Significant longplayers from yesteryear

14 September 2025

On 15 September 1965, tomorrow 60 years ago, supreme voice OTIS REDDING (1941-1967) released the soul era defining longplayer BLUE (full title Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul).

The album was composed mainly of cover versions of contemporary R&B hits, exploring themes from the blues and love ballads, among others. Three of the LP’s eleven songs were written by Redding, and three others were written by fellow soul singer Sam Cooke, who had died several months before the album was made.

Rolling Stone said: “Redding’s true dictionary of soul, a stunning journey through the past and future vocabulary of R&B documenting a masterful artist rising to the immense challenge of his times.”

In a retrospective review Pitchfork called Otis Blue “a hell of a record, the crowning achievement of a man who could sound pained and celebratory and tender and gritty
and proud all at once, with a voice that everyone from John Fogerty to Swamp Dogg
to Cee-lo owes a debt to “.

On December 9th, although the weather was poor, with heavy rain and fog, and despite warnings, Redding and his band the Bar-Kays got on a plane Truax Field in Madison. Four miles from their destination pilot, Richard Fraser radioed for permission to land.

Shortly thereafter, the plane crashed into Lake Monona. Bar-Kays member Ben Cauley was the accident’s only survivor. Redding‘s body
was found the day after. He was 26.

SINGLES

BLUE

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Bio – Discography