Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul [Collector's Edition]

iTunes Review

Primarily recorded on July 9, 1965 in one 24-hour recording session, Otis Redding’s third album, Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul, remains one of the landmarks of mid-60s R&B and soul music. This Collector’s Edition is the definitive version, offering both the mono and stereo mixes of the album (which include several different takes among them, including the slower, expanded version of “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”), singles, b-sides and live tracks featuring either a rough pick-up group or Redding’s seasoned house band. All of Redding’s interpretive and vocal power is here, in his inspired originals — “Respect,” which would become a huge hit for Aretha Franklin, “Ole Man Trouble," and “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” (written with Jerry Butler) in various mixes and versions — in the three Sam Cooke covers in tribute to the recently slain singer (“Change Gonna Come,” “Shake,” and “Wonderful World”), in the horn-powered cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction,” and more. The b-sides and alternate single mixes are a nice compliment, but it’s Otis on stage, feeding off the energy of the crowd and sending it back with his toughest, grittiest best that represents the full-dimension of his unique and never equaled talent.