As Otis Redding's individual albums go, this disc is one of the best, second only to the excellent "Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul." Over half of the tracks are Redding originals, including the funky "I'm Sick Y'All" and "Sweet Lorene," the wonderful "Ton of Joy," and "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)," which Otis said was inspired by the theme from the TV game show, "The $64,000 Question." The usual handful of cover tunes are exceptional as well, such as the memorable renditions of "Try A Little Tenderness" and "Tennessee Waltz." The Beatles' "Day Tripper" gets completely reworked in an energetic Memphis treatment, complete with the punchy horns of the Mar-Keys. Guitarist Steve Cropper and the rest of Booker T. & the Mg's add their signature sound behind Otis' voice, crafting a classic soul record. The original liner notes, featuring a humorous glossary of his unique singing phrases, are fortunately reproduced in the CD booklet. For those curious about where to begin among the numerous releases in his catalog, this album is an aptly named example of Otis Redding and crew in fine form. Recommended.

This album is truly "complete and unbelievable". Otis Redding was our greatest soul singer, and this is his finest album. The boxed sets and collections are fine, but you don't get the feeling that comes out of a complete Otis Redding album. Buy them all, but start here.

Otis Redding was one of the greatest soul singers of all time. He could rock like Little Richard, and then turn around and sing a ballad like Sam Cooke. This was his fifth album, from 1966. It contains a mixture of some classic hits like "Fa Fa Fa Fa Fa" and "Try a Little Tenderness", and fine lesser known songs like "Hawg For You". But what really showcases Otis's unique talent is the cover songs here. He could take a country song like "Tennessee Waltz", a standard like "Try a Little Tenderness", a Beatles song like "Day Tripper" and and old R&B song like "You're Still My Baby" and when he got through with them they sounded like Otis Redding songs. Fans of classic sould should dig this album.

Otis Redding is smokin' hot with his wonderful retinue of songs! If you are looking for burning soul with horns,flourishes and classy crooning then this is the one for you!
My favorite, Try A Little Tenderness squeezes out every possible high note there is, Sad Song is a great gut bustin' fa fa fa fa fa fabulous venue for the master of soul. Buy it and you won't regret one single instant.

While the Dictionary of Soul was written by Brown, Charles and Cooke in 1960 or so, Otis has the honor of being an editor. His cover of the ancient "Try a Little Tenderness", the only version of the song most people know, is probably his best song ever, thanks to the building emotion in the vocal that eventually explodes. He goes for the more direct emotional approach on some of his own songs, such as the soul shouter "I'm Sick Y'all", and the quiet, reserved, slow soul "Sweet Lorrane". He also writes "My Lover's Prayer", a song with a wonderful melody; the fun Willie Dixon-like blues "Hawg for You", with a fine guitar solo, and the raw "Ton of Joy" on his own; the M.G.'s co-wrote, and were heavily involved in winners like "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" and "I'm Sick Y'all": the oft-covered soul of "Tennessee Waltz" (which he probably picked up from Sam Cooke) also gets a strong performance. A couple weak points include a bad cover of "Day Tripper", which fails where "Satisfaction" succeeded, and "You're Still My Baby", a dumbed-down "Tenderness". Even with those faults, this is still a worthy successor to Otis Blue.