‘Try A Little Tenderness’: What was the last song Otis Redding ever sang?
There will never be another performer like Otis Redding. Instrumental in the development of soul and R&B, the singer-songwriter wrote some of the most iconic tracks of the 1960s, paving the way for countless future artists and inspiring multiple generations of singers and performers. His tragic death in 1967, at the age of 26, cut his prolific career short, but the vocalist left behind a near-flawless discography that continues to inspire audiences to this day.
It was during his teenage years, in the late 1950s, that Redding first established himself as a promising young performer by dominating local talent shows in Georgia. Namely, the teenager won Hamp Swain’s ‘The Teenage Party’ for 15 weeks on the trot, placing him firmly on the radar of local talent scouts and musicians. Those talent shows acted as a springboard for Redding to embark upon a recording career, but it wouldn’t be until 1960 that he issued his first single, ‘She’s All Right’, via Trans World Records.
Before too long, Redding landed on the radar of Stax Records, the label which would propel the vocalist to the heights of the soul and R&B scene. Stax was one of America’s premier R&B labels during the 1960s, responsible for establishing the infectious sounds of soul in the American mainstream, alongside the likes of Motown and Atlantic. Initially, Redding was assigned to the Stax imprint, Volt Records, where he achieved his first hit single with the self-penned ‘These Arms of Mine’.
The next chapter of Redding’s story is legendary and incredibly well-documented. With his knack for universal songwriting and his utterly awe-inspiring vocals, the performer soon became the undisputed ‘King of Soul’. He was responsible for a countless array of iconic tracks, ranging from ‘Respect’ – later popularised by Aretha Franklin – to ‘(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay’, recorded very shortly before his untimely death.
Redding tragically died on December 10th, 1967, after the Beechcraft H18 aeroplane he was travelling in crashed into Lake Monona in Wisconsin due to poor weather conditions. Alongside Redding, the crash also claimed the lives of his Bar-Keys bandmembers – Jimmy King, Phalon Jones, Ronnie Caldwell, and Carl Cunningham – valet, Matthew Kelly, and pilot Richard Fraser. Bar-Keys trumpeter Ben Cauley was the only person to survive the crash.
The crash occurred when Redding’s career was arguably at its peak. Only days before the accident, he had recorded ‘(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay’, seemingly hitting a stride within his songwriting. Every release seemed to build upon his grand stature and beloved reputation within R&B, having amassed a colossal audience and earned the utmost respect of fellow artists and musicians alike.
So what was the last song Otis Redding ever sang?
On December 9th, 1967, the day prior to the tragic accident which claimed Redding’s life, he performed multiple shows in Cleveland. These shows took place at Leo’s Casino, which has been defunct since the 1970s, and saw the vocalist perform a range of his most notable hits, including ‘The Dock of the Bay’. One performance was filmed and recorded for the television programme Upbeat, which became the last recorded performance delivered by Redding before his death.
During that performance, the last song Redding sang was his impassioned classic ‘Try A Little Tenderness’. Regardless of the context which followed the performance, his delivery of the track is an absolute masterclass, imbuing the song with an unparalleled depth of emotion. Looking back, it is near impossible to listen to the performance without the knowledge that, less than 24 hours later, the vocalist was dead, adding an entirely new layer of emotion to that fateful performance.
