A plane crash in Madison, Wisconsin, killed soul singer Otis Redding and members of the Bar-Kays band on this day in 1967 — 47 years ago. The plane crashed into Lake Monona, several miles from the Madison airport. The only survivor, Ben Cauley of the Bar-Kays, later reported that he had been asleep until just before the crash. He saw his friend in the band, Phalon Jones, look out the window of the small plane and exclaim Oh no! and, before he knew it, he was in a frigid lake holding onto a seat cushion. Cauley said the last thing he remembered before the crash was unbuckling his seat belt. A non-swimmer, he was unable to rescue the others. Redding was 26 years old when he died. He is considered one of the greatest singers in popular music and a major artist in soul and rhythm and blues. His singing style was powerfully influential among soul artists of 1960s and helped exemplify the Stax Sound. After appearing at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival Redding wrote and recorded the iconic (Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay with Steve Cropper. The song became the first posthumous number-one record on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B charts after his death. The day after the plane crash, the lake was dragged and the bodies of the victims were recovered. A storm in Madison that day was a factor in the crash but the exact cause was never determined. By 1967, Redding and the Bar-Kays were traveling to gigs on Reddings Beechcraft H18. Late that year they flew to Nashville, and on December 9, 1967, appeared on the Upbeat television show produced in Cleveland. They played three concerts in two nights at a small club called Leos Casino. After a phone call with Zelma and their children, Reddings next stop was Madison, Wisconsin. On the next day they were to play at the Factory nightclub near the University of Wisconsin. Although the weather was poor, with heavy rain and fog and despite warnings, the plane took off. Four miles from their destination at Truax Field in Madison, the pilot radioed for permission to land. Shortly thereafter, the plane crashed into Lake Monona. James Brown claimed in his autobiography, The Godfather of Soul, that he had warned Redding not to fly in the plane. Aretha Franklin stated, I heard it on the TV. My sister Caroline and I stopped everything and stayed glued to the TV and radio. It was a tragedy. Shocking. Other victims were pilot Richard Fraser, drummer Matthew Kelly, lead guitarist of the Bar-Kays Jimmy King, tenor saxophonist Phalon Jones, organist Ronnie Caldwell and drummer Carl Cunningham. Redding’s funeral took place at the City Auditorium in Macon, where more than 4,500 people attended. Here, Redding performs “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” in 1967. Thanks History
Posted on: Wed, 10 Dec 2014 11:03:42 +0000
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