Good Songs, Poor Quality

I agree with bigtimemusic lover: the sound quality of "The Ultimate Otis Redding" is sub-par. Although the choice of tracks is admirable, the mushy audio does not do Otis justice. If you still have your turntable hooked up, compare a hit track from an Otis LP (such as Atco's "The Best of Otis Redding") to the same track on this CD. You will be amazed at the difference.
If I were to own just one Otis Redding recording, it would have to be "Live in Europe". The energy, the crowd and - most especially - Otis' electric performance - make "Live in Europe" indispensable.

So Much Soul!

You can hear straight out that Otis sings with all his heart and soul. What a talented man he was. His voice is something you can't ignore, and why would you? This cd is full of his best songs and it comes with the story of how much of a great artist he was and how tragic his death was. My favorite song is "Try A Little Tenderness". If you like this song and you haven't seen "Pretty In Pink" yet, you need to. There is a great scene where Jon Cryer is lip synching and dancing to this song. It's too bad he's not still around. His music will always be remembered.

The one and only king of Memphis Soul.

Otis Redding was truly the one and only King of Memphis Soul and this excellent compilation includes most of his big hits. Otis was great with both uptempo numbers and ballads and this CD offers a good sampling of both worlds. The liner notes are also very informative and this package is (as a whole) anice tribute to one of R&B's most important and influential male vocalists. Otis' music remains timeless and while I strongly recommend all of his original albums (all of which are now available on CD) this CD still a fine sampler of his music.