Otis Redding "Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul" [1965]

Between the confusing album title and blonde chick's face hogging the front cover of his album, Otis Redding should have learned early on that his race was not appreciated among a plurality of music fans with enough money in their pocket to go out and buy his record. Didn't stop this big, scratchy-voiced, repetitive, slow-jam shouter in a ridiculous red suit from continuing onward with his grade-school education, under-disciplined horn section and ham-fisted subtlety that made Sam & Dave sound like Nick Drake. Supposedly, his fat voice is one of the most influential instruments in all of 60s music and beyond; if true, it's easy to see where we went wrong: he showed Van Morrison and vile British drunks like Humble Pie that overly-emoting every syllable is perfectly fine (when it's clearly not), taught the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson every bad habit not involving shooting junk, and offered up the multiple-note vocal calisthenics that has plagued soul and pop music all the way up to garishly overcooked singers like Cristina Aguilera. Yet somehow, Redding's obvious flaws always seem to be taken as stylistic breakthroughs, whereas to this listener, things like his uttering the same phrases over and over brings to mind none other than Foghorn Leghorn. And in the rare moments when he doesn't bore everyone sounding like a Little Richard 45 played at 33 1/3, he does songs like "Respect," which Aretha Franklin could kick his ass with in her sleep.