Search - Otis Redding :: Stax Profiles

A New View of Otis Redding

R. Mix | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 05/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This new Otis Redding collection is one of ten 'Stax Profiles' just released. Others include Eddie Floyd, Carla Thomas, the Staple Singers and Little Milton.



Instead of compiling the usual best of, Concord Music asked Steve Cropper, guitarist for Booker T. & the M.G.s and the Stax house band, to collect his favorite Otis Redding. Given the intimacy of his association (he played on virtually everything Redding ever recorded), it's a natural.



And Cropper doesn't disappoint. His thirteen picks are pretty tough to argue with. Hearing "Champagne and Wine", "Direct Me" or "Good to Me" in this context sheds a whole new light on them. It's almost like having new music from Redding.



What's really interesting is that "My Lover's Prayer" or "Mr. Pitiful" are the closest things to a hit on this CD. There's no "(Sitting On) The Dock of the Bay" or "Respect" or "Try A Little Tenderness". Musicians frequently hear things we non-musicians don't, or at least hear them differently, and it would have been fascinating to have had Cropper share the reasons for his choices.



My only criticism of this CD is that there are six tracks listed as alternate takes, and on the majority of them I can find no difference between them and the final issues. No extra verses, different intros, mixes, etc. If differences exist, they're undetectable to this layman's ear.



But the recent (2005) remastering is excellent, preserving the mass of the recordings while articulating their sonic detail and separation. In fact, it's so good I wish Redding's entire catalog would be re-done. Most-high kudos to Joe Tarantino.



Soul music is, in my estimation, the greatest thing American culture has given the world. And Stax probably had the best. And this installment of the 'Stax Profiles' series will even give you your recommended daily allowance at a budget price point.



Given the short shelf lives of CDs these days, I'd get up offa that thang and get this now. It's wonderful, real and true.











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