Sunday night, listening to Otis Redding. Otis had way more than just a great voice. For me, when I hear “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long”, I believe every word he says. Pure power and emotion can’t be faked. He was the real deal and these records are the real deal. I hear the first acapella notes of “These Arms Of Mine” and I realize why things like American Idol and mainstream radio are superfllous.

Great band tracks on this stuff too. You know me; I’m a geek for how the records were made and who were the sidemen. If you’ve ever seen the first Blues Brothers movie you saw some of these guys like Steve Cropper (long haired guitar player) and Duck Dunn (pipe smoking bass player). Anyway, it was a funny movie but it in no way does justice to those players.

Cropper never plays a note that doesn’t make a song better. His tele tone is always impeccable. He is somewhat of a sandbagger because he can play strong lead guitar but he usually defers, probably because he thinks it won’t improve the song. If you are a guitar player and want to know how good Steve is, listen to anything he played on and try to make the chords sound that clean, smooth, on time and have bite. Good writer too, there’s a long list of songs that have Cropper on the credits but start with “Dock Of The Bay”.

Duck Dunn is so unique in that he can place any given note ahead, behind, or dead on the beat and never make the wrong choice. If you’re not a musician, that probably makes no sense so, just know that it’s a rare talent and a big part of why you sway when you hear those songs.

Drummer Al Jackson, man I don’t know where to begin. Controlled power, powerful and subtle at the same time. A lot of drummers can hit hard but aren’t always musical, just loud. Al played hard but always grooved, always played for the song. I was listening to “Personal Manager” by Albert King the other day and I thought, “Man that snare is cracking, I never heard a guy hit a snare like that”.

And I have to mention Booker T. Jones. He was the keyboard man on these records and for that matter most of the stuff on the Stax and Volt labels. He was Booker of Booker T. and the MG’s the very successful “side” project for all these guys. King of the Hammond B3, “Green Onions”, “Time Is Tight”, he is a stylist. I saw Booker a few years ago and after the show a keyboard player friend asked me “How did Booker play?”. All I could say was, elegant.

Al Jackson

Al Jackson

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