Shake!: Otis at Monterey

Otis Redding performs at Montrey. In this period, he was an enormously popular performer, rivaled only by James Brown for the level of his energy. Yet while everyone was in awe of Brown, Redding had something more important: people paid attention to his performances, and changed what they wer doing. He was influential.

Looking at this documentary, you can see why. There's an innocence in his stage personna, a sense ofhe's getting up there, having fun,and somewhat surprised that people are enjoying it. He can see that pleasure in his sidemen, the smiling drummer, the guitarist racing to keep up. He was a genuine artist and he's been greatly missed

"This is the love crowd, right? We all love each other, don't we?"

There's an angle Pennebaker uses from behind Redding during his song Respect that produces such feeling - the spotlight haloed around his head like an aura, his breath visible in the surrounding darkness, and the flares of light rain looking as incandescent as his energy level. Backed by Booker T. & the M. G.'s, Redding made the most of the moment during a star-studded festival in June, 1967 that also saw breakout performances from Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix. The film is as short and sweet as Redding's set, just five songs (and unfortunately before he had penned (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay), and of course as short as his life, tragically ended in a plane crash just six months later on a winter night in Madison, Wisconsin. I loved the footage of the crowd taken from other points of the festival during the final song, Try a Little Tenderness; despite putting this together two decades later, Pennebaker captures both the artist and spirit of the festival here.

Otis Redding was one of the titanic figures in rock/soul music history...this video should be required viewing for ALL fans of music, if for no other reason but to see what we lost so long ago. Redding took what soul artists were calling "Whitey's Festival" and made it HIS showcase, despite getting the worst spot on the bill. Again, a "must see" for any music history fan.

I saw this on TCM and it certainly is an unforgettable experience. It really stays with you-thinking about the influence this great musician had. It only lasts 20 minutes, but I gotta say that what I did see I cannot and will not forget.

This is a beautiful document of a beautiful moment in music history.

It's June 17, 1967 Monterey, California. Tommy Smothers comes on stage and introduces Otis Redding. It's twenty minutes of Otis performing. This is exactly what you expect, no more, no less. Sure, it's great for fans but it's great for any music lovers. His music is easy to love. There is one weird thing that the filmmakers did with "Try a Little Tenderness". They took the words "Young girls they do get wearied" to literally start a montage of every girl at the festival. It's a little weird and a little stalkery. Maybe I'm being too sensitive.