“Otis
was just explosive,” says Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns, in this newly
posted clip from Dreams to Remember. “He just rolled over them, like the tide.
And when we were through, the Smothers Brothers had introduced us, and they
were on the side of the stage, just jumping up and down. They were beside
themselves.”
Redding,
who was backed by Jackson as part of the Memphis Horns and by Booker T. and the
MGs, had earlier performed club dates at the Whisky a Go Go, but had
principally played before mainly African American audiences until Monterey Pop
in the summer of 1967. After a volcanic set that included both “Respect” and
“Satisfaction,” Redding’s crossover seemed to be complete.
Redding
got on a roll, and just kept going — right past an agreed upon curfew. The MGs’
Steve Cropper said a legendary label head made sure the show would continue.
“Phil Walden said: ‘You’re not shutting those guys off. Not while I’m standing
here.’”
As many
as 90,000 people were on hand for the Monterey Pop Festival, which took place
over three days. Also on the bill were Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Ravi
Shankar, the Who and others. None, however, made quite the impression that
Redding did.
“When
Booker T. and the MGs hit that stage, it just got quiet,” Jackson remembers.
“All of those hippies got quiet — because they hadn’t seen anything like us.
The heat in the audience came up, you could feel the heat coming up, and the
excitement level. And, boy, Otis Redding hit the stage and pandemonium broke
out. They really hadn’t seen anything like the show we put on, and that Otis
put on.”
Unfortunately,
Monterey would be one of his last public performances. Redding died in a plane
crash just six months later at age 26 on 10th December 1967.
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