1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:18,920 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:23,799 Speaker 1: Otis Redding are insane. He was nearly shot by James 3 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,480 Speaker 1: Brown while performing at an after hours club. He played 4 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: sweet soul music in fratthouses full of KKK sympathizers, where 5 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: one wrong move could accost him his life. He took 6 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:39,200 Speaker 1: the stage in his hometown despite a threat to his life, 7 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: scared to death that he would be murdered in front 8 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: of thousands. But Otis Redding was, to quote the former 9 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:50,479 Speaker 1: vice president of his record label, an overcomer. He overcame danger, 10 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: violence and fear in order to focus his sights on 11 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:55,960 Speaker 1: the top of the charts, and not just the R 12 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: and B charts, the pop charts. He did this at 13 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: a time I'm of great social upheaval and change, and 14 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: he did it with great music, some of the most 15 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,400 Speaker 1: definitive music of the nineteen sixties, music that endures, satisfies, 16 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:15,600 Speaker 1: and still demands rispect. Unlike that clip, I played a 17 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: few at the top of the show that wasn't great music. 18 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my melotron called Interstitial 19 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:28,760 Speaker 1: Elevator MK one. I played you that loop because I 20 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: can't afford the rights to Daydream Believer by the Monkeys, 21 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: And why would I play you that specific slice of 22 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:40,760 Speaker 1: Sleepy Jean Cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was 23 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: the number one song in America on December tenth, nineteen 24 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: sixty seven, And that was the day that Otis Redding's 25 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: Beach eighteen airplane crashed into the frigid waters of Wisconsin's 26 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 1: Lake Monona before he was able to reach his destination 27 00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: and realize his dreams. On this episode, a James Brown shootout, 28 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: a fatal plane crash, Sleepy Jean Cheese and Otis Redding. 29 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:44,440 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland. Johnny Yea spun 30 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,359 Speaker 1: the cylinder of his twenty two revolver and then snapped 31 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 1: it shut with a flick of his wrists. He cocked 32 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: the hammer and pointed the barrel at one of the 33 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: women standing around backstage. He pulled the trigger and the 34 00:02:56,080 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: hammer went click, but no bullet. The woman and jumped. 35 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 1: The small crowd backstage screamed. Johnny laughed. The revolver wasn't loaded. 36 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: The thing didn't shoot here, Johnny said. Watch. Johnny opened 37 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: the cylinder again, spun it, snapped it closed, cocked the hammer, 38 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: and this time shoved the barrel against the temple of 39 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: his girlfriend, who was sitting in his lap. He pulled 40 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: the trigger, the hammer clicked, no bullet. The people in 41 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:31,720 Speaker 1: the room screamed, and once again Johnny laughed. Like many 42 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: young singers who suddenly find themselves famous, Johnny Ace wasn't 43 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: exactly sure how to deal with it all. He had 44 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: a number one record on the R and B chart. 45 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: It wasn't a crossover hit, but few, if any black 46 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: artists playing the Chitlin Circuit in nineteen fifty four could 47 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:50,440 Speaker 1: brag about white audiences and pop charts. The Chitlin Circuit 48 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 1: it was a string of black owned nightclubs that existed 49 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 1: outside the white mainstream and outside the law. The circuit 50 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: wasn't just music. The circuit dice games. The circuit was 51 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: bootleg liquor. The circuit was the big wheel in the 52 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: back room, spinning three cent bets odds two hundred to one. 53 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: The ubiquitous numbers game aka the bug as and I 54 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: caught the numbers bug was catching the bug better or 55 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: worse than getting caught by a switchblade or a signer. 56 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: Either way, the white cops and politicians looked the other way, 57 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,920 Speaker 1: as long as they got their piece. As a performer, 58 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: we learned how to navigate it. All the vice, the crime, 59 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 1: the things you had to do to survive. But navigating 60 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: fame that wasn't so easy. Getting drunk, heald getting laid 61 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,719 Speaker 1: was better. But a superstitious ritual with a revolver seemed 62 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,679 Speaker 1: to help Johnny aace. Most of all. It was nearly 63 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 1: midnight on Christmas Day. Break time was over. Johnny was 64 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,920 Speaker 1: needed back on the bandstand. The show must go on. 65 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: But before we returned to the stage, Johnny had time 66 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:00,520 Speaker 1: for one last run through his party trick. He picked 67 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: up the twenty two, spun it, snapped it, cocked it. 68 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,360 Speaker 1: Then he pressed the barrel tight against his head, and 69 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: he pulled the trigger. The bullet exploded from the twenty 70 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: two's chamber and entered Johnny's head. Blood painted the walls 71 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: in the floor of the small room. Johnny Ace fell 72 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: to the floor dead. Maybe Johnny forgot that he put 73 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,160 Speaker 1: a bullet in the chamber, or maybe he knew it 74 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:31,119 Speaker 1: was there, or maybe, as one story went, the self 75 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: inflicted fatal shot was a scheme cooked up by his 76 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: record label boss, who took unlikely inspiration from Hank Williams, 77 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: dead for about two years now, yet more alive than 78 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:46,000 Speaker 1: ever on the country charts, And if that scheme is 79 00:05:46,040 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: to be believed, it worked because in death Johnny as 80 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: crossed over not just to the other side of this 81 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,480 Speaker 1: mortal coil, to the other side of the racial divide. 82 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:59,560 Speaker 1: On the billboard charts. One month after shooting himself dead, 83 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:01,919 Speaker 1: he didn't just hold the number one spot on the 84 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: R and B charts, he cracked the top twenty on 85 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: the pop charts. The Chitlin circuit didn't stop to mourn 86 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:10,919 Speaker 1: the death of one of its own. There were wheels 87 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: to spend, bets to place, bugs to catch, and there 88 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,520 Speaker 1: was music to make. So the circuit kept moving from 89 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:21,760 Speaker 1: Houston over to Making, Georgia, where in the early nineteen sixties, 90 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,320 Speaker 1: a young Otis Redding, barely out of his teens, and 91 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: his band, the Pine Toppers, were playing a lad show 92 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,840 Speaker 1: at a juke joint called Club fifteen. Otis was the 93 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: band's singer, but he wasn't the star. Johnny Jenkins, the 94 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: guitar player. All eyes were on him. He had flash, 95 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:41,039 Speaker 1: he had style, He moved when he played. Otis, on 96 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: the other hand, he moved about as much as he 97 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: played at Chitlins. Otis was awkwardly uncomfortable. He wasn't smooth. 98 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:50,840 Speaker 1: He sounded like a Sam Cook knock off one minute 99 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: and a little rich wannabe the next. And he had 100 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,599 Speaker 1: this weird quaver in his voice. You really heard it 101 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: when he sang ballads, sad sack ballads, real woe is 102 00:06:59,839 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: me sit the way he looked, how he sounded, the 103 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 1: songs he's sang. When you added it all up, Otis 104 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: Redding was just pitiful, so pitiful that it became his 105 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: calling card. A DJ in Memphis called a mister Pitiful, 106 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 1: and the nickname stuck. But Otis wasn't going to be 107 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: just some DJ's punchline. He was determined, He was committed. 108 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: He was an overcomer. He knew how to take feedback 109 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: and use it to get better, used it to sound 110 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:29,239 Speaker 1: not like Sam Cook or Little Richard, but like Otis Redding. 111 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,440 Speaker 1: And not by turning his back on mister Pittiful, but 112 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: by using mister Pitiful to his advantage, maybe then he 113 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: could get a taste of life beyond the Chitlin circuit, 114 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: out there in the unknown, the big stages, the white stages, 115 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: the places guys like Johnny Ace never got to see. 116 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: Otis Redding had no doubt he could be huge tonight. However, 117 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: Otis and the Pine Toppers were far from the biggest 118 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,880 Speaker 1: thing and making let alone the entire country. Tonight, Georgia's 119 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: own James Brown was performing at the City Auditorium, though 120 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 1: his hometown was two hours away in Augusta. James was 121 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 1: loved by making like he was their own, but James 122 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: didn't love the show. Joe Tex was his opening act, 123 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: and James had history with Joe, a history of answer 124 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: songs and beef records, completely driven by ego and pride, 125 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 1: and during his opening set, Joe had the balls to 126 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 1: parody James Brown's famous cape routine in James Brown's home state, 127 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: so James Brown lost his shift. After the show, James 128 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: followed Joe over to Club fifteen, where Otis and the 129 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:37,600 Speaker 1: Pinetoppers were in the middle of their set. James Brown 130 00:08:37,640 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: didn't give a shit about Otis Redding's music. James Brown 131 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,400 Speaker 1: was on a mission. He walked into the juke joint 132 00:08:43,440 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: caring not one, but two shotguns, and James Brown didn't 133 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: walk around with zero bullets in the chamber. Like Johnny Ace, 134 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: James Brown's shotguns were locked and loaded. The pinetoppers didn't 135 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:01,000 Speaker 1: hear the first few shots over them, but the way 136 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: the crowd was starting to scurry he told him something 137 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:07,520 Speaker 1: wasn't right. The band stopped playing and the audience was frantic. 138 00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:10,920 Speaker 1: They were screaming, hiding under tables, and running for the door. 139 00:09:11,840 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: Then Otis heard it, the sound of mister dynamite shotgun 140 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: firing into a massive people. There was a flash and 141 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,439 Speaker 1: a bang, and then smoke and chaos. Someone was hit 142 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: by a shell and fell to the hardwood floor. James 143 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: Brown reloaded. Fucked that Joe Tex, motherfucker. He fired again. 144 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: Otis Redding shuddered. Another innocent bystander, whose name was not 145 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: Joe Tex, was hit by a spray of shells. Now, 146 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:42,000 Speaker 1: there was blood all over the hardwood floor. Otis panicked. 147 00:09:42,920 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: Fuck he was seconds away from becoming collateral damage. He 148 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:50,360 Speaker 1: took cover. Mister Pitiful hid behind the drum set. This 149 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: was some bullshit. All that time ODIs spent working dead 150 00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:56,679 Speaker 1: end jobs here, making pumping gas and digging wells to 151 00:09:56,760 --> 00:09:58,559 Speaker 1: finally make it to the state of a juke joint 152 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: club to have his name out there, only to have 153 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:05,600 Speaker 1: it all in now like this, Now, that would be pitiful. 154 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:11,320 Speaker 1: James Brown soon ran out of ammo or energy, or 155 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:13,560 Speaker 1: maybe he just gave up once he realized that Joe 156 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:16,679 Speaker 1: Tex had made us escape. Unlike the six or seven 157 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: people who were shot that night. Joe Tex got lucky, 158 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,839 Speaker 1: and so did Otis Redding. But you can't live life 159 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 1: on luck alone. Otis Redding knew this. You have to 160 00:10:28,360 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: make your own luck in the world, especially grinding it 161 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: out in the Chitlin circuit, where bad luck was just 162 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:38,599 Speaker 1: a toss of the dice away. Otis wasn't gambling. Otis 163 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: was betting, betting on himself. He was determined to make it. 164 00:10:44,080 --> 00:11:15,800 Speaker 1: He was committed. Otis Redding was an overcomer. The show 165 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: was scripted. They all were first. You come out blazing, sweaty, 166 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,079 Speaker 1: high octane R and B. You get the crowd in 167 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:25,199 Speaker 1: the palm of your hand. You can tell you got 168 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: them by the way they're drunkenly bouncing along to the beat, 169 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:29,400 Speaker 1: even if they are clapping on the one of the 170 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:32,079 Speaker 1: three instead of the two and the four. They take 171 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: swigs of old Milwaukee and foul staff from pull top cans. 172 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: They think you can't get any crazier, so you make 173 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: them think that they're right and bring things down. The 174 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: chicks eat that ballad shit up. Mister Pitiful, Who the 175 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,719 Speaker 1: fuck is that guy? The only guy feeling pitiful is 176 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:51,000 Speaker 1: the one who isn't you up on stage with that 177 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:53,679 Speaker 1: microphone in your hand. But you don't care about that 178 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: guy or any guys for that matter. It's the women 179 00:11:56,679 --> 00:11:58,720 Speaker 1: you get to worry about. They look at you with 180 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 1: lust in their eyes, like the mic you're holding in 181 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 1: your hand isn't a mic but something else. And then, 182 00:12:04,880 --> 00:12:07,160 Speaker 1: just as the women are fantasizing about you in your 183 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 1: big microphone, you ran things back up way even higher 184 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,360 Speaker 1: than the beginning of the show. You leave them stunned. 185 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: You leave them with what they wanted, but still wanting more. 186 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,920 Speaker 1: The dynamic shifts and notice writings evolving stage show in 187 00:12:21,960 --> 00:12:25,080 Speaker 1: the mid nineteen sixties allowed him to own that unshakable 188 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,480 Speaker 1: nickname on his own terms, but also step outside of 189 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: it shit. Even at a song now called mister Pitiful, 190 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: he was soft and hard. His true voice was emerging. 191 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: His confidence was building, and as Otis began to perform 192 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:43,360 Speaker 1: not just on the Chitlin circuit but at college fratthouse parties. 193 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: Visions of crossing over to the pop charts danced in 194 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,880 Speaker 1: his head, not that it would be that easy. At 195 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:52,959 Speaker 1: one point, Otis's guitar player fell to the floor, as 196 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:55,400 Speaker 1: if the music forced him there. It was meant to 197 00:12:55,400 --> 00:12:57,839 Speaker 1: look like a spontaneous move, but like the rest of 198 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:02,040 Speaker 1: his performance, it was one hundred percent. The girl was not. 199 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 1: She came from the audience of college kids and jumped 200 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: to the stage, straddling the guitar player from above. She 201 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,480 Speaker 1: tossed her hair, she grinded her body, She spread her 202 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: legs wide. Her short dress hung just inches from the 203 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,960 Speaker 1: guitar player's face from where he laid on his back. 204 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: The guitar slipped up into the dress to what was underneath, 205 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 1: and his eyes went wide. Otis's eyes went wide, too, 206 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 1: but not because he was getting a glimpse up some 207 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:30,079 Speaker 1: chick skirt. Because that girl on stage, the one straddling 208 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: Otis's guitar player, was white. Look around a frat house 209 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:38,520 Speaker 1: full of white kids, Otis and his band were the 210 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,720 Speaker 1: only black people in the room. The college kids were rowdy, 211 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,720 Speaker 1: They were horny at any moment. However, that youthful energy 212 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:48,400 Speaker 1: could sour All it took was one wrong move, one misstep. 213 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: All it took was for one white boy in the 214 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: crowd to misinterpret whatever it was that white girl was 215 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: doing on stage, and then suddenly Otis Redding would be 216 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: playing not just for drunk co eds, he'd be playing 217 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: for his life. Playing white colleges in the South was 218 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: good for expanding your reach beyond the Chiplin circuit, and 219 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,840 Speaker 1: necessary if you were going to crossover on the charts, 220 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:13,280 Speaker 1: but it brought its own set of challenges. That white 221 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,600 Speaker 1: girl wouldn't get in trouble for doing what she did, 222 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: The black musician would. Then Otis and the rest of 223 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 1: the band would too, guilty by association and guilty by 224 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: the color of their skin, even though they didn't do 225 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,600 Speaker 1: a damn thing wrong besides play the music that everyone 226 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: in the room wanted to hear. Otis and his band 227 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: breathed a collective sigh of relief when that night's unscripted 228 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: incident didn't escalate. They packed up their gear as quickly 229 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: as they could, and they got paid, or maybe they didn't. Honestly, 230 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: it didn't matter. Otis just wanted to get the fuck 231 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: out of there before his luck really ran out. As 232 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: he walked to the front door to leave, Otis spotted 233 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: three key racks mounted on the wall. Each rack was 234 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: a letter. Those letters weren't meant to just hang keys. 235 00:14:58,640 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: They inspired some sort of up pride to those who 236 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: lived there and to the guests who looked like Otis Redding. 237 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:10,880 Speaker 1: Those letters sent a message. The message said, k K K. 238 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: Such was the bullshit reality of the segregated South in 239 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: the mid nineteen sixties. But that's not how it was 240 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:29,320 Speaker 1: at Stax. Stax Records aka Soulsville, USA aka the Grits 241 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: to Boat Town's Gravy. Stax was Otis's new home. Stax 242 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,000 Speaker 1: wasn't just a place for some of the best soul 243 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,560 Speaker 1: music in America was being made. Stax was an idealistic 244 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:43,360 Speaker 1: vision of what America could be. That vision was written, recorded, 245 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: and released not only on Stax forty five's, but via 246 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: its subsidiary label Volt Records, as well as Atlantic Records. 247 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: The larger label Stacks had a distribution deal with Booker 248 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: T and the MG's Stax house band consisted of two 249 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: black players Booker T on Oregon and now Jackson gu 250 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: Near on drums, and two white players Steve Cropper on 251 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: guitar and Donald Duck Dunn on bass. One of the 252 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: first racially integrated bands in the country and arguably one 253 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:13,600 Speaker 1: of the best bands period. Perhaps only the Funk Brothers 254 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: over in Detroit could challenge the MGS for that title. 255 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: But unlike Motown, the sound of Stacks was sparse, was lean. 256 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 1: Stax just needed a star. The origin story about the 257 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: union of Otis and Stacks has been distorted into legend 258 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: over the years. No, there was not a studio full 259 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: of witnesses who saw God or saw the future of 260 00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:39,320 Speaker 1: rock and roll at Otis's debut Stack session. If anything, 261 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,360 Speaker 1: Otis was underseen the first time he sang into a 262 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: microphone at nine to twenty six East Maclamore Avenue. What 263 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: is true is that Otis made the track from Macon 264 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: to Memphis to show for his friend and fellow pinetopper 265 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: guitarist Johnny Jenkins to his own session Booktee in the 266 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: MGS thought Otis was just a valet. Jim Stewart, Stax's 267 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: co owner and producer running the session, was convinced to 268 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 1: let Otis have a go at recording when he found 269 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 1: out that he did more than drive. But the MGS 270 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:10,879 Speaker 1: weren't in the mood, backing up some country bumpkin and 271 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,439 Speaker 1: overalls Otis, who booker T had better shit to do. 272 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 1: Booker T bounced. Those who did remain at the session 273 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: for These Arms of Mine have conflicting memories of what 274 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:28,600 Speaker 1: went down. Jim Stewart heard that trademark quaver in Otis's 275 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:30,640 Speaker 1: voice and thought he was just some twenty one year 276 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,520 Speaker 1: old kid in way over his head. Stuart later admitted 277 00:17:34,560 --> 00:17:37,439 Speaker 1: that the brilliance of Otis reading went completely over his 278 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,479 Speaker 1: head that day. Steve Cropper, on the other hand, who 279 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,360 Speaker 1: wound up playing piano on the session in booker T's absence, 280 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: said the cats sang about two lines, and the hairs 281 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 1: on the back of his neck shot up. He could 282 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,080 Speaker 1: tell he was in the presence of something special. Lord 283 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,439 Speaker 1: Have mercy. When These Arms of Mine was released in 284 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,679 Speaker 1: the fall of nineteen sixty two, it made it to 285 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,520 Speaker 1: number twenty on the billboard. Arm beach Art it was 286 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: just the dark. Everyone at Stax and everyone in Otis's life, 287 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,560 Speaker 1: including his proud wife Zelma, watched Otis's talent and star 288 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,960 Speaker 1: power blossom right before their eyes. His songs got stronger, 289 00:18:11,119 --> 00:18:15,640 Speaker 1: and the chart positions got higher. Music consumed him. He listened, 290 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,880 Speaker 1: he wrote, He dictated horn lines to the session players. 291 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: He thought and spoke with music, and the hits kept coming. 292 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: That's how strong my love is. And I've been loving 293 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: you too long. Worked the mister pitiful angle, I Can't 294 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,400 Speaker 1: turn You loose in respect showed the other side of Otis, 295 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:37,360 Speaker 1: the high octane side before Aretha Franklin turned respect into 296 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:40,360 Speaker 1: a feminist anthem. For the ages, Otis took his original 297 00:18:40,359 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 1: composition to number four on the R and B chart. 298 00:18:43,040 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: It was the same spot he hit with his own 299 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: masterful cover of the Rolling Stones as I Can't Get 300 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: No Satisfaction, So masterful that some listeners thought that Otis's 301 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: version was the original, not the other way around. Stacks 302 00:18:56,359 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 1: made Otis, and Otis made Stacks, but Otis's version jing 303 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 1: success didn't exactly make him feel safe touring the Chitlan 304 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: in college circuits. Touring in the American South didn't matter 305 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,719 Speaker 1: if you were a Johnny cum Lately her Stacks's prize 306 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: recording artist. He traveled with protection, maybe a thirty eight 307 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: stuffed into your waistband hidden under your jacket. Otis carried. 308 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: Otis's manager carried everyone carried. But just because you had 309 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:25,399 Speaker 1: a pistol crammed inside your clothes didn't mean you were 310 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:30,879 Speaker 1: safe from harm. In nineteen sixty four, back in making 311 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 1: for his own homecoming show, Otis's blood ran cold as 312 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: he prepared to take the stage. There had been a 313 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:40,360 Speaker 1: bomb threat, and that got Otis's mind turning. What if 314 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: someone was out there? Not James Brown, and not some 315 00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: racist frat boy, but a serious guy with a serious gun. 316 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: At six', One otis made an easy. Target he put 317 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:52,840 Speaker 1: his foot on the first step leading up to the, 318 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: stage where his band waited for him to. Join he 319 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: took a deep. Breath this was supposed to be a 320 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 1: night Celebrating otis's climb the, top but he feared he'd 321 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:05,200 Speaker 1: stumbled before he even reached that. Goal it was moments 322 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,639 Speaker 1: like this that Made Otis redding wonder if he'd ever be. 323 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 1: Ready we'll be right back after, this word word, Word 324 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,639 Speaker 1: Bill graham was tearing ass Down Gary boulevard with a 325 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,399 Speaker 1: bag of ice in his. Hands he was winded by 326 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: the time he got back to The Filmore auditorium the 327 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: Film moore Was San francisco's premier venue for live. Music 328 00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: the Film moore was where the airplane the dead and 329 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 1: Big brother turned everyone. On but tonight The fillmore's ice 330 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: machine wouldn't turn on no matter, what And Bill, Graham fillmore's, 331 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:48,399 Speaker 1: proprietor wasn't about to let. Down as guest of. Honor 332 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:53,560 Speaker 1: Otis redding wanted. Ice Otis redding was getting. Ice it 333 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:57,640 Speaker 1: Was december, twentieth nineteen sixty. Six otis was just back 334 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: from a tour Of europe where all you got was 335 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:01,879 Speaker 1: a funny look if you asked for some ice in your. 336 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,879 Speaker 1: Glass and, now after killing, it AND i mean killing 337 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 1: it on stage at the film, wore All otis wanted 338 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:10,960 Speaker 1: was to quench his thirst with a glass of seven 339 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:14,960 Speaker 1: up with. Ice it was night one of a three night. 340 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 1: Run Bill, graham like everyone else in the, audience was 341 00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:22,199 Speaker 1: still in. Awe otis was the real. Thing he was the. 342 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: Guy jerry knew, It janis knew. It they all Told 343 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:29,120 Speaker 1: bill he got a Book otis. Reading it was one 344 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:30,919 Speaker 1: thing to know That otis was the, guy or to 345 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: hear him on. Record there was another thing entirely to see, 346 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:38,000 Speaker 1: him to experience him happening in front of, you because 347 00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,679 Speaker 1: that's What otis's three nights stand at the Film more Was. 348 00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:45,200 Speaker 1: Happening dressed in a green, suit black, shirt yellow, tie 349 00:21:45,240 --> 00:21:48,359 Speaker 1: with a keychain dangling from his, Belt otis didn't look 350 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: like A Bay area, hippie but he socked it to. 351 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: Them he socked it to them, hard and they felt. 352 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: It every, note every, struck every expression of pain and 353 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:04,600 Speaker 1: longing and sexual, desire every f far far women black 354 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:07,480 Speaker 1: and white couldn't take their eyes off. Them he did 355 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: something to. Them they felt a shiver run down their 356 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,719 Speaker 1: backs and up their, legs and their knees went. Weak they. 357 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:14,879 Speaker 1: Blushed why the hell do you think they called them 358 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,639 Speaker 1: The Big oh. Anyway writing in the local, Paper Ralph 359 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,639 Speaker 1: gleeson Said otis was quote unquote pure. Sex the way he, 360 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,400 Speaker 1: walked the way he, danced the way he, sang all 361 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:30,119 Speaker 1: of it pure. Sex that was hard to, deny almost 362 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:32,280 Speaker 1: as hard as it was to believe that the guy 363 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: they used to call Mister pittiful had made his way 364 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:37,320 Speaker 1: out west to where it was all, happening where mines were, 365 00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: expanding and he was laying this trip on. Everyone But 366 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: otis didn't feel out of. Place he was in the right, 367 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,360 Speaker 1: place just like he'd been in the right place when 368 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:50,200 Speaker 1: he first arrived At stacks In. Memphis In San, Francisco 369 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:53,479 Speaker 1: otis writing was surrounded by people who would do anything 370 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 1: if it helped get him where he wanted to. Go 371 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:00,119 Speaker 1: otis held the glass of seven up with ice in 372 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,639 Speaker 1: his big. Hand he Gave graham a look of humble. 373 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: Disbelief you went all the way down the street for 374 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: ice for, me he, Asked, Yeah bill, said so what 375 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: let me tell you, something, Man otis, said WHEN i 376 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:16,360 Speaker 1: play this town from now, ON i play for. You 377 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:22,560 Speaker 1: it wasn't Just america the fell Under otis's. Spell the 378 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: spring nineteen sixty Seven Stacks Voulte, review the Toured europe 379 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 1: was the ticket to. Get it was a smorgas board 380 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:33,399 Speaker 1: for fans Of american soul. Music okat Emg Sa tang 381 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:37,119 Speaker 1: those green, Onions Arthur conley with that sweet soul. Music 382 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: Eddie floyd knocking on, Wood Carla thompson Ge whiz and 383 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,680 Speaker 1: pull on, Man sam And dave are. Coming Otis. Redding of, 384 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 1: course he came, last closing out each night with a 385 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 1: performance that managed to be one hundred times more frenetic 386 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 1: than the records never. Were the tour was major headline 387 00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:57,720 Speaker 1: material in every publication melody maker called it the rave, 388 00:23:57,840 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: showed and them all The beatles sent limos to pick 389 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: Up otis and The stax Carew at the. Airport the 390 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,840 Speaker 1: fans went buck. Wild they clamored for. Autographs they Treated 391 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: otis like, royalty and they treated him like an equal. 392 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:14,400 Speaker 1: Too europe wasn't segregated the Way america. Was europe Gave 393 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:18,400 Speaker 1: otis a, perspective gave him. Confidence it helped him realize 394 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: that the world was bigger than he had ever. Imagined 395 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:23,919 Speaker 1: and if the world was, bigger Then otis could be bigger. 396 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 1: Too and If otis reading it the potential to be, 397 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:29,560 Speaker 1: bigger he could do. Anything he could even cross. Over 398 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,040 Speaker 1: but you don't cross over in a. Bus you cross 399 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:38,119 Speaker 1: over in a. Plane you cut across the. Horizon you, 400 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: Ascend you split the clouds in, half you open up the, 401 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,679 Speaker 1: sky and then you come back down, again like a 402 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:50,399 Speaker 1: big bird sending down its. Wings when the plane carrying 403 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,160 Speaker 1: The Stax Volte Reviewed tour landed back in The, States 404 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 1: otis riding stepped Onto american. Soil at that superstar feeling. 405 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: Intact didn't matter that THE us had and caught up To. 406 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,280 Speaker 1: Europe yet they'd get. There San francisco and the Film 407 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: wore were just the. Start otis was. Empowered he was 408 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 1: no longer the guy cowering behind a drum set While 409 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:14,159 Speaker 1: James brown shot up A chitman circuit. Club otis was 410 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 1: on the level with guys Like James. Brown they were peers. 411 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: Equals So otis did what guys Like James brown. Did 412 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,879 Speaker 1: he bought a, plane a Beach Craft model, eighteen a 413 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: twin engine model that was big enough to carry his entire. 414 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:31,880 Speaker 1: Band in, fact THE bch eighteen was the exact same 415 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,920 Speaker 1: kind of plane That James brown himself used to. Own 416 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: it was good enough for the hardest working man in show. 417 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: Business it was good enough For. Otis as it turns, out, 418 00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 1: however THE bj eighteen wasn't good enough For James, brown 419 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:47,640 Speaker 1: And james didn't think it was good enough For otis. 420 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:51,159 Speaker 1: Either Look james Told otis he shouldn't be fucking with 421 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: NO bj. Eighteen the plane wasn't as big as it. 422 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,440 Speaker 1: Looked it wasn't strong enough to carry all those musicians 423 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: and their. Equipment james Told otis that plane was not 424 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,200 Speaker 1: a sure, bet it was a. Gamble otis didn't heed the. 425 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: Warning he did his due, diligence he made his. Decision 426 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:10,440 Speaker 1: he even had a great new press photo taken in 427 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:12,800 Speaker 1: front of, it holding an acoustic guitar in his. Hand 428 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 1: he was, determined. Committed wasn't nothing that was too hard to. 429 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:20,360 Speaker 1: Handle if a problem, arose he'd overcome. IT jb could. 430 00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 1: Chill the price was, right so the size was. Right 431 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: THE bj eighteen Was otis's. Plane the plane was still 432 00:26:30,040 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: new To otis On, Sunday december, tenth nineteen sixty, seven 433 00:26:33,600 --> 00:26:36,480 Speaker 1: when he and The barquays The Stack session players who 434 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: had only recently taken over from bookerteen THE, mgs As 435 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: otis's backing, band boarded it In, cleveland bound for a 436 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:48,640 Speaker 1: gig In, Madison. Wisconsin cleveland was cold and. Rainy, madison 437 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 1: on the other, hand was foggy and even, colder with 438 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:55,280 Speaker 1: temperatures hovering around the freezing mark for nearly four hundred. 439 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:59,440 Speaker 1: Miles the clouds were, Thick visibility was, low but all things, 440 00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:03,840 Speaker 1: considered the flight was. Normal as the plane Neared, madison, 441 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,679 Speaker 1: however the clouds got, thicker and by the time the 442 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,600 Speaker 1: plane was Above Lake, monona due south of the, airport 443 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: visibility had dwindled to. Nothing the pilot prepared for. Landing 444 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:16,479 Speaker 1: he tried to find the flashing lights of the, runway 445 00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,199 Speaker 1: but couldn't see them through the dense cloud. Cover he 446 00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:22,160 Speaker 1: pulled the lever to release the landing. Gear the wheels 447 00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: came down with a loud. Dud the plane jerked. Forward 448 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,959 Speaker 1: the cabin shook. Violently otis felt his stomach burch as 449 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:32,399 Speaker 1: the nose of the plane quickly spun and the plane 450 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: was now pointing directly toward the. Ground otis thought about how, 451 00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: earlier before, boarding they'd been told by a mechanic that 452 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:43,359 Speaker 1: the plane's battery was. Low ODIs asked the pilot if 453 00:27:43,359 --> 00:27:45,639 Speaker 1: the battery concerned, him if the beach could make the 454 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 1: four hundred mile. Run the pilot was confident they'd be 455 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:53,439 Speaker 1: okay and let's. Go otis, said this, though was not. 456 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,639 Speaker 1: Okay it felt like the front end of the plane 457 00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:58,959 Speaker 1: was being sucked down towards the lake by a giant. 458 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,640 Speaker 1: Magnet as it fell faster and, faster the plane began 459 00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,120 Speaker 1: to roll to the, left and it rolled some, more 460 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 1: and then it began to. Spin otis couldn't. Breathe everything 461 00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:12,680 Speaker 1: was moving way too, fast but within, seconds The beach 462 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,679 Speaker 1: eighteen shot out from the thick cloud, cover spinning and diving, 463 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:22,440 Speaker 1: downward and slammed into the surface Of Lake. Monona the 464 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:27,119 Speaker 1: water was, freezing the plane burst into, pieces And Otis 465 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: redding was sinking to the. Bottom that didn't mean he 466 00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: was no longer. Ascending less than six months before his 467 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: plane crashed Into Lake, Monona Otis redding performed a concert 468 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:01,520 Speaker 1: that would proved to be a pivotal moment in his. 469 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:06,960 Speaker 1: Career it only took five songs on A monterey stage 470 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,000 Speaker 1: to get him in with the in, crowd the love. 471 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:14,480 Speaker 1: Crowd the performance Found otis once again not gambling but, 472 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:18,640 Speaker 1: betting betting on, himself and this, bet like so many 473 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:22,080 Speaker 1: of his, others not only, worked it worked despite the 474 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 1: fact that it was done completely asked backwards from the 475 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: way he usually did these. Things performing Was otis's. Job 476 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:35,040 Speaker 1: otis got paid to, sing but On june, seventeenth nineteen sixty, 477 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:37,840 Speaker 1: Seven Otis writing performed for a crowd of over eight 478 00:29:37,920 --> 00:29:42,520 Speaker 1: thousand people for. Free The Monterey Pop festival In, Monterey 479 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,400 Speaker 1: california wasn't unlike The chitlin circuit in that both places 480 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: introduced some of the most important rock IN r AND 481 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: b musicians of the twentieth century to a new. Audience 482 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:56,720 Speaker 1: both were also hotbeds of illegal, activity but instead of dice, 483 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 1: games bootleg booze and dramatic shootouts had, MARIJUANA lsd and 484 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: violent acts committed against. Guitars the biggest, difference of, course 485 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: was the. Audience the crowd At Monterey pop was mostly, 486 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 1: white and they're all looking for the next big. Thing 487 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:15,560 Speaker 1: it was like the Film more to The Highest. Power 488 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 1: it was just the Boost otis reading needed to cross 489 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:21,680 Speaker 1: over FROM r AND b to pop and dominate not 490 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,280 Speaker 1: just one segment of the, charts but the whole damn. 491 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 1: Thing otis knew the sacrifice he was. Making he knew 492 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:33,320 Speaker 1: that we're going a paycheck to play for one of 493 00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: the biggest audiences of his career to, date would paid. 494 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,400 Speaker 1: Dividends he told his Wife zelma That monterey was going 495 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:42,200 Speaker 1: to lift him, higher that a breakthrough was, imminent that 496 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:45,120 Speaker 1: a change was going to. Come he could feel. It 497 00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:50,760 Speaker 1: part of the change was already. There it was a new, 498 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:53,400 Speaker 1: material like sitting on the dock of The. Bay the 499 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:57,160 Speaker 1: introspective Song otis co wrote With Steve, cropper a song 500 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,880 Speaker 1: that was more pop than, soul a song that took 501 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: heavy inspiration FROM A day in The, life the final 502 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: track on The beatles' brand new Identity Bending Opus Sergeant 503 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,800 Speaker 1: Pepper's Lonely hearts club. Band it didn't sound like anything 504 00:31:09,800 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 1: he'd done. Before it sounded so different that some Like 505 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: zelma straight up didn't like, it But Steve cropper thought 506 00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:19,440 Speaker 1: it was the best Thing otis had ever. Cut steve 507 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,080 Speaker 1: And otis could feel. It The dock of The bay 508 00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:24,520 Speaker 1: was going to Take otis to places he'd never, been 509 00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:30,600 Speaker 1: and it. Did Otis redding crossed over. Twice he crossed 510 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:32,480 Speaker 1: over When sitting on The dock of The bay was 511 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:35,960 Speaker 1: released as a single In january nineteen sixty. Eight the 512 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,640 Speaker 1: song went straight to number one on both the Arm 513 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:42,400 Speaker 1: beacher and The Billboard hot one, hundred where it remained 514 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: the nation's top pop song for four straight. Weeks but 515 00:31:47,080 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 1: that was about a month after the first Time otis crossed, 516 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,320 Speaker 1: over when his beach eighteen twin engine crashed into the 517 00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:57,920 Speaker 1: icy waters Of Lake, monona killing him and seven. Others 518 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:02,240 Speaker 1: at that, Moment Otis running crossed over from this world 519 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: to the, next just twenty six years, old deprived of 520 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:10,280 Speaker 1: witnessing his greatest, achievement one of the greatest achievements made 521 00:32:10,280 --> 00:32:13,000 Speaker 1: by a singer in the nineteen sixties or in any 522 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:20,800 Speaker 1: decade for that, matter such a. Disgrace I'm Jake brennan 523 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:41,400 Speaker 1: and this Is. 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