

h,p://www.boomerslife.org/ 

protests_rally_iran_neda_agha_soltan.htm 

• Vietnam War 

– An"-‐war movement 

par"cipants provided 

inspira"on to much of the 

music during the 1960’s 

– Dram 

• Manager, Phil Walden and 

brother, Rodgers Redding 

were both dramed. 

• Threats of War 

– Cold War 

– Made travel strenuous and 

at "mes difficult

Musical Analysis 

• The song that we chose to do our musical analysis on 

is “(Sibn’ On) The Dock of the Bay 

• We chose this song because it became a number one 

hit on both the Pop and R&B charts amer O"s 

Reddings’ death


Instrumenta"on 

• Instrumenta>on: The instruments that we hear used 

in this par"cular song would be the drums, acous"c 

guitar, bass guitar, what sounds like a piano or a 

keyboard, and then there are some brass instruments 

like a saxophone (I think it might actually be a 

trombone)and trumpets. 

• There are also some parts where I hear an electric 

guitar as well 

• The whistling of O"s Redding is also an 

instrumenta"on in itself 

• There is also some non-‐musical instrument sounds like 

the whooshing sound of water at the very beginning of 

the song to represent waves


Meter and Beat Subdivision 

• Meter: The meter of this song would be 

quadruple meter or duple meter. 

– There are four beats per measure. 

• Beat Subdivision: The beat subdivision in this 

song would be a duple subdivision. It’s 

difficult to hear but if you listen closely to the 

drums you can pick up on it.


Texture and Form 

• Texture: The texture of this song is definitely 

homophonic melody and accompaniment. I feel 

it is this because it is the singer only being 

accompanied by musical instruments and no 

back-‐up singers. 

• Form: The form is AABA. The B is actually 3 

stanzas, so it sounds like AABACAA if you’re 

actually listening for different part feelings, but I 

think the idea in AABA is that there is an altered 

a,en"on grabbing por"on somewhere in the 

middle, so it would fit with the categoriza"on.

Legacy 

• Much of Stax Records’ success lies in the work of O"s 

Redding 

• Originally recorded country and rockabilly music 

• Following his success there, Stax added “Soulville, 

USA” to its "tle

Legacy (cont.) 

• O"s Redding had a profound influence on the history 

of soul music, as well as rock and roll 

• Named “The King of Soul” 

• Rolling Stones covered two of his songs 

• In 1989, he was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll 

Hall of Fame 

• Jay-‐Z and Kanye West’s song, “O"s,” was Grammy 

nominated for best rap song in 2011

Resources 

• Brennan, C.(2008). "Cooke, Sam 1931—1964." Contemporary Black Biography. Retrieved 

June 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: 

h,p://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-‐2871900023.html 

• "Eyewitness Tells of O"s Redding's Violent Death". Jet. December 28, 1967. 

• Gulla, B. (2007) “O"s Redding.” Icons of r&b: An encyclopedia of the ar"sts who 

revolu"onized rhythm (Vol. 1, pp. 412). Ann Arbor, MI: Greenwood Press. 

• Guralnick, Peter (1999). 

Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm and Blues and the Southern Dream of Freedom. Back Bay Books. 

• Hirsch, E.D. (1993). The DicBonary of Cultural Literacy. Houghton Mifflin. 

• Labrie, Peter (April 1968). "The Flame That Died". Black World/Negro Digest. 

• OBs redding. (n.d.). Retrieved from h,p://rockhall.com/inductees/o"s-‐redding/bio/ 

• OBs redding. (n.d.). Retrieved from h,p://www.crecon.com/davidwomack/o"s redding.htm 

• Ritz, D. (2012). OBs redding. Retrieved from 

h,p://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/494636/O"s-‐Redding 

• Scaruffi, P. (2005). A brief history of soul music. Retrieved from 

h,p://www.scaruffi.com/history/soul.html 

• Sco, Freeman, OBs!: The OBs Redding Story (New York: St. Mar"n's Griffin Press, 2001); 

Rhino Records, Los Angeles, OBs!: the definiBve OBs Redding [sound recording], (1993). 

• Shmoop Editorial Team (November 11, 2008).OBs Redding Influences. Retrieved June 25, 

2012, from h,p://www.shmoop.com/dock-‐of-‐the-‐bay/influences.html 

• Whatman, R. (2006, May 26). OBs redding: Living at the apollo november 1963. Retrieved 

from 

h,p://browneyedhandsomeman.blogspot.com/2006/05/o"s-‐redding-‐live-‐at-‐apollo-november.html

final presentation - group 2 - otis redding.pptx - Scott D. Lipscomb

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