Otis Redding and the Crescendo
Try a Little Tenderness
This post will turn focus towards the soulful Otis Redding, whose music is worthy of introspection for many reasons. As a singer Otis’ voice was capable of a kind of raw emotion that has not been matched to this day. As a performer Otis’ presence was dominant and infectious. As a songwriter and interpreter he brought to many songs a kind of signature heated closing crescendo that always left a listener wanting more. This post will make liberal use of embedded videos capturing select songs and performances. In fact I would consider my contribution of narration as secondary to the experience of taking in these songs, and if a reader prefers to skip the prose and head straight for the music I would not only understand I would consider it justified — the written word will always pale in impact to a performance from the likes of Redding.
We’ll begin with Otis’ most recognizable song, the subdued and solemn Sitting On The Dock of the Bay. I have mixed feelings that this is the song that kept the most airplay over the years. Stylistically it was a departure from most of Otis’ earlier work. Its posthumous release came following the tragic early passing of the icon in 1967. Like Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl, the extent of its success has perhaps overshadowed the full catalog of the singer, which has considerable depth especially considering the too brief five years of recording. The arrangement tells a story of loneliness and resignation (the closest I’ve felt of this vibe in modern release was perhaps John Mayer’s Waiting On the World to Change). It is part of the mastery of Otis that he could capture a range of pure emotions in his voice even independent of the melody, and the quiet introspection of this piece takes on more depth when you contrast with the bulk of his catalog which carried a quite less subdued tone, although this was not his only sad song.
Missing from the Dock of the Bay is a subtle feature I find unique to this artist that can be found in many of his studio recordings. I will refer to this effect as a kind of crescendo, but that isn’t really the proper term, as it’s not a climb in dynamic volume. Instead it is a kind of rise in the intensity and emotional affect of the voice, usually saved for the closing bars, sometimes only even for a few short beats as the track fades, but always carrying the arc of intensity to a high point. I am reminded of movies where the bulk of the story serves as a setup for pivotal final scenes, think A Few Good Men’s courtroom interrogation, Animal House’s epic homecoming parade, or just about any sports movie’s final contest. Kurt Vonnegut suggested a graphical representation of story arcs to describe the shapes of stories, a concept that has even been born out in a data mining study that found 6 signature plot arcs across a range of complex narratives.
The subtle but characteristic arc of an Otis Redding song won’t be found in a plot or story, but primarily in the emotional affect of his voice. For a representative demonstration of the effect I would suggest Try a Little Tenderness.
The high point of this track doesn’t come until the very end — around the 3:00 mark, those brief three syllables of “Na Na Na” just pulls your heart strings. Perhaps it should be considered a compliment that Kanye and Jay-Z felt high enough of these same bars to loop a sample on Otis, their somewhat juvenile attempt at a grandstanding player anthem tribute whose primary redeeming feature is this same sample, however it’s used in such a rushed fashion that much of it’s effect is lost. The genius of the original Tenderness bar isn’t in the raw but catchy three syllables, it is in the extended preceding crescendo and the immediate drop-off of the track’s closing. The effect of Kanye and Z’s take is like a EDM track with no gradual climb in intensity or bass drop, but merely jumping into a three minute straight wham bam climax — and where’s the fun in that? I mean perhaps if you’re in a hurry or something but then you end up a plot arc of a simple horizontal line, wouldn’t you rather play a a a song that first grabbed your emotions with a little tenderness before reaching a climax?
Although most of his chart toppers were works in which he either wrote alone or shared writing credit with friends, Otis’ albums are also sprinkled with covers of his idols, and like Joe Cocker he had a certain flair for touching these songs with an energy that made them his own.
It is this energy, this emoted intensity and depth of soul that became Otis’ trademark. He had the kind of voice a singer isn’t born with, but earns over years of hardships and toils, and yet Otis had this already in his 20’s. From just hearing his voice you picture a knowing old timer, hands withered from labor and fingers calloused from strumming the blues, with wrinkles around his eyes and a tremor in his pose, a grizzly Muddy Waters hunched in a chair on stage.
But this wasn’t Otis at all. Otis was still and will always be remembered young, he towered over his musicians with the presence of a football player. All that subtle energy that he used to close his recordings, that certain intensity always saved for the closing bars and fade-aways? It turns out those weren’t a gimmick at all, elicited from the producers to sell records. This was the real Otis! This was his true commanding and electric presence behind a microphone. On stage it was not enough to tap a foot or clap to a rhythm, an Otis performance carries one through a RUSH of adrenaline. On camera he had the swing and swagger of Jagger, the intensity of Cocker, a raw and almost profane energy that was off the f-ing charts! Otis may be best known for his studio recordings, but in concert you see at once this was a man BORN TO SING!
*For further readings please check out my Table of Contents, Book Recommendations, and Music Recommendations.
Albums that were referenced here or otherwise inspired this post:
Otis Blue — Otis Redding
The Dock of the Bay — Otis Redding
Dictionary of Soul — Otis Redding
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I’m writing these for fun and hopefully to make a few new connections along the way. I can also be reached on twitter at @_NicT_.
For further readings please check out my Table of Contents, Book Recommendations, and Music Recommendations.
