Otis Redding In Person At The Whisky A Go-Go CD

Personnel: Otis Redding (vocals); James Young (guitar); Robert Holloway, Robert Pittman, Donald Henry, Albrisco Clark (tenor saxophone); Sammy Coleman, John Farris (trumpet); Clarence Johnson Jr. (trombone); Ralph Stewart (bass); Elbert Woodson (drums).
Recorded live at the Whiskey A Go Go, Los Angeles, California on March 31, 1966.
Originally released on Atco (33-265). Includes original release liner notes by Pete Johnson.
Digitally remastered by Bill Inglot and Dan Hersch.
This album, released posthumously, captured Otis Redding's show at the Whisky A Go Go from April of 1966 in Los Angeles. What is essential here was that it captured Otis Redding's sound in a small club with his own touring band, as opposed to his work on stage with Booker T. & the MG's -- an ideal band, to be sure, which is why they were sent over to Europe with him and why they were at Monterey with him a year later, but not the group that Redding normally worked on stage with. This album is closer to how Otis Redding sounded in the years coming up and working his way to the top, and the way that his original audience on the chitlin' circuit heard him. The singer and his band (including a pair of tenor saxes, a trombone, and four trumpets, with James Young, Ralph Stewart, and Elbert Woodson pounding out the rhythm on guitar, bass, and drums, respectively, go through roaring versions of "Respect," "I Can't Turn You Loose," "These Arms of Mine," "Pain in My Heart," "Satisfaction" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and four more, in Redding's only full-length recording in a small-scale setting. They may not have the musical elegance of Booker T. and company, but they create this intense, hypnotic sound that is spellbinding. The set itself lasts less than 40 minutes but the singer and his band are so energetic, that it doesn't feel short or lacking. This album was, in more ways than one, Redding's equivalent to Sam Cooke's Live At The Harlem Square Club, and just as essential. Reissued in 1992 on the Atco label through Rhino Records. ~ Bruce Eder
When Otis Redding played L.A.'s Whisky A Go Go in the spring of 1966, crossover fame was still awaiting him at the Monterey Pop Festival the following summer. This didn't keep a vociferous following (including Bob Dylan and his entourage) from filling up the club to experience the charismatic Redding. Backed by an anonymous band that included a seven-piece horn section, the soulful Georgian opened the set with a rip-snorting version of his "I Can't Turn You Loose," (which the Blues Brothers appropriated as part of their theme over a decade later).
He kept the juices flowing with piston-pumping covers of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag," giving James Brown a run for his money. Redding's gruff voice caressed "Mr. Pitiful" and manhandled the self-penned "Respect" (which Aretha Franklin scored a hit with the next year.) But it was on slower numbers such as the yearning "These Arms Of Mine" where Redding dug deep for the pathos and pain that made him such a soul icon.Q (2/93, p.92) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...showcases Redding at his up-tempo frantic and frenetic best..."