Once Upon a Time at the Top of the Charts: Otis Redding, The Dock of the Bay

47 years ago today, Otis Redding posthumously earned the first and only UK #1 in his career with the album that produced a title track which became the late R&B artist’s signature song.

After Redding died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967, at age 26, it didn’t take long for Atco Records to dip into the various as-yet-unreleased recordings that Redding had made over the course of his all-too-brief life and come up with an 11-track compilation to serve as an epitaph of sorts for the singer. As it turned out, it wasn’t just a one-album epitaph – Redding had been prolific enough that they were actually able to release several posthumous efforts – but none of the others came anywhere close to delivering the impact of The Dock of the Bay, due to its title track, which led off the album.

Although The Dock of the Bay may have been an effort to capitalize on Redding’s death, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s an extremely strong album, one which features a number of solid tracks, including the additional singles “The Glory of Love” and “I Love You More Than Words Can Say.” Critics loved it, and audiences felt the same way, although American audiences didn’t receive it quite as rapturously as the Brits: although it topped the R&B charts, it halted its Billboard Top 200 ascent at #9. That said, it’s still seen as one of Redding’s strongest sets, one which instantly made his death – and the loss of his considerable musical talent – seem all the more tragic.