Otis Redding debuted on Stax Records in 1962 and died in a plane crash in 1967. In the five years in between, he forever changed popular music—combining raw blues intensity with gospel gravitas and pop sweetness. Songs like the horn-backed, V8-powered "Knock on Wood" defined the hard-driving sound of Southern soul, but Redding was also a masterful balladeer. On "Try a Little Tenderness", he leads by example; he smooths his gruff voice and dances it through the seams of a delicately arranged organ and piano beat, then lets loose for a funky finale.