The Man from Macon: The Otis Redding Story Part IV
- by Joe Nolan
Otis Redding
The best things that happened at Stax happened by accident, and the discovery of their biggest talent was no different. Many legends surround the recording of “These Arms of Mine”, but every one jives on the fact that Otis wasn’t supposed to be recording anything that day.
Johnny Jenkins had a hit with an instrumental called “Love Twist” that eventually became so popular that Atlantic bought the record for national distribution. Having made an investment in Jenkins, they were itching to capitalize and arranged the session at Stax in order to cut a follow-up single.
Jim Stewart was behind the board that day. The session was particularly strained, and no decent tracks we’re getting cut. Two and a half hours into the three hour session, Stewart wanted to call it quits. Jenkins had brought along Joe Galkin, a man who had made the deal to get “Love Twist” to Atlantic and had arranged for the session at Stax. Galkin knew all about Otis, and some say that what happened next was part of Galkin’s plan all along. Other sources question whether Galkin had any grasp of Redding’s revolutionary gifts.
“I told Phil, ‘He’s a lousy singer.’ Otis had just made a record called “Shout Bamalama” down there in Macon, GA, that was the worst record I ever heard. It had got play on WLAC with John R., but nobody ever brought a copy.” - Joe Galkin, from Sweet Soul Music by Peter Guralnick.
One legend states that it was Galkin who suggested salvaging the last half hour of the session by recording Redding. Others seem to remember that Redding himself had become such a nuisance that they finally just had to let him record something so everybody could just go home.
Most accounts skip right to the legendary recording of “These Arms of Mine”, but it’s clear that the first song Otis recorded that day was a mild bopper called “Hey Hey Baby”. Unimpressed by the singer and the song, Galkin had a mutiny on his hands when he implored everyone to try one more time, this time on a ballad that Redding had penned himself.
Booker T. Jones had already left the session, assuming they were through. Steve Cropper switched over to keys to play a few simple “church chords,” while Jenkins played guitar. Steinberg and Jackson held down the rhythm section.
“So he comes down and I say: ‘Play something, whatever you want to do. And he said ‘I don’t play piano, I play a little gut-tar. That’s what he said. So I played piano and he went: ‘These arms of mine…’ And hairs and goose bumps stood up on my arms.” - Steve Cropper, from Steve James’ “Guitarist Steve Cropper Still Haunted by Redding”
“These Arms of Mine” was released and played relentlessly by a handful of stations for six months before it finally broke as a major song. Even then, it wasn’t a huge money maker, and it only became know to black audiences.
Despite a less-than-glowing debut, “These Arms of Mine” is one of the most important recordings the studio would ever make. Although Redding sounds very much like a lackluster Little Richard wannabe on “Hey Hey Baby”, “These Arms’” demonstrates Reddings considerable talent as a writer of his own material, and the quavering vulnerability of the vocal recording is a Redding trademark the young man was to make famous in years to come. Whether anyone knew it then or not, that day at the studio was an important day indeed. That was the day that Otis Redding became the heart and soul of Stax.
Sources:
Peter Guralnick’s Sweet Soul Music, Harper and Row, 1986
James Dickerson’s Goin’ Back to Memphis, Simon and Schuster Macmillan, 1996
Michael Haralambos’ Right on: From Blues to Soul in Black America, Drake Publishers, 1975
Respect Yourself: The Stax Story, documentary film, produced by Tremolo Productions,
Concord Music Group and Thirteen/WNET New York, for PBS’ Great Performances, 2007
Steve James, “Guitarist Steve Cropper Still Haunted by Redding”
The Otis Redding biography at African Genesis
Otis Redding at Wikipedia
Otis Redding Biography at History of Rock
Otis Redding Biography at the Otis Redding official website
Joe Nolan is a poet, musician and freelance journalist in Nashville, TN. Nolan writes about visual art for the journal, Number, published by the University of Memphis. Find out more about his projects at www.joenolan.com.