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http://www.music-avenue.net

http://www.musicmeter.nl/album/413049

Soul

Mp3 320 kbps

With his star in the ascendant and seemingly on course to achieve great things he perished on the way to a gig (along with six other people, including members of the Bar-Kays) when his twin-engined plane inexplicably plunged into the icy waters of a lake near Madison, Wisconsin. On that fateful day, soul music lost one of its brightest young talents; a singer-songwriter who was just twenty-seven years old. Ironically, Otis's fame grew exponentially after his death and a tune that he had recorded just prior to the plane crash was released in early 1968 and gave him his first US pop and R&B number one.  That song was the iconic '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay,' which also reached number three in the UK.

Since that time a spate of posthumous releases, CD reissues and the appearance of his songs on movie soundtracks has ensured that Otis Redding and his music is not forgotten. His wife, Zelma, is in charge of her husband's estate and also runs the Otis Redding Foundation alongside other members of the family - it's not just about preserving his legacy but also espouses some of the causes that Otis Redding believed in and assists young people with educational aspirations via the Otis Redding Memorial Fund and Scholarship Foundation.

To coincide with the release of 'The King Of Soul,' a new 4-CD retrospective on Rhino Records, SJF's Charles Waring talks exclusively to Otis Redding's wife, Zelma, and their son Otis III, who share their memories of the charismatic and inspirational raw-voiced singer-songwriter from Georgia...