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Otis Redding: TV One’s ‘Unsung’ Episode Re-Airing Life And Death Of Legendary Singer

By Traciy Reyes
Published on: 02:57 PST, Sep 13, 2016

Otis Redding’s Unsung episode is airing again this week on TV One. For those who missed the Unsung episode when it aired in 2015, be sure to mark your calendars for this Wednesday night. Otis Redding was a popular R&B singer who died tragically in a plane crash in the late 1960s. The details of his life, career, and death will be recounted on Unsung.

From Georgia To Memphis

Otis Redding, who is best known for his hit tunes “Try a Little Tenderness” and “The Dock of the Bay,” got his start singing in clubs around his native Georgia. But eventually, the farm boy wanted to move on to bigger and better ways to expand his career. A move to Memphis, Tennessee, seemed like the right place to begin.

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Before he knew it, he was signed to Stax Records and lighting up the stage with his dance moves and unique sound. People who knew the real Otis Redding said seeing him on stage was a mighty sight to see, and when he coupled his performances with the gorgeous “Queen of Memphis Soul” Carla Thomas, they left the crowds mesmerized.

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In fact, the chemistry was so good between Otis Redding and Carla Thomas, that many speculated that Otis, who was a married father at the time, was allegedly having a secret affair with the singer, according to Performing Songwriter. You won’t hear much about it, except for a few brief mentions here and there.

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Sadly, just as his star was shining even brighter, his life came to an abrupt end in 1967. According to reports, Otis Redding died in a plane crash after he boarded his own two-engine plane from Cleveland, Ohio, bound for Wisconsin, where he was to make an appearance at a popular teen nightclub.

The way they tell it, the weather was terrible that day, and Redding was advised not to fly and had even once received a warning from James Brown. In Salon’s article, it is detailed how Brown tried to warn his friend about flying in that plane.

“When James Brown had heard that Otis was learning to fly the same kind of plane Brown had gotten rid of, he warned him he was gambling with his life. ‘On the last morning we talked,’ Brown recalled, ‘I said, That plane is not big enough to be doing what you’re doing. It can’t carry all those people and all that equipment. You shouldn’t be messing around with it like that.’

“‘Aw, it’s all right Bossman,’ he said Otis told him. ‘We’ve had a few problems, but it’s doing okay.’

“Years later Brown wrote in his memoirs, ‘Somebody was fooling Otis. They tried to do the same thing with his twin-engine that I did with a Lear jet, and they couldn’t do it. That plane was an old plane, with a bad battery and a lot of service problems, and it had no business flying in that kind of weather.'”

Despite the prior warning from James Brown and the current advice from friends, Otis, and the other band members, ignored the bad weather predictions and headed out on their trip.

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On December 10, 1967, a man heard a loud noise before seeing a plane emerging from the clouds, turning sharply, and crashing into the frigid waters of Monona Lake. He later learned that it was Otis Redding’s plane.

Sheer panic set in as the media tried to determine if there were any survivors. Only one man survived, Ben Cauley, who later told investigators that he woke up, couldn’t breathe, and heard someone scream before he was snatched out of the plane. Then, Ben Cauley clung to his seat and tried to stay above water. Nearby, Cauley could hear his band members screaming for help but was unable to assist them.

For at least a day after the fatal plane crash, the media stated that Otis Redding was missing and presumed dead since he was not immediately found.

The next day, his body was recovered from deep inside the plane’s fuselage. Otis was still strapped to his seat. An infamous photo of the body, which appears to be in good condition, shows a dead Otis Redding with something sticking out of his mouth, which someone said appeared to be ice.

There has been much speculation as to the cause of death. Some newspapers from 1967 say Otis Redding drowned. Others say that he survived for 10 minutes after the crash and froze to death. Another report from 1967 says he died immediately upon impact.

Otis Redding is buried in the front yard of his lavish home, where his family can see and visit with him anytime they want. In 2016, Otis Redding’s grandson, Brandon Parker, a Georgia pastor, was shot dead by his girlfriend, Tracia Hubbard, the Christian Post reported.

Watch Unsung this Wednesday, September 14 at 8 p.m. on TV One. In a previous Unsung episode, they covered the life and career of Jennifer Holliday.

[Photo by AP Images]

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