The great Otis Redding stays to this day as one of the finest! He really got it. Angry and at the same time smooth. Passionate and true. His idol though was no James Brown, but the real king of Rock & Roll, Little Richard. If this was a math equalization, the specific two-sider must had no unknown X. A frantic, pounding, frenzy and deliriously stomping soul hard drive for what is made in a hurry and proposed for butt shaking!
I even like the myth that surrounds it. Otis was Pinetoppers' driver. The Pinetoppers were a kick ass combo. Seriously, these fuckers were as mean and tough as Little Richard's Upsetters! Many times and just from that single judging, think of 'em as the black Raymen! Yeah, that MEAN! So, they went to Memphis for a session at Stax, things not worked properly, Otis grabbed the mic and BOOM! The rest is history! Rock & Roll simplicity and brilliancy have hided most times in such occasions. Primitive rawness that makes Iggy & the Stooges sound like your parish choir boys! No Shit! If you're looking for the most Wild & Savage records ever, have in mind this and the Bunker Hill's "Girl Can't Dance". No wonder after these, Little Richard turned to God... I only wonder what the savage young Sonics would (or could) have done if they had touched their filthy hands on?!
PS: I have seen this single with many different labels. King, Confederate, Orbit and Sue... I think Orbit's the original but it's easier to find King's re-print. I can't remember clearly but, I'm sure for King and Sue issues this credited to Otis Redding only and not with the Pinetoppers but it's the same screamer (well OK, King's single has overdubs and it's slightly different but anyway...), so if you ever see it watching you, grab it!
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great write up! and great stuff. thanks
ReplyDeleteGreatest song ever recorded. Oh my, yes.
ReplyDeleteyes, yes, yes!
ReplyDeleteReally great
ReplyDelete"How many chickens have I stole?"
ReplyDeleteWhat a treat! Thanx, never woulda known.... I dig the Confederate label, what a gas........
ReplyDeletelinks?
ReplyDeleteThe record was actually released on the Confederate label in April 1962, not 1960 or 1961 as has often been reported. It was recorded in March 1962 in Athens, GA, in the studios of WGTV, the public television station affiliated with the University of Georgia. Otis was backed by members of Wayne Cochran's group, the Rockin' Capris. Somewhat incredibly, it doesn't seem to have occurred to Bobby Smith, the former Macon car salesman who started Confederate Records, that the name of the label might be offensive to African-Americans. Joe Galkin, the freelance record promotion man who was largely responsible for Otis being signed to Stax Records, once described "Shout Bamalama" as "the worst record I ever heard."
ReplyDeleteFor his part, Bobby Smith seems to have believed that Otis composed "Shout Bamalama" for this session. In fact, Otis had written a version of the song called "Gamma Lama" nearly two years before, and recorded it Los Angeles in the summer of 1960. If you really want to hear something, go to You Tube and check out "Gamma Lama." On it, he's backed up by the greatest studio band of the day: Earl Palmer on drums, Ernie Freeman on keyboards, Plas Johnson on sax, and Rene Hall on guitar. Otis sounds like himself (as well as Little Richard) on both versions, but the difference in the quality of the playing and recording is like night and day.
While I'm at it: I wouldn't compare the Pinetoppers (who aren't playing on this record anyway) with the Upsetters. The Pinetoppers were a good bar band. The Upsetters were a sensation. As for the name of the label, the single was originally released as Confederate #135. A number of sympathetic black deejays took it upon themselves to inform the clueless Bobby Smith that no one was going to buy an R&B record with the Confederate flag on its label. (This was just a few years after the Georgia legislature had adopted the Confederate "battle flag" as the state flag of Georgia, making it an explicit symbol of defiant white supremacy.) So Bobby Smith reissued the single on a label he named Orbit. On either label, it barely sold. Three months after its release, Smith gave Otis a royalty check for something like five dollars and change.
ReplyDeleteThe Otis-as-driver myth doesn't refer to this record. Seven months after this record was made, Joe Galkin arranged for the Pinetoppers' flashy lead guitarist, Johnny Jenkins, to record an instrumental at Stax Records in Memphis, backed by Booker T & The MGs. The plan (unbeknownst to Jenkins) was for Otis to drive Jenkins to Memphis and for Galkin to ask Stax owner Jim Stewart to give Otis a recording test. As it turned out, no one at Stax was at all impressed with Jenkins, the session ended early, and Otis was given a chance to sing "These Arms of Mine," which basically launched his career.
Correction: I was a little too snide in that last post. The royalty check was for thirty dollars.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for all your efforts Jonathan!
ReplyDeleteBTW, here it is again: http://www.sendspace.com/file/qrhqku
ReplyDeletei WAS THERE WHEN IT WAS RECORDED AT the University of GA. RDW Prod.
ReplyDelete