OTIS REDDING – AT THE WHISKY-A-GOGO LOS ANGELES LP – Nr MINT/EXC+ A1/B1 UK MONO 1968 SOUL

Otis Redding – At The Whisky-A-GoGo Los Angeles
(Atlantic Records  1968  587148  Mono  Atlantic Plum Label)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

Front Laminated Sleeve in Excellent condition
– some wear to edges, some thumbnail creases to laminate and some discolouration marks on back

Vinyl in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Otis Ray Redding, Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger, and talent scout. Considered one of the major figures in soul music and rhythm and blues, and one of the greatest singers in the history of popular music, his open-throated style influenced other soul artists of the 1960s, and he helped to craft the lean and powerful style of R&B that formed the basis of the Stax Sound. After appearing at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, he wrote and recorded “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” with Steve Cropper, which became the first posthumous number-one record on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts after his death in a plane crash. The Dock of the Bay reached number one on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the first posthumous album to do so.

Born and raised in Georgia, United States, at age 15 Redding left school to support his family by working with Little Richard’s backing band, the Upsetters, and by performing at talent shows for prize money. In 1958, he joined Johnny Jenkins’s band, the Pinetoppers, and toured the Southern United States while serving as driver and musician. An unscheduled appearance on a session led to a turning point in his career. He signed a contract with Stax Records and released his first single, “These Arms of Mine”, in 1962. Stax released Redding’s debut album, Pain in My Heart, two years later.

Initially popular mainly with African Americans, Redding later became equally popular among the broader American public. He and his group first played small gigs in the South, then performed at the Whisky a Go Go nightclub, their first concert in the western United States. Internationally, Redding also performed in Paris and London among other venues. Redding’s death devastated Stax, a label on the verge of bankruptcy, which later discovered that Atlantic Records owned the rights to his entire catalog. Redding received many posthumous accolades, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Because of his influence on other artists, he received the honorific “King of Soul”.

In Person at the Whisky a Go Go is a live album by Otis Redding, recorded at the Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, California in April 1966. It was released posthumously in 1968. The recording was made before Otis Redding attained crossover fame at the Monterey Pop Festival.

The original issue of the album presented a selection of songs from the three shows. Another selection was released in 1993 under the title Good to Me: Live at the Whisky a Go Go, Vol. 2. The complete live performances were released on October 21, 2016.

Track listing

Personnel

• Otis Redding – vocals
• James Young – guitar
• Robert Holloway – tenor saxophone
• Robert Pittman – tenor saxophone
• Donald Henry – tenor saxophone
• Sammy Coleman – trumpet
• John Farris – trumpet
• Clarence Johnson – trombone
• Katie Webster – piano
• Ralph Stewart – bass guitar
• Elbert Woodson – drums