OTIS REDDING LIVE IN EUROPE out on CD!

[gremashlo]

While out on an anniversary shopping spree and an afternoon of relaxing with Missus Gremashlo and the younger Grems, we stopped off at a local independent record store (Homer's),and, lo and behold, they had "Otis Redding Live in London and Paris", which is the complete concert tapes made in 1966 during the legendary Stax/Volt Tour that year--Atco would combine the two to make "Otis Redding Live In Europe"...which has been widely considered one of the greatest live albums ever released.

I'd recently started playing "Live" again (my vinyl copy), and wished that it was out on CD--and now I'm listening to "Can't Turn You Loose" with its incredible breathless vocal break--

"I know you think I'm gonna stop now...ain't gonna stop--we're goin' one time...Rockin' now--THREE-FAWR!!!"

I STILL get chills whenever I hear it.

The CD has the London show, along with the Paris show, which is longer due to curfews in London limiting their show. "Live in Europe" is essentially the Paris show.

One eye (and ear)-opener was the ending to "Try a Little Tenderness"...Every performance I'd ever heard or seen had the usual "Otis leaves--audience begs for more--Otis comes back for one more tear through the chorus", but on the Stax/Volt tour, Otis would come back on one more time, along with various Stax/Volt artists who sand "Tenderness" with him!

Truly worth the $12 if you can find it...

[m c dornan]

Cool! I haven't got that, but I have a little live Redding- the Hendrix & Redding LP (live at Monterey Pop).

[gremashlo]

Apr 12, 2009 21:01:38 GMT -5 m c dornan said:

Cool! I haven't got that, but I have a little live Redding- the Hendrix & Redding LP (live at Monterey Pop).

I've got that on vinyl and on video--HBO released the whole DA Pennebaker-filmed portion of Redding's performance in the early 1980's...sadly, since he was the last on the bill, he ran into Monterey's curfew, and could only perform an abbreviated set...

Plus, considering that he would be dead in five months (and there was precious little of him filmed live), Pennebaker's cameramen ran out of film! If you catch "Try a Little Tenderness" on YouTube, or if you can get a hold of HBO's special, you can see where they suddenly start showing clips of various women that were attending the concert (one You Tube poster calls it the "damn chick montage")...they used that for filler, as they literally had no film of the last song until towards the end...

For what it's worth, overall the Monterey concert is better, because it is recorded better, and Redding sings like a man possessed--it's almost like he KNEW this was his only shot to cross over...

[dave910]

Hi Grem,

I don't own Otis Live in Europe. However, one year for my birthday, my friend Jody gave me a copy of "Otis Redding In Person At The Whiskey A Go Go". It's a great live CD. I recommend it highly. I always felt Otis was maturing as an artist when he recorded "Dock of the Bay." Who knows what kind of records he would have made had he lived.

[Ken]

That Monterey Pop footage of Otis is awesome.


I have a CBC TV interview with author / musicologist Rob Bowman who was talking about the history of Stax records (he did the liner notes for the Stax box set, and wrote the book Soulsville USA).

He was discussing Otis and while he was talking some video of Otis recorded at the CBC studios in '67 was shown, and Otis was kicking butt!

[gremashlo]

Apr 22, 2009 23:16:13 GMT -5 dave910 said:

Hi Grem,

I don't own Otis Live in Europe. However, one year for my birthday, my friend Jody gave me a copy of "Otis Redding In Person At The Whiskey A Go Go". It's a great live CD. I recommend it highly. I always felt Otis was maturing as an artist when he recorded "Dock of the Bay." Who knows what kind of records he would have made had he lived.

I've never heard the "Whiskey" album, but I've heard from many people--Rolling Stone's album reviews, for one--that it is his best live album...gotta do some searchin'...