Otis Redding: Otis Blue (blue vinyl) [ATCO]

Why you'll love it

This reissue puts Otis Blue on fittingly blue vinyl in stereo. It was Redding's first No. 1 on the US R&B albums chart, reached No. 6 in the UK, and sits on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

This edition

• Blue vinyl
• Stereo mix

About the album

Otis Redding made most of Otis Blue in about 24 hours. Over two sessions at the Stax studio in Memphis in July 1965, backed by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, the Memphis Horns and a young Isaac Hayes on piano, he cut an album that critics still call the definitive soul LP of its era.

Redding wrote "Respect," which Aretha Franklin later took to the top of the charts, and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" is one of the most aching ballads ever recorded. He tips his hat to the late Sam Cooke with three of his songs, including "Change Gonna Come" and "Wonderful World," and turns the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" into a horn-blasting Southern stomp.

It sold more than 250,000 copies. Redding said "Respect" took a day to write, 20 minutes to arrange and one take to record, which puts the rest of us and our to-do lists firmly in our place.

Also at Kops: more Otis Redding on vinyl · browse Classic Soul

Tracklist

Listen

On Volt / ATCO (cat# 8122797160), a reissue of the 1965 album.