Out Now: Otis Redding, THE DEFINITIVE STUDIO ALBUM COLLECTION

This past Sunday, the world commemorated the 50^th anniversary of the death of Otis Redding. In a few weeks, we’ll be celebrating the 50^th anniversary of Redding’s posthumously-released single, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay,” and it’ll only be a few months after that when we’ll be celebrating the 50^th anniversary of that ironic track arriving at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for a total of four weeks.

To sum up, we’re thinking a lot about Otis Redding lately, and if you’re doing the same, then you’ll appreciate an item that’s just landed in your local record store (or your favorite digital retailer) in time for Christmas.

OTIS REDDING: THE DEFINITIVE STUDIO ALBUM COLLECTION is a 7-LP set which features the following albums:

• PAIN IN MY HEART (1964)
• THE GREAT OTIS REDDING SINGS SOUL BALLADS (1965)
• OTIS BLUE / OTIS REDDING SINGS SOUL (1965)
• THE SOUL ALBUM (1966)
• COMPLETE AND UNBELIEVABLE...THE OTIS REDDING DICTIONARY OF SOUL (1966)
• KING & QUEEN –Otis Redding & Carla Thomas (1967)
• THE DOCK OF THE BAY (1968)

All of the LPs replicate the original packaging, from the sleeve artwork down to the original record labels (Volt and Stax) and catalog numbers, and they’re all housed together in a side-loading slipcase.

If you’ve got an Otis Redding best-of collection, that’s a good start. But if you’re an Otis Redding fan and you’ve been looking to add to your collection, this is the only way to go.