The third in our highly acclaimed “Black America Sings.” series moves away from major figures in the rock and pop worlds to pay tribute to one of the most important black singer-songwriters of the 20th century.Otis Redding isn’t always thought of as a tunesmith, but he wrote or co-wrote 20 of the 31 R&B and Pop hits that charted for him between 1963 and 1969, plus a significant quantity of his non-chart singles and numerous album tracks. Otis also wrote a good number of songs that were recorded exclusively by other singers.Otis’s songs were covered extensively both during his lifetime and posthumously. The sheer number of covers is very impressive, especially as he was only five years into his career when he was killed in a plane crash in late 1967.Here, then, are just over two dozen excellent versions of Otis’ songs, sung mostly by people whose names will be almost as familiar as his is to students of soul music.Six of the 25 tracks are new to CD, while three of those six are receiving their first issue here. Individually they sound terrific; collectively they show just how respected Otis was by his fellow artists during his lifetime and how that respect has carried on following his untimely death.

Track Listing:

1. These Arms Of Mine - Albert Washington & The Kings

2. Sister Pitiful - Judy Clay

3. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now) - William Bell

4. Baby Cakes - Maxine Brown

5. Think About It - King Floyd

6. Shout Bamalama - Mickey Murray

7. Security - Irma Thomas

8. I’ve Got Dreams To Remember - Percy Sledge

9. Give Away None Of My Love - Buddy Miles

10. I’m Missing You - Mitty Collier

11. I Can’t Turn You Loose - James Carr

12. Chained And Bound - Bettye Swann

13. Just One More Day - Clarence Carter

14. Wholesale Love - Arthur Conley

15. Hawg For You - Tina Britt

16. Loving By The Pound (Tk 2) - Otis Redding

17. Hard To Handle - Patti Drew

18. A Year, A Month And A Day - Arthur Conley

19. Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa (Sad Song) - Lou Rawls

20. Monkey On My Back-Jackie Hairston

21. Keep Pushing Me - James & Bobby Purify

22. Good To Me - Donald Height

23. Respect - Aretha Franklin

24. (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay - The Staple Singers

25. I Got The Will - Etta James