(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay

"The Dock of the Bay" redirects here. For other uses, see The Dock of the Bay (disambiguation).

"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay"
An early US vinyl pressing
Single by Otis Redding
from the album The Dock of the Bay
B-side
  • "Sweet Lorene" (Volt issue)
  • "Keep Your Arms Around Me" (Atco reissue)
ReleasedJanuary 8, 1968
RecordedNovember 22 and December 7, 1967
StudioStax, Memphis, Tennessee[1]
Genre
Length2:38
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Steve Cropper
Otis Redding singles chronology
"Knock on Wood"
(1967) 		"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay"
(1968) 		"The Happy Song (Dum Dum)"
(1968)
Music video
"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" on YouTube

"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. Redding recorded it twice in 1967, including just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. It was released on Stax Records' Volt label in 1968,[4] becoming the first posthumous #1 single in the US.[5] It reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart.

Redding started writing the lyrics in August, 1967 while staying on a rented houseboat in Sausalito, California. He completed the song in Memphis with Cropper, a Stax producer and the guitarist for Booker T. & the M.G.'s. It features whistling and sounds of waves crashing on a shore.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference DVD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay: How Otis Redding Sang His Own Elegy". Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  3. ^ "Inside Otis Redding's Masterpiece '(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay'". Rolling Stone. December 10, 2017. Archived from the original on June 6, 2021. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  4. ^ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 51 – The Soul Reformation: Phase three, soul music at the summit. [Part 7] : UNT Digital Library" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
  5. ^ Rose Lichter-Marck (March 25, 2011). "The undying soul of Otis". The Daily Holdings, Inc. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved May 13, 2011.