15th September - Otis Redding's Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul

Artist – Album: Otis Redding – Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul

Released:  15^th September 1965

Sounds Like: A Best Of the 60’s compilation

I finally have internet again! Yep, it’s only taken me and my slothlike housemate a month since moving to our new flat to set up our broadband. Absence makes the heart grow fonder I guess, and I’ve been attacking the web with a vengeance all day, whiling away the hours with Youtube, Facebook, BBC Sport and things that I shouldn’t (NO, not that! More pirate-y things...). I’ve spent an awful lot of my time on http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/ , a website created by a Swedish statistician who has gathered as many critics best of list as he could get his hands on to and compiled them into a cumulative list of the definitive best songs and albums of all time. It’s all linked together, so you can search by year, artist or even genre. For example, if you were a big fan of The White Stripes (you might be!), you can see that all but their debut album is in the best 3000 albums, and they also have six songs amongst the 3000 most acclaimed of all time (for the record: ‘Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground’ (#2171), ‘Hotel Yorba’ (#2658), ‘Fell in Love With a Girl’ (#268), ‘Seven Nation Army’ (#70), ‘My Doorbell’ (#1659) and ‘Icky Thump’ (#2346)).

Which brings us on to today’s album. Otis Blue (#60 most acclaimed album of all time) is a soul classic made up of some of the best of 60’s music. In fact, of its ten tracks, only ‘Ole Man Trouble’ and ‘Down in the Valley’ don’t have some version included in the top 3000 songs, and the likes of ‘Respect’, ‘Change Gonna Come’, ‘My Girl’ and ‘Satisfaction’ are real heavy hitters. Of course, such wonderful material wouldn’t mean a jot in the hands of any old soul singer, but Otis Redding, backed by his crack ensemble band featuring the likes of Steve Cropper and Isaac Hayes, treats it like the superlative performer that he is. Easily one of the best albums I’ll listen to all year.

Albumaday... rating: 10/10

1.    Ole Man Trouble – 2:55

2.    Respect – 2:05

3.    Change Gonna Come – 4:17

4.    Down in the Valley – 3:02

5.    I’ve Been Loving You Too Long – 3:10

6.    Shake – 2:35

7.    My Girl – 2:52

8.    Wonderful World – 3:00

9.    Satisfaction – 2:45

10.   You Don’t Miss Your Water – 2:53

Listen to ‘Down in the Valley’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko_YsP6f7so

Also released on 15^th September:

1967: The Kinks – Something Else by The Kinks

Also released on 15^th September:

1971: Judee Sill – Judee Sill

Also released on 15^th September:

1986: Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Blood and Chocolate