Studio albums 10 Compilation albums 15 | Live albums 9 Singles 48 | |
This is the discography of American soul singer Otis Redding.
Contents
Posthumous studio albums
Otis Redding's death prompted a number of releases, including live albums and compilations. Four albums of mostly new material were released, but they are more like compilations than official studio releases.
The first of these releases, The Dock of the Bay, assembled by guitarist and producer Steve Cropper, is made up of previously released singles and b-sides as well as some album tracks and a few previously unissued recordings. The other three of these albums contain a greater amount of previously unreleased material. The posthumous collections are generally considered to be of good quality, which is unusual, as a lot of posthumous releases by other artists receive unfavorable reviews.
A fifth release, Remember Me, came out on 20 March 1992, featuring 22 unreleased tracks taken from Redding's 1963–1967 recordings, with numerous unreleased and stereo recordings. Two alternate takes of "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" and alternate takes of other famous tracks, such as "Respect", "Come to Me", and "Try a Little Tenderness", are among its highlights.
Live albums
Officially released live recordings by Otis Redding primarily come from three sources: a series of shows performed at the Whisky a Go Go in April 1966, the Stax/Volt Revue tour of Europe in March and April 1967, and his five-song set at the Monterey International Pop Festival on June 17, 1967.
Earlier live performances of "Pain in My Heart" and "These Arms of Mine" from November 16, 1963, were officially released on the Atco compilation album Apollo Saturday Night in 1964. These two performances are also included in the 1993 box set Otis! The Definitive Otis Redding.
Posthumous singles
In the wake of Otis Redding's death, singles as well as albums were released to capitalise on the attention. A number of singles were released from new albums of unreleased material. Along with these 'new' hits were songs from Redding's back-catalogue which were not originally intended as singles. Many of these posthumous singles became popular hits, especially "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay", and some sold more and are more famous than the songs released during Redding's lifetime.