"Otis? Oh my God. Otis was unique. If you took a fruit jar, and you put Sam Cooke in there with Little Richard, and shook it up, you'd come out with Otis Redding."In Redding's short life, he crafted a body of work that solidified what soul music was all about: sincerity, raw emotion, showmanship, and music that was equal parts Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Redding died at the age of 26 when his private plane crashed on the way to a gig in December 1967; the posthumously-released "Hard to Handle" from the 1968 album The Immortal Otis Redding was part of recording sessions that he wrapped literally days before his death.
I can't deny that The Black Crowes did a great job with their 1990 cover of the song. But Redding's throaty Georgia drawl over Booker T. & The M.G.'s / the Memphis Horns' buoyant groove is some kind of rare magic that can't be replicated.
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