THE MAN
Born in Dawson, Ga., Otis Redding, Jr. and his family moved to Macon when he was two years old. At an early age, he began his career as a singer and musician in the choir of the Vineville Baptist Church. He attended Ballard Hudson High School and participated in the school band. As a teenager, he began to compete in the Douglass Theatre talent shows for the five-dollar prize. After winning 15 times straight, Otis was no longer allowed to compete.
THE MUSIC
THE SONG
It was unlike anything Redding had ever written, influenced by his admiration for the Beatles’ classic “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album. Otis played The Beatles’ album constantly during a week he had spent on a houseboat in Sausalito when performing at San Francisco’s Basin Street West in August 1967. Just sitting’ on the dock, looking out at the bay, it’s easy to see where Otis got the inspiration for the song, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay”.
