The Immortal Otis Redding

The Immortal Otis Redding
Studio album by Otis Redding
Released June 1968
Recorded 1967
Genre Soul
Length 30:01
Label Atco
Producer Steve Cropper
Otis Redding chronology

The Dock of the Bay
(1968)		 The Immortal Otis Redding
(1968)		 In Person at the Whisky a Go Go
(1968)

The Immortal Otis Redding is a posthumous studio album by American soul recording artist Otis Redding, released in June 1968 by Atco Records. It compiles 11 songs recorded by Redding in a three-week stretch of sessions that concluded days prior to his death in December 1967.[1] "The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)" was the only song previously released, having been a single in April 1968.

The Immortal featured four charting singles including "The Happy Song", "I've Got Dreams to Remember", "Amen", and "Hard to Handle".

Critical reception

Robert Christgau, writing in Creem magazine in 1977, said that it is his favorite Otis Redding album and "probably among my five most-played LPs", because it "showcases the unduplicated warmth, tenderness, and humor of his ballad singing."[2] In Paul Gambaccini's 1978 poll of prominent rock critics, The Immortal Otis Redding was voted as the 33rd best album ever. Christgau ranked it third in his own list.[3] Music critic Dave Marsh gave the album five stars in The New Rolling Stone Record Guide (1983).[4] Lindsay Planer of Allmusic gave it three-and-a-half stars and said that, although it "wasn't quite on par with" Redding's other "half-dozen studio albums", the songs are "welcome (if not mandatory) additions to all manner of listeners."[1]

Track listing

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "I've Got Dreams to Remember"  Otis Redding, Zelma Redding 3:10
2. "You Made a Man Out of Me"  Deanie Parker, Steve Cropper 2:06
3. "Nobody's Fault But Mine"  Redding 2:20
4. "Hard to Handle"  Allen Jones, Alvertis Isbell, Redding 2:18
5. "Thousand Miles Away"  Redding 2:09
6. "The Happy Song (Dum-Dum-De-De-De-Dum-Dum)"  Redding, Steve Cropper 2:40
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
7. "Think About It"  Don Covay, Redding 2:59
8. "A Waste of Time"  Redding 3:15
9. "Champagne and Wine"  Redding, Roy Johnson, Allan Walden 2:49
10. "A Fool for You"  Ray Charles 2:55
11. "Amen"  Jester Hairston (uncredited) 3:20

Personnel

Credits adapted from Allmusic.[5]

Charts

Album

Chart Peak
position[6]
UK Album Chart[7] 19
US Billboard Hot R&B LPs 3
US Billboard Top LPs 58

Singles

Song Chart Peak
position[6]
"The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)" US Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles 10
US Billboard Hot 100 25
UK Singles Chart[7] 24
"I've Got Dreams to Remember" US Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles 6
US Billboard Hot 100 41
"Amen" US Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles 15
US Billboard Hot 100 36
"Hard to Handle" (B-Side of "Amen") US Billboard Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles 38
US Billboard Hot 100 51
UK Singles Chart[7] 15

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Planer, Lindsay. "The Immortal Otis Redding - Otis Redding". Allmusic. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert (March 1977). "Consumer Guide: A Guide to 1967". Creem. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  3. ↑ Gambaccini, Paul (1978). Rock Critic's Choice: The Top 200 Albums. Omnibus. pp. 83–4. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  4. ↑ The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House, Rolling Stone Press. 1983. p. 415. ISBN 0394721071.
  5. ↑ "The Immortal Otis Redding - Otis Redding : Credits". Allmusic. Retrieved May 26, 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "The Immortal Otis Redding - Otis Redding > Awards > AllMusic". Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Otis Redding / Artist / Official Charts". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 2014-10-28.

External links