美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Dock Of The Bay' At 50: Why Otis Redding's Biggest Hit Almost Went Unheard

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Fifty years ago today, one of the most performed songs of the 20th century was released. And did you know it almost never saw the light of day?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "(SITTIN' ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY")

OTIS REDDING: (Singing) Sittin' in the mornin' sun. I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes.

GREENE: "(Sitting On) The Dock Of The Bay" - it was a departure for the R&B superstar Otis Redding, sort of an experiment. This is biographer Mark Ribowsky.

MARK RIBOWSKY: Otis had had a throat operation in the fall that year, and he was very worried about whether he would be able to sing again and sing like Otis. He needed to sort of make it quieter, make it more poetic¹. And he came up with this song.

GREENE: A song that wasn't really R&B. It wasn't rock. It wasn't folk. An executive at Redding's label, Stax, he just didn't get it.

RIBOWSKY: Al Bell heard it being recorded that day and said, I don't know if we could ever release this song.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "(SITTIN' ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY")

REDDING: (Singing) Cause I've had nothing to live for and look like nothing's gonna come my way.

GREENE: That winter, they left the recording² incomplete. And then there was a tragedy. Otis Redding died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. The music world was in mourning. His recording label had a different reaction.

RIBOWSKY: You know, let's face it - when a rock 'n' roller dies, you need a song to come out immediately to cash in on this. That's just the way the business is. Steve Cropper, who wrote it with him and produced it - great guitar player - said, let's do this song.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

STEVE CROPPER: I mean, I got this call on a Monday. And of course, Otis' plane went down on Sunday morning.

GREENE: NPR spoke³ to Steve Cropper back in 2000.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

CROPPER: I don't think they found Otis' body until Friday. And they said, get that thing finished and get it to us. So I went to work on it. And probably the music is the only thing that kept me going.

GREENE: Cropper sent them a completed version within one week. Again, here's biographer Mark Ribowsky.

RIBOWSKY: Jerry Wexler up in New York at Atlantic - the overlords of Stax - said, no, we can't release it. His vocal⁴ is too recessed⁵. It needs to be remixed. Cropper said, OK, I'll change it. I'll overdub it. I'll do this. I'll do that - didn't change it whatsoever⁶. Sent it back to Wexler who said, oh, yeah, this sounds a lot better now.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "(SITTIN' ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY")

REDDING: (Singing) I can't do what 10 people tell me to do, so I guess I'll remain the same, yes.

GREENE: Well, we're all thankful they saved that song. "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay" was released 50 years ago today, less than a month after Otis Redding died at the age of 26. It became his biggest hit.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "(SITTING ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY")

REDDING: (Singing) Sittin' on the dock of the bay wastin' time.

1 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。

2 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

5 recessed   

v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭

参考例句：

• My rooms were large, with deeply recessed windows and painted, eighteenth-century panellin. 我住的房间很宽敞，有向里凹陷很深的窗户，油漆过的十八世纪的镶花地板。 来自辞典例句
• The Geneva meeting recessed while Kennety and Khrushchev met in Vienna. 肯尼迪同赫鲁晓夫在维也纳会晤时，日内瓦会议已经休会。 来自辞典例句

6 whatsoever   

adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么

参考例句：

• There's no reason whatsoever to turn down this suggestion.没有任何理由拒绝这个建议。
• All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you,do ye even so to them.你想别人对你怎样，你就怎样对人。