Otis Redding Top Songs and Awards

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Otis Redding was born the fourth of six children and the first son of Otis Redding Sr. and Fannie Roseman in Dawson, Georgia. Redding Sr. was a sharecropper before working at Robins Air Force Base in Macon and preaching in local churches. The family relocated to Tindall Heights, a primarily African-American public housing project in Macon when Redding was three years old.

He began singing in the Vineville Baptist Church choir and learning guitar and piano at a young age. Redding began taking drum and singing classes at the age of ten. He sang in the school band at Ballard-Hudson High School.

Every Sunday, he earned $6 by singing gospel songs for Macon radio station WIBB, and he won $5 in a teen talent event for 15 weeks in a row. Singing was his love, and he frequently listed Little Richard and Sam Cooke as influences. Redding stated that he “would not be here” if Little Richard had not been there for him and that he “entered the music business because of Richard – he is my inspiration.” I used to sing rock ‘n’ roll songs like Little Richard… My current music contains a lot of him.

Redding dropped out of school at the age of 15 to assist financially support his family; his father had tuberculosis and was frequently hospitalized, leaving his mother as the family’s sole revenue earner. He worked as a well digger, a petrol station attendant, and a musician on the side. Gladys Williams, a well-known Macon musician who inspired Redding, frequently performed at the Hillview Springs Social Club, and Redding occasionally played piano with her band there. Williams held Sunday talent showcases, which Redding and two friends, singers Little Willie Jones and Eddie Roswell, attended.