Within the first 30 seconds of Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness,” weariness appears as a motif. It’s invoked through both the track’s lyrics and Redding’s classic croon. It’s no blanket of blues, though; this theme is picked up, pumped up and paraded over a band like only the King of Soul could have managed.
This is the driving force behind any track by the Georgia-grown visionary and entertainer — Otis’ live-theatrical sensibility remained within every verse and hook he sang. It was this ability to perform within and around the voice — practically, within the structures of Soul music
