Otis Blue
Otis Bluehas always been that rarest of beasts: a '60s soul album that could actually have been made as an album, rather than as a slapdash assortment of singles and fillers. The point being that there is no filler among these eleven classic Redding tracks that range from the crisp stomp of "Respect" and the Stones' "Satisfaction" to the touching pop of the Temps "My Girl" and Sam Cookes "Wonderful World"--not forgetting, of course, the heart-rending anguish of "Ole Man Trouble" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long."Otis Bluecaptures Redding at the very peak of his raw, unpolished powers, with the peerlessly punchy backing of Booker T. and the MGs.--Barney Hoskyns