There is a
bit of a sad back story to The Dock of
the Bay. Otis Redding recorded it in
one day in 1967 and then 4 days later his plane crashed and he was killed. The
crash was on December 10 into Lake Monona near Madison, Wisconsin.
It was a number one in the pop charts – but he never
got to see that. His earlier hits had
been on the soul charts.
He wrote the song with his guitarist Steve
Cropper. When it was recorded a
whistling part at the end was added as an improvisation. Listen out for it.
Many other artists have covered the song including –
Glen Campbell, Cher, Peggy Lee and Bob Dylan.
I guess that speaks to the quality of the song.
I had no idea this happened in the Madison area. That is not far from where I live.
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