Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life

Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life

The long-awaited, definitive biography of The King of Soul, timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Redding's iconic performance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.

Otis Redding remains an immortal presence in the canon of American music on the strength of such classic hits as â€œ(Sittinâ€™ on) The Dock of the Bay,â€ â€œIâ€™ve Been Loving You Too Long,â€ â€œTry a Little Tenderness,â€ and â€œRespect,â€ a song he wrote and recorded before Aretha Franklin made it her own. As the architect of the distinctly southern, gospel-inflected style of rhythm & blues associated with Stax Records in Memphis, Redding made music that has long served as the gold standard of 1960s soul. Yet an aura of myth and mystery has always surrounded his life, which was tragically cut short at the height of his career by a plane crash in December 1967.
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In Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life, Jonathan Gould finally does justice to Reddingâ€™s incomparable musical artistry, drawing on exhaustive research, the cooperation of the Redding family, and previously unavailable sources of information to present the first comprehensive portrait of the singerâ€™s background, his upbringing, and his professional career.

In chronicling the story of Reddingâ€™s life and music, Gould also presents a social history of the time and place from which they emerged.Â His book never lets us forget that the boundaries between black and white in popular music were becoming porous during the years when racial tensions were reaching a height throughout the United States. His indelible portrait of Redding and the mass acceptance of soul music in the 1960s is both a revealing look at a brilliant artist and a provocative exploration of the tangled history of race and music in America that resonates strongly with the present day.
Country USA
Manufacturer Crown Archetype
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2017-05-16
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	Crown Archetype
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2017-05-16
Format	Kindle eBook

Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life

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