Otis Redding – (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay
I’m only a few days in, and I’m already going to employ one of those words that will be difficult to avoid overusing as I move through 1968: timeless. You could say that about a lot of Otis Redding’s work in his way too brief life and career, but (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay, released 50 years ago today, just never gets old. Co-written by Stax Records producer and Booker T. & the M.G.’s guitarist Steve Cropper, the lyrics came together the previous August while Redding was renting a houseboat in Sausalito, CA (hence the song’s theme) shortly after his historic appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival. His final work on the song was on December 7, 1967. Three days later Redding perished in a plane crash outside Madison, WI. It became the first posthumous single to reach number one in the U.S.
On a personal note, this song was included on a Best of Atlantic Records LP box set my brothers owned. As a result, to this day whenever I hear it on the radio, I think Hush by Deep Purple will come on next. I hate it when that happens.
-Stephen
50th Music Anniversaries and Other Musings 
“Superstars of the 70’s”. I remember that boxed set — it came out very early in the 70’s. So early, in fact, that it’s really a late-60’s greatest hit collection. https://www.discogs.com/Various-Superstars-Of-The-70s/release/512289
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That’s the one! I shamed our brother into removing it from his garage a while back lest it melt into a single LP. It was in pretty rough shape when I recorded it on cassette 30 years ago. It must have endured a flood or two in the basement way back when.
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First you do Merle then you hit me with Otis. Another of my favorite vocalists. I’m going to do a take on “whistling” in songs. This song still moves me after a million listens.
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