Otis Redding only wrote the first verse of This classic earned Otis Redding a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance and both he and Steve Cropper a Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. However, Redding added this part only because he forgot the actual lyrics he intended to use in that section. Indeed this now-iconic whistling was more or less a placeholder, as in if Redding had actually survived to rework the song it is postulated that it would have been removed. In fact the whole song would have likely sounded differently had Redding lived to work on it further.

Many have dubbed the outro to this song as “perhaps the most famous whistling in music history”. (BMI) has accredited “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” with being “the sixth-most performed song of the 20 th century”, despite the fact that the artist behind it never had a chance to do so live. But for the sake of history, the most-notable cover is perhaps Michael Bolton’s, as not only did his rendition help launch his career, but it is also the favorite version of Zelma Redding’s, Otis Redding’s widow. Logically a song of this magnitude has been covered by a number of artists.

Otis Redding’s son, Otis Redding III, performed “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” at the inauguration of the Brannan Street Wharf in San Francisco on 17 July 2013. Moreover the lyrics of the song are actually engraved at the pier for viewing by the general public.

And why? This was because it was a deviation from what they had grown to expect from the artist. His wife Zelma was not too enthused neither.

When the labels who employed Redding first heard “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”, they weren’t overly-impressed.

Additionally it has been placed on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list at an even equally-impressive number 26.

On the UK Singles Chart, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” peaked at number 3.

As such, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” also proved the be the signature song of Redding’s career, as it has sold in excess of four-million copies. brought forth what turned out to be the first song by a deceased artist to top the Billboard Hot 100.

In the process of doing so, Cropper and co.

Moreover Steve Cropper, who co-wrote the track, says that the experience of being forced to complete it freshly in the wake of Redding’s death was “one of the hardest things (he) ever had to do”.But due to pressure by his record labels (Stax Records and Atlantic Records) to capitalize on this event, the song was officially released a month later on 8 January 1968. Otis Redding recorded “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” just three days before he tragically died in a plane crash on 9 December 1967.Facts about “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”

Sitting on the dock of the bay lyrics