Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul (Collector's Edition)

Otis Redding always put his whole heart into his songs. You felt his pain, his joy, his sadness. With Cropper's tasteful restrained backing, many of his tunes co-written with Cropper, Otis set down timeless sounds that will sleds be remembered.

His vocals are superb! I wish more modern male singers would take cue from this great. He was very young but the musicianship and vocals here are timeless. The lyrics are also nice; it isn't Bob Dylan lyricism but they are really sweet, talented songs. The main thing about Otis is his amazing voice; the songs are beautiful. Definitely tunes to dance and relax to. Another great thing about this music is the history.You can hear the Gospel roots and beauty in all of this. It's great Muddy Waters/Etta James throwback (before mainstream watered the style down). I don't understand why they keep putting chicks on his compilation albums, though. I don't get what they have to do with anything... I'm a girl but I'm just saying; I don't get that :/ Anyway, great album

What the previous reviewer doesn't know is there are two complete versions of the album in this package: one mono, one stereo. Add the live cuts and, yes, you will see a lot of "repeats." But the quality is undiluted. There is nothing but pure soul on this album. One of the finest, most passionate, most nuanced records of the modern age. Ignore the boo-birds; this is the real thing!

"Rhino's 2xCD Collector's Edition of Otis Blue makes a good case for this 24-hour labor of love as a wide-reaching document that just gets better with context. A set this packed-- including rarities, alternate mixes, live versions of the album tracks, and the original LP in both mono and stereo-- could easily feel sprawling and overstuffed, but it does a great job illuminating every tweaked nuance and permutation that Redding and his top-notch band could come up with during the course of a song's lifetime. Considering the personnel involved in the original LP-- Booker T. & the M.G.'s guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, and drummer Al Jackson Jr.; keyboardist Isaac Hayes; a horn section (saxophonists Floyd Newman and Andrew Love, trumpet players Wayne Jackson and Gene Miller) filled with members of the Mar-Keys and the Memphis Horns-- it's a blessing to hear them both unified in mono and isolated in stereo. (Any concerns of redundancy can be allayed thusly: the mono version's for your speakers; stereo's for your headphones. You need them both.)" - Nate Partin, Pitchformedia

I'll just let the album speak for itself. Amazing. nuf said.

For those who complain about too many songs on this album...say what? You are complaining about too many Otis Redding songs? What's wrong with you? Redding was one of the great voices of the 60s and an indispensable artist in the history of rock, soul, R&B, and ever genre in between. This is a fantastic document to the artist's true greatness and an essential purchase for every fan of music.

Great album but too many songs are repeated (four similar versions of Ole Man Trouble on one album?). Best to pick and choose before purchasing. If you want essential Otis Redding, buy The Very Best of Otis Redding. Classic album.....