Sunday, Dec. 10, 4 PM
Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash 50 years ago on Dec. 10, 1967. "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay," which he wrote and recorded with Steve Cropper days before, subsequently became the first posthumous number-one record on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts.
Redding’s five magnificent years in showbiz transformed the sound of soul music. His grainy, growling, and “squawking” voice kept the music rooted in the older traditions of the black church and black life in America. Yet his secularized sound—tempered with the sweetness of Sam Cooke, the flamboyant flair of Little Richard, and the showmanship of James Brown—also ushered in a new era of African American pop in the ’60s.
WVPE is looking back at the living legacy of Otis Redding's soul with a special broadcast of Open Source with Christopher Lydon.
