Bob Buchanan/Michael Ochs Archives/ Getty ImagesToday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that late soul legend Otis Redding‘s classic song “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” hit #1 on the Billboard pop and R&B singles chart.
Redding co-wrote the tune with Booker T. and the MG’s guitarist Steve Cropper and recorded it during two sessions at Memphis’ Stax Studios, on November 22 and December 7, 1967. Three days after the latter session, Otis was killed in a plane crash while traveling to a show in Madison, Wisconsin.
“(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” was released as a single on January 8, 1968, and also was included on the posthumous Redding album Dock of the Bay, which hit stores the following month. The song spent four weeks on the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first posthumous single ever to hit #1 on the chart.
As part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations in honor “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” a new archival album titled Dock of the Bay Sessions, featuring some of the final recordings made by Redding, will be released on May 18 as a CD, a 180-gram vinyl LP, a digital download and via streaming services.
The 12-track collection is made up of previously released songs put together to mimic what the album Otis was working on at the time of his death might have sounded like. Besides the title track, the record includes the posthumous Redding singles “Hard to Handle,” “The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)” and “Amen.”
Dock of the Bay Sessions was compiled with the full endorsement of the Redding family, with input from Otis biographer Jonathan Gould.
Here’s the full Dock of the Bay Sessions track list:
“(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay”
“Think About It”
“Hard To Handle”
“The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)”
“Love Man”
“Direct Me”
“I’ve Got Dreams to Remember”
“Champagne and Wine”
“Pounds and Hundreds (LBS + 100s)”
“I’m a Changed Man”
“Gone Again”
“Amen”
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