Shake!: Otis at Monterey

All about Tenderness. Twenty-five at the time. I believe the first time I saw Otis Redding was via a VHS videocassette of a documentary entitled SUPERSTARS IN CONCERT (1973, directed by Peter Clifton, which is currently available to view in low definition here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3GGI1u3j2E), which I probably watched in the early 1980s: of all the many performers, he left the biggest impression.

Redding has incredible energy to his voice that lifts this film above other concert films. The contrast between his stiff body movements and beautiful and powerful music coming out of his mouth is intriguing to me, and the turn to the audience closeups for the final song is a stroke of genius from Pennebaker.

One of the best things is 60s soul artists doing their stuff live. Sam Cooke could go through 40 songs in 18 minutes.

Viewed July 11, 2021. Otis Redding's performance of "I've Been Loving You Too Long" in Monterey Pop is pure bliss - both great filmmaking and, more importantly, one of the most powerful vocal performances ever captured, a stirring proclamation of longing and heartache. This presents Otis' full set from the festival and it's similarly great, especially when a rousing performance of "Try a Little Tenderness" becomes a backdrop to Pennebaker's images of 'the Love crowd' sharing in communal joy.

Otis Redding's stage dynamicism reaches into your soul and smacks you in the face. As he drifts off stage, "I gotta go... I don't wanna go..." his immaculate performace - and later fate - adds some sad depth to the joy.

Redding brought his A-game to Monterey in 1967, exuding so much energy as he performed. As I watched this (and Monterey Pop), I kept thinking about how many of those performing artists would be gone so quickly (Jimi, Janis, Keith Moon, and Otis himself) -- but then I decided to focus on the music they left us, which still says a lot.

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Otis Redding's set at the Monterey Pop festival had one of the biggest impacts. Redding had mostly played for black audiences prior to this show, so most of the festival audience was unfamiliar with him. He turns in a riotously energetic set that sadly was only 5 songs due to rain and the lateness of hour (there was an impending curfew to deal with). I think the highlight of the set was his blistering version of "Try (A Little Tenderness)". Sadly, he died 6 months after this show.