Otis Blue - Otis Redding (1965)

[DudeAsInCool]

Otis Blue - Otis Redding (1965)

Redding's third album includes covers of three songs by Sam Cooke, Redding's idol, who died the previous December. Their styles couldn't have been more different: Cooke smooth and sure, Redding raw and pleading. But Redding's versions of "Shake" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" show how Cooke's sound and message helped shape Redding's Southern soul, heard here in his originals "Respect" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" and in a cover of the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," which was itself inspired by the Stax/Volt sound. "I use a lot of words different than the Stones' version," Redding noted. "That's because I made them up."

Total album sales: Under 500,000

Peak chart position: 75

Next: Led Zeppelin