Talk:Otis Redding

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Contents

[edit] Facts About Otis

If anyone could help me I would be truely greatful.

I would like to know whether or not Otis Redding was the original song writer for the following: Saticefaction, Respect.

Please help if you can!

He wrote Respect (as he says on his Monterrey Pop Festival version of the song) but Jagger & Richards wrote Satisfaction. 137.186.153.121 07:53, 18 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Origin Of Name

I know he was named Otis from birth, but is there any evidence to support the rumour that his parents took the name from the Otis elevator company? 86.139.200.226 12:01, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

  • Otis was named after his father, Otis Ray Redding, Sr., a Baptist minister.
  • As if the elder Redding was named after the Otis elevator company, I do not know.

Thanks for the comments. To me it seems unlikely, but it's a rumour I've encountered more than once. If Redding's father was also named Otis, it's less likely because the elevator company wouldn't have been so well known at the time. What is quite likely, I think, is that the success of the Otis elevator company popularised a name which was otherwise fairly uncommon. If anyone knows more about this issue, I'd be very interested to hear. 86.143.12.80 11:46, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Otis was not at all an uncommon first name in earlier generations, particularly in the American south. The Otis Elevator Company was founded in Yonkers, New York by Elisha Otis, who invented the modern safety elevator. I would think though that this company was pretty much unknown in the rural south, where there were few, if any, elevators. 74.72.233.142 (talk) 14:44, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Is this really ironic?

This is the paragraph in After Death in question:

"(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" was recorded only three days prior to Redding's death. It was released the next month and became his first #1 single and first million-seller. The fact that "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay" ultimately became Redding's greatest commercial success is ironic, not only because its release came after his death, but also because the song is actually a significant stylistic departure from the bulk of his other work.

I edited it a while back because I did not believe this was an example of irony. I changed the word to "notable". This change has, after several months, been reverted back to the original sentence, with the following comment:

Death -irony: "an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected" Yes, it IS ironic

I disagree. Most people believe that they will live through the next day. Most people do. Should a car strike someone down and kill them, is that ironic? No, just unexpected. I accept though, that having written this paragraph, should I be killed tomorrow by a car, that would be ironic.

I am reverting it to notable. If there is a justification for it being ironic, please post it here. StephenBuxton 23:37, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Just for the sake of argument (because arguing is fun sometimes) 8-):
The reason the first example, where I haven't had such a discussion, seems "not ironic" is because the unexpected nature of it happening today comes from no specific reason as opposed to other days. Just in general, I do not get hit and killed by a car as part of my normal day. So I don't expect it to happen today either. But there's no specific reason that, should it happen today, that would be any more notable that it happening on any other day. For an observer to say, "Who would believe today, of all days, this would happen?" wouldn't seem appropriate because . . . well, what was significant about today as opposed to any other day it might have happened? The fact that that observer's question is not applicable is the reason why this example doesn't seem ironic.
But your second example contains specific reason to think it would be particularly significant today, shortly after I finish a discussion about getting hit by a car, that I turn around and get hit by a car. Now, when an observer says, "Who would believe today, of all days, this hould happen?", it seems quite applicable, because my talking about that very subject today, when that's something I don't normally do, sets today apart from just any other day that it might have happened, even each individual other day would have been just as unlikely also. The fact that the observer;s question now makes sense is why this second example does seem ironic, where the first example did not.
With Redding and "Dock of the Bay", saying, "Who would have thought that song, of all songs, would turn out to be his #1?" applies for two specific reasons: 1) Artists generally don't churn out big hits after they're dead (or at least they didn't in that pre-Tupac era), and 2) the song was not consistent style-wise with what had already proven to be popular among Redding's music. Those things set "Dock of the Bay" apart from his other songs as a particularly unlikely candidate, even though each other individual song might have been considered unlikely also. So, since the question does apply sensibly here, that's why this Redding example is actually more consistent with your second example, which you agree demonstrates irony, than with your first example, and thus the word "ironic" does apply here.
Again, all of the above just for the sake of argument. For the sake of the page, though . . . well, if you're that bothered by it, then from what you say above, it sounds like "unexpected", at least, is something upon which you would agree. So we can go with that as a compromise.
Cheers! Mwelch 00:42, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
I'm still not overly convinced that how you describe the reasoning as being ironic is valid. Had the song gone along the lines of Sitting on the Dock of A Bay/ thinking of lyrics that will be utterly lame, then the fact that it got to #1 would have been ironic. However, as for your suggested compromise, I am all for it - a very good compromise. You in the diplomatic corps? ;-)
Oh, and I had no problems with cars today.
StephenBuxton 21:16, 14 October 2006 (UTC)
OK, we're gonna agree to disagree with regard to the irony, but I'm gonna agree wholeheartedly that you get comedy points! 8-) Mwelch 07:32, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Okkervil River

Would the data that Okkervil River produced a song entitled "Listening to Otis Redding at Home During Christmas" be appropriate for this article? superscienceman 03:24, 13 November 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Chinese Ancestors?

Is it true that he is partly of Chinese descent? http://www.google.co.uk/gwt/n?mrestrict=xhtml&site=search&q=otis+redding&source=m&hl=en-GB&ei=KXvoRtiSDI7mqgLQ9auYAw&ct=res&cd=6&rd=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.soulwalking.co.uk%2FOtis%2520Redding.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.107.0.66 (talk) 22:40, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

Yea, and Google is always right too! 68.219.26.177 (talk) 00:10, 3 June 2008 (UTC)