The "King of Soul" - Otis Redding

Although his life was extremely short, Otis Redding ismany of his contemporaries is an important Otis
incredibly important in the history of Soul and RockRedding quiz point to learn, and this is the fact that
& Roll, as he was one of the key figures thathe wrote much of his own music. Many of the
managed to successfully blend elements of manytouring musicians who were popular at the time
different musical genres into the new sounds thatwould rely on playing tested material penned by
would define future generations. Any Otis Reddingproven song writers, and while Redding would
quiz would start by asking about his nickname. He iscertainly play those songs as well, he was also
often referred to as the "King of Soul" which fullyextremely passionate about writing his own songs.
encompasses just how important his briefOtis Redding trivia must usually unfortunately include
contribution to the music industry was.the facts of his untimely death. He had been playing
One part of Otis Redding trivia is that his biggest hitin Cleveland with his band, and after leaving the show
was released actually a month after his death,the plane he was aboard crashed into Lake Monona,
something which is actually quite common, especiallyMadison WI. Redding, the pilot, four members of his
among singers and artists who die young in theirback up band and his manager all died in the crash,
career. That hit was (Sittin on) The Dock of the Bay,and only one person aboard the plane would survive
and was easily his largest commercial success,the crash - Ben Cauley who had been a member of
although the importance of Redding to the musicalthe Bar Kays, Otis Redding's backup band.
movements of the time as a whole go far beyondRedding continues to be recognized since his death
one commercially successful single. Redding took theas an important figure in music, including receiving a
influences he was given, including artists like Littlelifetime achievement award from the Grammy's,
Richard and Sam Cooke, and turned it into somethingbeing honoured by the Songwriters and Rock and Roll
new, and something different which would give birthhall of fame, and by Rolling Stone magazine as one
to hundreds of musical artists that would follow him.of their hundred greatest artists of all time.
One of the things which set Otis Redding apart from