Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul

During the summer of ’65, Otis Redding spent 24 hours at Stax Recording Studios in Memphis, waxing a slew of blues-infused covers spiked with a few of his own original cuts thrown in for good measure. The results show off the full range of his powerful, supple voice—and make for one of the hottest-burning albums in the history of soul music. Sam Cooke's moving "Change Is Gonna Come" drips with raw emotion, while Redding proves a potent foil for the funk of Solomon Burke's "Down in the Valley” and sings with gleeful abandon throughout a horn-driven take on the Stones' “Satisfaction.”