1967 was Otis Redding’s year. Everything seemed to be going right for him. He had written the song “Respect” which was recorded by Aretha Franklin and went to number one. Arthur Conley, who was a protege of Otis hit number two with a song Otis co-wrote, “Sweet Soul Music” and for the icing on the cake, Otis Redding appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival that year. It was late on Saturday night (June 17, 1967) when Otis took the stage at the festival. The crowd was tired and half asleep when Otis launched his rendition of “Shake.” He followed that up with “I’ve Been Loving You” and then ended with, what is my favorite version of the song, “Try a Little Tenderness.”

Before Monterey, Otis Redding had pretty much only performed for black audiences. He had had a few Top 40 hits, but nothing had reached the Top 10. After Monterey, he was suddenly known by the white audience also. In September, 1967, British newspaper, Melody Maker, held its poll of the world’s best male vocalists and Otis Redding won, taking the crown from Elvis Presley, who had held the position for the past eight years.

In August 1967, Otis started writing “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” while he was living in a rented houseboat in Sausalito, California. So, he was literally sitting on (or at least near) a dock when he wrote the song. It took until December and with the help of his guitarist, Steve Cropper to finish the song. The first version was recorded November 22 and overdubs took until December 7. On December 7, the song was finished and ready for the public.

Otis was touring when the song was finished. On December 10, just three days after “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” was recorded, their Beechcraft H18 aircraft crashed into Lake Monona, near Madison, Wisconsin. They were scheduled to play that night near the University of Wisconsin. On board, besides the pilot were Otis, his valet and five members of the group The Bar-Kays. All but one were killed. Ben Cauley, a member of the Bar-Kays was the only person to survive the crash. No one knows why he was lucky. The cause of the crash has never been determined. Otis Redding died just as he was about to make a career making breakthrough. I think that if he had lived, he would have become one of the leading male singers of the Seventies.

“(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” was released January 8, 1968 and was the first posthumous number one on the charts. Later, in 1980, Otis’ sons, Dexter and Otis III, as part of a band called The Reddings, recorded the song and took it to number 55 on the Hot 100. This was the first time a number one song was covered by a descendant of the original singer.

“(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” entered the charts on February 10, 1968 and spent four weeks at number one. It was Otis Redding’s only number one hit.