Album of the Day

Born on this day in 1941, Otis Redding is so closely identified with “Southern soul” that you might expect to see a picture of the singer next to the definition of the term, so it's fitting that his fifth studio album would be entitled COMPLETE AND UNBELIEVABLE ... THE OTIS REDDING DICTIONARY OF SOUL. Cut in the summer of 1966 at Stax Studios in Memphis, TN, with Booker T. & the M.G.'s, pianist Isaac Hayes and the Memphis Horns, the 12-track collection includes such all-time classics as "Try A Little Tenderness" and "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)." The set peaked at #5 on the U.S. R&B charts, and is today rightfully considered among the best examples of modern soul ever recorded. With a 2-disc deluxe 50th anniversary edition of COMPLETE AND UNBELIEVABLE due next month, we'll open the dictionary to A for “anticipation.”