Issue No. 16 of Johnny Be Good features one of 45 songs from the book, Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop, by Marc Myers. Read John Pearson's review here. Order from Amazon here. Listen to the book on Libro (9 hours, 34 minutes). Each blog will spotlight a song from the book and a guest blogger’s color commentary. Click here to subscribe. Each issue of Your Weekly Staff Meeting will highlight the latest blog.
“Otis Started Whistling”
Today’s guest blogger is "Production Guy"
Song: #16 of 45
Title: “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”
Singer: Otis Redding
Released: January 1968
Editor’s Note: Today’s guest blogger prefers to remain anonymous. This is his third blog. (Read his commentary on “White Rabbit” from April 9, 2024.)
I APPRECIATED THIS:
Pearson thought I would enjoy slicing and dicing this song—since the post-production phase was rushed—with a little (shall we say...) sleight-of-hand.
Once you’ve heard Otis Redding sing “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay,” you’ll never forget it. And when you hear the sad backstory of this song—you’ll be, well….sad.
Marc Myers writes that Otis Redding (1941-1967) didn’t live long enough to hear his No. 1 single played on the radio. “On Dec. 10, 1967—just 18 days after the recording session—the 26-year-old singer died in a plane crash in Wisconsin, which killed everyone on board except Ben Cauley, the trumpeter in the band.”
In June 1967, Otis Redding sang at the Monterey Pop Festival. “After the concert, Bill Graham let Redding stay on his houseboat in Sausalito, Calif., about two hours north of Monterey.” The relaxing setting inspired these lyrics:
Sittin' in the mornin' sun
I'll be sittin' when the evenin' come
Watching the ships roll in
And I watch 'em roll away again, yeah
I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
This chapter opens with a brief survey of the expressive music that was on the scene, including strong influences from black churches. (Examples: Ray Charles, Little Richard, Sam Cooke, and Aretha Franklin. “James Brown contributed the grind and emotive grunts of his Baptist church in Elko, South Carolina.”) Myers adds, “And then there was Otis Redding.”
In the studio to record “(Sittin on) The Dock of the Bay,” Wayne Jackson (on trumpet), recalled this: “What we put across behind Otis was simple and funky, like a call-and-response in church.”
In addition to how the black church influenced the music scene, I was most interested in the post-production work on this single. (See below.) The song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.
For more about Otis Redding, read the WSJ column by Marc Myers, from Jan. 3, 2013, “Then I Watch 'Em Roll Away Again.”
Listen to “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” sung by Otis Redding.
MY FAVORITE NOTES & QUOTES:
• Steve Cropper (cowriter and studio guitarist) tells Marc Myers, “Otis always liked to ad-lib at the end of songs, so I added in about ten measures of instrumental background for him to do so. But when the time came, Otis couldn’t think of anything and started whistling, which, of course, made the song.”
• Ben Cauley: “I was sitting behind Otis on the plane—back to back, next to the door. I fell asleep and the next thing I knew the pilot was telling us he was having trouble. The plane hit the water and I managed to get out and hold on to a seat cushion. I didn’t know how to swim and one of my shoes had come off. It was so cold. About 20 minutes later a boat came and pulled me out. I was in shock. Everyone else was gone.”
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD THIS SONG?
I was just seven when the record hit No. 1 in March 1968—and held that spot for four weeks! My dad was somewhat musical and played the guitar a bit. I remember him coming home with a new record and, excitedly, sitting me down so he could play “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” on our record player. I guess I liked it, at first, because he really liked the song—and the whistling. I remember the whistling!
JOHNNY BE...GOOD, BETTER, OR BEST?
• GOOD: Otis Redding’s style and voice. “In June 1967, producer Bill Graham added Redding to the Monterey Pop Festival lineup and exposed a large white rock audience to Redding’s passionate and growly vocals.” A friend mentioned that he viewed Otis Redding as an innovator and trail blazer for the R&B sound that everyone wanted to emulate.
• BETTER: Immediately following the plane crash, Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler wanted to fast-track the single. Steve Cropper told him, “Jerry, we just lost Otis. We don’t have anything mixed yet, and I can’t even think about it.” Yet…Wexler insisted so Cropper started mixing the song alone. He notes, “I wanted to enhance the bay image, sort of like a secret message to Otis. I called a local friend for sound effects of the sea and the gulls and added them lightly in places.”
• BEST: Jerry Wexler said Atlantic didn’t like the mix (which had been flown from Memphis to New York). Cropper adds, “He wanted Otis's vocal to be louder and wanted me to remix the tape. I felt it was perfect and didn't want to touch it. Then I had an idea. The tape Jerry had was a stereo mix—with the bass and guitar coming out of the left speaker and the drums and vocal track on the right.
“By turning the stereo mix into a mono mix—having the same audio information come out of both speakers—the vocal would come up two decibels. So that's what I did, but I never thought I'd fool Jerry. He loved what I sent, and that's what you hear on the single.”
Three cheers for creative production guys! LOL!
"Production Guy" provided this photo. (Is it really him?)
THIS ISSUE'S COMMENTARY BY "Production Guy"
Today’s blogger (aka “Production Guy”) noted in his commentary for Song #7, that he’s a part-time team member on the production team at his “megachurch.” (If you’re a church attender, you’d be fascinated by his take on the term “megachurch.” He urges readers to explore the research by Warren Bird and his encyclopedic knowledge of megachurches worldwide.)
Perhaps in a future blog post, "Production Guy" will share more about the worship song lyrics that have been rejected by music publishers—and why he prefers to write incognito. (Something about “If the church staff knew I enjoyed writing, they’d likely saddle me with newsletter articles and more deadlines. Thanks, but no thanks!”) Hmmm. Sounds like he’s memorized these lyrics:
Ooh, I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
Wastin' time
Look like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same, yes
Sittin' here resting my bones…
NEXT UP!
Song #17 of 45, “Fist City,” sung by Loretta Lynn.
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It all started in 2023, when John Pearson read and reviewed a "fun" book, Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop, by Marc Myers. Read John's review here. Order from Amazon here. Listen to the book on Libro (9 hours, 34 minutes).
If you'd enjoy being one of 45 guest bloggers, along with John Ashmen, Dick Nelson, Suzy West, Dave Barton, Paul Palmer, Bill Butterworth, Jim West, Melinda Schmidt, Jason Pearson, Gary Rea, Callista Dawson, John Walling, Ed Barrett, Larry Beatty, and others, read more here and contact John Pearson. Click here to subscribe to this blog and enjoy the toe-tapping musicians in each weekly blog post—reminding you of these iconic songs of yesteryear.