Soulful DetroitArchives - July 2004 � Otis Does Sam Previous Next

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marilyn (marilyn)
3-Pundit
Username: marilyn

Post Number: 40
Registered: 8-2004
Posted From: 209.142.136.38
Posted on Friday, September 17, 2004 - 2:57 pm: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi, Everyone, I was trying to compile a list of all the songs Otis covered from Sam...These are 2 of my favorites...So far I have listed:

Try A Little Tenderness
Amen/This Little Light Of Mine
A Change Is Gonna Come
Nothing Can Change This Love
Bring It On Home To Me w/ Carla Thomas
Shake
Cupid (?)
Nobody Knows You (When You're Down & Out) (?)
Chain Gang
You Send Me

That's all I can think of right now, are there anymore? It would be great if all his Sam Cooke sides could be released on one album...Does anyone know if Sam ever covered any of Otis' work? I wonder if Sam was flattered...

thanks

Marilyn :-)
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Cool Ju (cool_ju)
4-Laureate
Username: cool_ju

Post Number: 100
Registered: 4-2004
Posted From: 64.12.116.138
Posted on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 12:35 am: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Wasn't Sam Cooke dead by the time Otis covered these songs?

BTW the Otis Redding produced "Sweet Soul Music" bears more than a passing resemblance to Sam Cooke's "Yeah Man."
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Juicefree20 (juicefree20)
6-Zenith
Username: juicefree20

Post Number: 2396
Registered: 4-2004
Posted From: 24.46.184.162
Posted on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 9:14 am: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi Marilyn,

Ju is correct. Sam was gone by that time. Otis first covered a Sam Cooke song on his 1965 LP: The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads. That LP charted R&B in April '65, exactly 4 months to the day, of Sam's murder. He covered Nothing Can Change This Love.

On his LP, Otis Blue which charted in Oct of '65, he covered Change Is Gonna Come, Shake & Wonderful World.

On his first '66 LP, The Soul Album, he covered Chain Gang & Nobody Knows You (When You're Down & Out). On his 2nd '66 LP, The Otis Redding Dictionary Of Soul, he covered Try A Little Tenderness & Tennessee Waltz.

On '67s King & Queen LP, he covered Bring It On Home To Me.

Unfortunately, Otis had yet to firmly establish himself when Sam was murdered. Although Otis' first two CHARTING songs from 1963, These Arms Of Mine & That's What My Heart Needs charted at #20 &#27 R&B respectively, they only charted for 1 week & 2 weeks respectively. Even his biggest hit to that point, Nov 1963s Pain In My Heart, only rose to #61 R&B, though it charted for 11 weeks.

Otis didn't really get a grip on the masses conscience until Feb '65, with Mr. Pitiful. But, from there, he took off!

And Cool Ju, Sweet Soul Music did more than resemble Yeah, Man. It WAS Yeah, Man!!! I also wonder if Alan Klein did anything about that. I can't imagine him not stepping to Otis for that one. Remember how The Motown or The Isleys sued Curtis for Can't Satisfy & won. That wasn't exactly a note for note appropriation & Sweet Soul Music is simply blatant. I have to check my books about this one.

I would guess that if nothing happened, it was because Otis had always covered Sams' songs & been respectful of them. Otis covering Sams' songs added up to some royalties for Sams' estate & also helped to keep Sam in peoples' minds. No one could have guessed than Otis would die later that year & it was safe to assume that had he lived, he would have continue to cover Sam from time to time. Hell, Otis was like a King back then & a quite financially productive one at that. Suing him would have been like biting that hand that helps feed you.

Besides, who sues a King???

:-)
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Dave Alan WQSR Baltimore (mediawatch)
1-Arriviste
Username: mediawatch

Post Number: 2
Registered: 4-2004
Posted From: 69.136.234.254
Posted on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 11:00 am: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

B.T.W. Both artists had the song "Shake" on the charts at the time of their deaths. It was mentioned in the December 1967 Billboard article on the death of Otis.
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marilyn (marilyn)
3-Pundit
Username: marilyn

Post Number: 44
Registered: 8-2004
Posted From: 209.142.136.38
Posted on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 11:15 am: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks for all the information :-)...I thought that Otis may have covered some of the songs while Sam was still alive...

Marilyn :-)
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Juicefree20 (juicefree20)
6-Zenith
Username: juicefree20

Post Number: 2398
Registered: 4-2004
Posted From: 24.46.184.162
Posted on Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 12:11 pm: ��Edit PostDelete Post���Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hi Dave, good to see you again.

It sounds as though Billboard was guilty of a little embellishment there. I would imagine that it Bubbled Under the Hot 100. When Sams' version entered the chart on Jan 9 1965, there was no R&B chart. Sams' version remained on the Hot 100 for 11 weeks. His version charted R&B when the R&B chart was reinstituted on Jan 30 1965. It remained on that chart for 12 weeks.

Otis' version didn't make the Hot 100 chart, or the R&B chart. So, I imagine that it made the "Bubbling Under" chart. When I locate the book, I'll check it out. I just wonder when Otis' version charted...before or after Sams' murder?

By the way Dave, any more info about the fellas from Tomorrows Promise???

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