The concept of actually going inside the building without hassle was not even considered. The news was out that Otis was in Hollywood and I just wanted to see Otis Redding’s name on the Whisky A Go Go marquee. My local West Hollywood library was down the same street from the Whisky A Go Go on San Vincente Blvd. Occasionally, when Redding and other R&B acts played the Whisky in 1966-1970, I was outside the club as a young teenager. In addition, we caught “Just One More Day” from another Redding TV appearance the same day on Hollywood A Go-Go. Los Angeles music lovers and television children had already seen Redding in December 1965 when “Pain In My Heart” was broadcast in a TV performance on Dick Clark’s Where The Action Is. Just before his ’66 Whisky stint, Redding on April 2, performed at the Hollywood Bowl as part of a KHJ-produced “Appreciation Concert” to play both the Hollywood Bowl (as part of a KHJ-AM listener appreciation concert to benefit The Braille Institute of America.) The Hollywood Bowl show included Donovan, Sonny & Cher, Bob Lind, the Knickerbockers, the Turtles, Jan & Dean, the Modern Folk Quintet and the Mamas & the Papas, and then his four-nighter at the Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip. Petulance and being pissed off is not bad either,” he added, “but it’s not a noble emotion and Otis was more noble.” Whereas Jagger just sounds kinds of petulant and pissed off. What Otis does with it is that the person might not be satisfied but at least he has survived enough to tell the tale of his dissatisfaction. “I think Otis sings it more as a song of triumph than a song of frustration. “I think Otis’ arrangement of ‘Satisfaction’ is more urgent than the Stones,” volunteered Dr James Cushing, a now retired Cal Poly San Luis Obispo English and Literature professor, who for years was a deejay on KEBF-FM. Two Otis Redding numbers-“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)” and “Respect”-had cracked the Pop Top 40, and a number of his recordings inspired covers by rock ’n’ roll bands, especially the Rolling Stones and his version of the group’s best-known song, “Satisfaction” was soaring up the singles charts in April 1966. R&B soul radio stations played Redding regularly and touted his anticipating visit to Sunset Blvd. The city was already deep into the Redding repertoire. On Octoour Los Angeles radio station KHJ “Boss 30” record play listed “Respect” as number 14. In the tradition of the R&B tours and whistle stops of the era, Redding also hand-picked some singing protégés including the keyboardist in his group, Katie Webster, Carl Sims and Kitty Lane for the club date. Redding’s band for that long weekend were Holloway, Robert Pittman, Donald Henry (tenor saxophones), Sammy Coleman, John Farris (trumpets), Clarence Johnson, Jr (trombone), James Young (guitar), Ralph Stewart (bass), Elbert Woodson (drums). In ’66, the club had booked the Otis Redding Revue and entourage which included an emcee and a full 10-piece band (led by saxophonist Robert Holloway) coupled with three up-and-coming singers who were allowed one tune apiece before he entered the famed Whisky stage in Hollywood. The Whisky had already initiated an integrated patron and live music booking policy that welcomed Otis and company with open arms. Located at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Clark Street it was owned and operated by Elmer Valentine and Mario Maglieri, two former cops from Chicago. Engineer Wally Heider, the West Coast’s leading recorder of live performances, was hired to tape three nights of Redding’s run at the Whisky-two sets on Friday, April 8, and three the next night and two on Sunday. The collection includes some of Redding’s best-known songs: “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long,” “Security,” “I Can’t Turn You Loose,” “Satisfaction,” “Respect,” “These Arms of Mine” and “Just One More Day.”įor Otis Redding, a live recording in 1966 was a very logical career move: His manager and record label (respectively, Phil Walden and Volt, a Stax subsidiary) were seeking to further Redding’s crossover potential and expand his established audience. This is a definitive live statement from Redding and songs are sequenced exactly as they went down. The Rising Sons were the opening attraction. The original album supervision was by Neshui Ertegun from the Whisky A Go Go April 9-10, 1966 club dates. Consider purchasing this product for a holiday gift. This current Live on the Sunset Strip is on Stax Records label through Concord Music Group. Over the decades it’s been reissued and re-released in various configurations, most recently in 2018, marketed as Live On The Sunset Strip, culled from three full sets of his Whisky A Go Go shows in 1966. It was culled from Redding’s 1966 engagement at the landmark venue. In October of 1968 I held a copy of the Otis Redding Live at the Whisky A Go Go LP the first day it was available at Wallichs Music City in Hollywood.
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