Otis Redding Died 3 Days After Recording ‘Dock Of The Bay’ – Willie & Waylon Covered It 15 Years Later

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This haunting cover of “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” sang by two of the biggest stars in country music, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, comes by its wistful sound naturally. The author and original singer of the song, Otis Redding, recorded the hit three days before he died an untimely death. Was it an omen?

Just Three Minutes Away

Redding and his band were flying to Nashville for the first of three scheduled shows that fateful day in December. On the morning of December 10th, Redding, 26 and one of the greatest soul singers of the ’60s, plummeted to his death when the twin-engine plane he was in crashed into Lake Monona, only three minutes away from his final destination of Madison, Wisconsin.

First Posthumous Single To Hit #1

The song was released January 8, 1968 and hit Number One in March of that same year, becoming the first posthumous single to hit the top spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100.

The song again hit the charts, peaking at Number 13, when the infamous outlaws of country music, Willie and Waylon, recorded the song in 1982.

“Sittin’ here restin’ my bones And this loneliness won’t leave me alone…”

Shut your eyes and listen to the loneliness in the lyrics. What do you think of the song and the famous singin’ Outlaws’ haunting cover?