The singer-songwriter label is usually affixed to a folkie strumming an acoustic guitar. Fiery soul singers are rarely dubbed that. That was particularly pernicious when it came to Otis Redding. Otis was a phenomenon as a songwriter, singer, and performer. He could do it all: He was the Willie Mays of soul music.
Otis Redding, Al Bell, and Alan Jones wrote Hard To Handle in 1967. It was posthumously released the next year as the B-side of Amen. Most DJs flipped over the 45 and played this week’s tune.
We begin with Otis Fucking Redding:
Hard To Handle has been mostly covered by male vocalists. Patti Drew is one of the few chick singers to, uh, handle it.
The Gret Stet of Louisiana’s own Tony Joe White recorded an early cover of the Redding classic.
King Floyd made everything he touched funky. Make that as funky, ain’t nobody funkier than Otis.
The Dead performed this week’s tune several times. I prefer this version by their country cousins.
The Black Crowes recorded this tune by their fellow Georgian in 1990:
Toots Hibbert. Say no more.
That’s it for this week. Let’s drink to keeping Otis Redding’s memory alive. It’s what Booker T. & the M.G.’s would want. Never argue with them.
