One new way to repackage old music is to combine audio tracks with concert footage. That’s the idea behind the two-disc Otis Redding set, The Best: See & Hear (released by Shout! Factory). Disc one is a greatest hits collection gathering “Respect” (later topped by Aretha Franklin), “Pain in My Heart,” his swaggering rendition of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” and the song that took him to the top of the charts, “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.” Shortly after recording “Dock of the Bay” in 1967, Redding’s career ended in Lake Monona, outside Madison, in a plane crash.
Disc two includes selections from a 1967 concert in Oslo by Redding and some of his label mates on Stax-Volt Records. Backed by a band that was streamlined and electric, the taut rhythms punctuated by a little brass, the acts took turns at the microphone. Sam & Dave exuded confidence on “Soul Man” and Booker T. & the MGs laid down a steady soul groove with “Green Onions.” But Redding must have dominated the show, turning into a fervid preacher whose heart and soul were in sync with the rhythm of his body. He was determined to bring his audience with him into ecstasy. Filling out disc two is D.A. Pennebaker’s footage of Redding from the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival.
