The concert is captured in the 1968 movie documentary Monterey Pop. The genesis of the song was created as Redding relaxed on a boat in Sausalito, CA, after his spectacular performance at the Monterey Pop Festival during the summer of 1967. The gentleness and quiet introspection of the track signaled a new direction for Redding: more contemplative, even more folksy than his previous efforts. '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay,' a song written by Redding and frequent collaborator Steve Cropper, would prove to be Redding's sole certified million-seller. “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” is on the 3-CD Soulsville USA compilation, which can be bought here.Though soul music great Otis Redding had several R&B hits and two Top 20 pop hits ('I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now),' 'Try a Little Tenderness'), the singer's biggest hit wouldn't happen during his lifetime. In 1998, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” entered the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was the first time that a posthumous single had gone to the top of either chart. The song climbed to No.1 on the pop chart in March, for a four-week reign, also topping the R&B listings for three of them. It entered the Hot 100 on January 27, at No.67 and was in the Top 30 just two weeks later. Redding’s best showing in that market was the No.25 peak, in late January 1967, of another of his signature songs, “Try A Little Tenderness.” But “Dock Of The Bay” was different.

June 1967 had brought Otis’ famous performance at the Monterey Pop Festival, and his R&B hits that year included “Shake” and his duets with Carla Thomas, “Tramp” and “Knock On Wood.” Aretha Franklin took his song “Respect” to No.1, both pop and R&B, and 1967 was also the year in which Otis was named UK pop weekly Melody Maker’s annual readers’ poll as world’s best male vocalist, ending Elvis Presley’s eight-year ownership of that title.īut for all that success, and 21 R&B chart entries, none of them had fully crossed over to the pop market.

Perhaps he was reflecting on the memorable year he’d experienced. The daydreaming mood of the lyric was based in truth, as Redding had started writing “Dock Of The Bay” when he was in California, sitting on a rented houseboat in Sausalito.

Sittin in the dock of the bay