On Sale Today: “The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads”

Mar. 21, 1965 - On sale today is “The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads,” the second studio album by soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding. 

Like Redding’s debut, “Pain in My Heart” (1964), “Soul Ballads” features both soul classics and originals written by Redding and other Stax Records recording artists. The recording sessions took place at the Stax studios in Memphis. Redding was born in Dawson, Georgia, and his family soon moved to Macon. He dropped out of high school at the age of 15 to support his family, working with Little Richard’s backing band, the Upsetters, and performing in talent shows at Macon’s historic Douglass Theatre. 

In 1958, Redding joined Johnny Jenkins’s band, the Pinetoppers, with whom he toured the Southern states as a singer and driver. An unscheduled appearance on a Stax Records recording session led to a contract and his first hit single, “These Arms of Mine,” in 1962.

Support this project at patreon.com/realtime1960s