(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay
Posthumous number 1 single co-written by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper.
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"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was written by Otis Redding and Steve Cropper. Redding cut the song twice in 1967, the second time just three days before he died in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. It came out on Stax's Volt label in 1968 and became the first posthumous number 1 single in the United States. In the UK, it peaked at number 3.
Origins
Redding began writing the lyrics in August 1967 while staying on a rented houseboat in Sausalito, California. He finished the song in Memphis with Cropper, a Stax producer and guitarist for Booker T. & the M.G.'s. The track includes whistling and the sound of waves hitting the shore.
The idea came during a tour with the Bar-Kays in August 1967. Redding was so popular in San Francisco that fans mobbed his hotel.
Promoter Bill Graham offered him a break at his houseboat at Waldo Point Harbor in Sausalito. There, Redding listened repeatedly to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and decided to try a new sound. He wrote the opening lines—"Sittin' in the morning sun, I'll be sittin' when the evening comes"—and the first verse under the working title "Dock of the Bay."
Redding had just played the Monterey Pop Festival. While touring behind King & Queen (with Carla Thomas) and Live in Europe, he jotted down more lyrics on napkins and hotel paper. That November, he joined Cropper at Stax's Memphis studio to finish and record the song.
In a 1990 Fresh Air interview, Cropper recalled that Redding had "100 ideas." He said Redding had been in San Francisco playing the Fillmore and staying on a houseboat, where he got the image of ships coming into the bay. All Redding had was "I watch the ships come in and I watch them roll away again." Cropper finished the lyrics, noting that most of his collaborations with Redding were about Redding himself—songs like "Mr. Pitiful" and "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)." "Dock of the Bay" was no exception: "I left my home in Georgia, headed for the Frisco Bay" described Redding's own trip to San Francisco.
The final recording sessions happened on November 22, with extra overdubs on December 7. Redding's restrained, emotional singing is backed by Cropper's spare guitar. The song marked a shift from Redding's usual style. He told his wife he wanted "to be a little different," to "change his style." Some worried it sounded too pop.
Background
Redding started writing the lyrics in August 1967 while staying on a rented houseboat in Sausalito, California, after rock concert impresario Bill Graham offered him a respite from fans. On the houseboat, Redding listened obsessively to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and found inspiration to develop a new sound. He completed the song in Memphis with Cropper, a Stax producer and guitarist for Booker T. & the M.G.'s. The song features whistling and sounds of waves crashing on a shore.
Redding recorded the song on November 22, 1967, with additional overdubs on December 7. He considered the song unfinished and planned to record a final version but never got the chance. After Redding's death, Cropper mixed the track at Stax Studios, adding seagulls and crashing waves as Redding had requested. The identity of the whistler is disputed: some sources say Sam Taylor overdubbed Redding's original whistle, but Cropper insists Redding's whistle was used.
A Number One Written in Tragedy
Jim Croce's life was cut short in a plane crash in September 1973, but his music refused to stay silent. In the months following his death, radio stations began playing 'Time in a Bottle' with increasing frequency, and listener demand for a standalone single grew steadily. ABC eventually released it, and the track climbed to the top of the U.S. charts, where it held the number-one spot for two weeks in early January 1974.
It became Croce's second and final chart-topper in the United States. The achievement placed the song in a rare and somber lineage: it was only the third posthumous number-one hit on the Billboard charts, following Otis Redding's 'Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay' and Janis Joplin's 'Me and Bobby McGee.' The single's success also sent its parent album, You Don't Mess Around with Jim, surging to the top of the album chart, where it remained for five consecutive weeks. A song born from a husband's joy at learning his wife was expecting ultimately became one of the most poignant posthumous triumphs in American pop history.
Frequently Asked Questions
What chart achievements does (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay hold?
The single became the first posthumous release to reach number one on the US charts, and it peaked at number three in the UK.
What was Steve Cropper's specific contribution to the song?
Cropper, who played guitar for Booker T. & the M.G.'s and worked as a Stax producer, co-wrote the track and helped Redding shape the final arrangement in Memphis. His involvement gave the recording its distinctive Stax house-band feel.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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