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13
NEWS
MUSIC
I
t's hard to know what the King
of Soul was thinking with that
cover. The shoes alone are
a rude rebuttal to the popular
conception of Stax/Volt Records
as the epicentre of '60s cool.
The titular dictionary itself,
printed in a panel on the back
cover, is another stylistic oddity
mostly lost in translation 50
years later. "Ou-yea (u' ya') adv.:
to give in; a reply to get what
one wants." Huh?
What matters, of course,
is that from bad graphics to
unusually soft sell liner notes
— "Searching for something
interesting to do and enjoy?
Here… put this album on your
turntable" — VOLT 415 arrives
on 180-gram vinyl as a perfect
replica of its original pressing in
October 1966.
There's none of the bonus
track distractions of the CD
version, but the original sides are
pressed on two LPs: stereo and
naturally punchier mono. There's
also a bonus 7" of
Try A Little
Tenderness
(and
I'm Sick Y'All
),
with one of them big ol' holes in
the middle and the kind of trippy
Atlantic/ATCO paper sleeves
that almost atone for the album
cover.
Redding's definitive version of
The house band is essentially
the MGs with the Memphis
Horns, with guitarist Steve
Cropper and pianist Isaac Hayes
writing as well as laying down
their unmistakable licks with that
single-take goodness that bands
forevermore will reference as an
irretrievably lost ideal.
As for the soul man himself,
My Lover's Prayer
and
Love Have
Mercy
showcase his mighty soul
holler and bark at the very peak
of its pleading power. Don't be
fooled by the shoes.
(Warner)
Complete & Unbelievable... The
Otis Redding Dictionary Of Soul
(50th Anniversary Edition)
Coming Up
PRINCE & THE REVOLUTION
LET'S GO CRAZY/EROTIC CITY,
PURPLE RAIN/GOD
(Out February 3
via Warner)
PET SHOP BOYS
FUNDAMENTAL, RELEASE,
NIGHTLIFE
(Out February 10
via Warner)
OTIS REDDING
Tenderness
is the best known
track on his fifth and sadly final
full LP before that plane hit the
icy surface of Lake Monona,
Wisconsin, just over a year later.
Opening track
Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa
(Sad Song)
was the other single,
and there's also his killer version
of the Beatles' then-recent #5
hit,
Day Tripper
, with a Booker
T organ groove that skates so
close to wrong that it couldn't be
any more right.
Michael Dwyer looks intoWarner's reissuing of Otis Redding's
Dictionary Of Soul
, on the 50th anniversary of its original release.
PAUL KELLY
POST
(Out now via Universal)
(final artwork TBC)