Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul as a hybrid stereo SACD from the Atlantic 75 Series, mastered to DSD by Bernie Grundman from the original master tape. Twelve songs in one sequence – from “Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)” via “Try A Little Tenderness” to “Love Have Mercy”.
A dictionary written in songs
The title is bursting with confidence – and the dictionary it promises is made of twelve songs, not definitions. Country, older popular repertoire, a Beatles song and Redding’s own compositions sit side by side, and Otis Redding meets all of it with an instantly recognisable personality. What happens when a song enters the collaboration between Redding and the musicians of the Stax studio? Every track gives a different answer – and that variety is the heart of this album’s appeal.
Released in 1966 on Volt, Stax’s sister label, it was Redding’s fifth studio album and the last solo studio album issued during his lifetime. It was recorded in Memphis, in the former Capitol Theatre on East McLemore Avenue that had become the Stax studio, with Jim Stewart supervising the production. Songs from different generations meet the musicians who play them – and find a fresh relationship.
A song from 1932 becomes the centrepiece
“Try A Little Tenderness” was already decades old when Redding recorded it. Written by Harry Woods, Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly, it had been sung by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, among others, and Sam Cooke’s version was an important reference point. Redding and Isaac Hayes developed a version all their own. Follow the relationship between the voice, the answering horns and the rhythm section – and hear how an arrangement gives a familiar melody a completely new trajectory.
“Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)”, written by Redding and Steve Cropper, leads straight into the working life of the studio: the song plays on Redding’s habit of singing lines to the horn players. “Tennessee Waltz” brings in a country standard, “Day Tripper” a then brand-new Beatles song. Soul is no closed club of origins here – what counts is what these performers make of the material.
The people behind the collective sound
The circle includes Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald “Duck” Dunn and Al Jackson Jr., together with Isaac Hayes and horn players such as Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love. Not every instrument can be securely assigned to every song. And the later name “Memphis Horns” belongs to a partnership Jackson and Love founded afterwards – for 1966, it is more accurate to name the musicians themselves.
Next to the borrowed material stand Redding originals such as “My Lover’s Prayer”, “She Put The Hurt On Me” and “Ton Of Joy”. “Sweet Lorene” connects him as a writer with Hayes and Alvertis Isbell, later known as Al Bell, and “Love Have Mercy”, written by Hayes and David Porter, closes the album. Try following the switch from a song brought in from elsewhere to one created within the studio’s own circle of writers – the album builds its idea of soul from exactly these different beginnings.
The Atlantic 75 hybrid stereo SACD
CAPA 036 SA is a hybrid stereo SACD from the Analogue Productions Atlantic 75 Series. According to the publisher, Bernie Grundman mastered it to DSD from the original master tape. It presents the album in stereo; the original album also appeared in mono. A Volt album in the Atlantic 75 Series? That reflects the distribution and rights history of the Stax catalogue – the original label remains Volt. The SACD layer plays on SACD-capable players, the CD layer on any conventional CD player. The disc contains the twelve tracks of the original album in their original order – “Sweet Lorene”, “Try A Little Tenderness” and “Day Tripper” follow one another as tracks 4 to 6.
You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and ship from Hilden.
More from the series: Atlantic 75 Series
Also in another edition: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul
More SACDs by Otis Redding: The Dock Of The Bay · Otis Blue · Pain In My Heart
Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe
Musicians
Documented participants in this recording. Track references correspond to the tracklist.
- Otis ReddingvocalsParticipation: Album personnel
- Booker T. Joneskeyboards, organ, vibraphone (tracks 3, 11), bass (tracks 3, 11)Participation: Album personnel
- Isaac Hayeskeyboards, pianoParticipation: Album personnel
- Steve CropperguitarParticipation: Album personnel
- Donald „Duck“ DunnbassParticipation: Album personnel
- Al Jackson Jr.drumsParticipation: Album personnel
- Wayne JacksontrumpetParticipation: Album personnel
- Andrew Lovetenor saxophoneParticipation: Album personnel
- Floyd Newmanbaritone saxophoneParticipation: Album personnel
- David Porterbacking vocalsParticipation: track 1
- Charles Axtontenor saxophoneParticipation: track 7
- Gene Parkertenor saxophoneParticipation: track 7
- Gene MillertrumpetParticipation: track 7
- Sammy ColemantrumpetParticipation: track 7
Album credits do not establish complete track assignments. Additional horns on track 7 follow recording-specific credits. Gil Caple and Joe Arnold are excluded because the evidence conflicts.
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