'(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' by Otis Redding: The making of the posthumous soul hit

9 June 2026, 10:53

Ois Redding recorded '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' just days before his death.

Otis Redding died tragically young, aged just 26 when his band's plane crashed into a lake in bad weather.

Nevertheless, he left behind a body of work that more than earned him the title of the King of Soul.

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That material wasn't just the half-dozen albums released during his lifetime, but the incredible songs he had recorded before his passing that were released to universal acclaim following his death.

The first of those was one of his biggest and most enduring songs, '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay'.

But do you know who wrote the song, where it got in the charts, and what it's actually about? Read on for all you need to know about teh posthumous hit.

Who wrote '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay'?

Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay (Official Music Video)

Otis Redding is arguably best remembered as a performer first and foremost.

His interpretations of existing material often elevated it to a whole new level, with his covers surpassing the originals and even becoming the definitive versions.

'That's How Strong My Love Is', 'My Girl', '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction', 'Try a Little Tenderness', 'Day Tripper'... songs written and even made famous by other people that Otis put a singular spin on.

But he was also one hell of a songwriter. From his first hit 'These Arms of Mine' in 1962 on, he wrote plenty of his own material, and in the case of 'Respect' he wrote a decent sized hit that another artist (the legendary Aretha Franklin of course) took to the next level.

And Otis's biggest song was one he wrote himself, in collaboration with Steve Cropper, who produced the song.

Cropper was the house guitarist of the Stax label (the single was released in Stax imprint Volt), and also played in Memphis legends Booker T. & the M.G.'s.

It was in August 1967 that Redding was living on a houseboat at Waldo Point Harbor in Sausalito, California, courtesy of Bill Graham.

Day Tripper (Alternate Take)

On the heels of his acclaimed performance at Monterey, Otis was listening to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on a loop when he started writing the song with those immortal opening lines, thinking about changing up his sound.

Writing continued on whatever he could get his hands on in the weeks that followed, and it was at Stax in Memphis, Tennessee that he got together with Cropper where they finished writing and then recording the song.

"The story that I got, he was renting a boathouse, or stayed at a boathouse or something, and that's where he got the idea of the ships coming in the bay there," Cropper said on NPR in 1990. "And that's about all he had... I just took that... and I finished the lyrics."

What do the lyrics of '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' mean?

(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay (Take 2)

Cropper says that while Otis wasn't one to really write about himself, he himself was happy to use his co-writer for material.

'Songs like 'Mr. Pitiful', 'Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)'; they were about Otis and Otis' life," he said.

'Dock of the Bay" was exactly that. 'I left my home in Georgia, headed for the Frisco Bay' was all about him going out to San Francisco to perform."

Is that actually Otis Redding whistling on '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay'?

The main recording of ''(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' took place on November 22, 1967. Another session for overdubs happened on December 7.

Otis died just three days later.

Apparently there were vague plans and even discussions to enlist The Staple Singers to help make the song a bit more gospelly, and perhaps a bit less poppy.

Redding himself was said to have considered the song not really done, and had planned to get back in the studio to re-record it.

That never happened.

(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay (Take 1)

Instead the final version was built from those November 22 and December 7 sessions, boasting a delicate whistle that fades out towards the end.

As for who it is whistling, we always assumed it was Redding himself, and that's what Cropper has always said. Some people have suggested that Otis's bandleader Sam Taylor had to overdub a more forceful whistle over Redding's original, though.

According to the liner notes of the Dock of the Bay album, as well as Otis (voice) and Cropper (guitar), the song – being on Stax – featured some key members of Booker T and the MG's. So there was bass from Donald Dunn, drums from Al Jackson Jr, trumpet from Wayne Jackson, and keyboards by Booker T Jones and Isaac Hayes.

Cropper added the sound of waves and seagulls, which is what Redding told him he had wanted before his passing.

When was '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' released and where did it get in the charts?

'(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' was released as a single on January 8, 1968, a month after Redding's death.

The original Volt single featured 'Sweet Lorene' on the flip, while a later reissue on Atco boasted 'Keep Your Arms Around Me'.

Previously, Otis's biggest hit was his version of 'Try a Little Tenderness' , which scraped to number 25 in the pop charts in 1966.

Released so soon after his traffic death, '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay' soared all the way to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three in the UK, eventually going triple platinum on both sides of the Atlantic.

It gave its name to the posthumous The Dock of the Bay album, which was released on February 23, 1968, which went to number four in the US and topped the charts in the UK.

Who has covered '(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay'?

(SITTIN' ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY - Glen Campbell

You might think that artists would be a bit wary of covering such an iconic hit, especially given how soon it was released after Otis Redding's death.

But some pretty major artists have put their spin on the classic song, with many doing it justice, too.

Glen Campbell was quick out the traps, overing the song in November 1968. Just a month later The Staple Singers played it, too.

Before the decade was out, Peggy Lee, Tom Jones and Cher had also covered the song.

Michael Bolton - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

In the 1970s, artists covering the track included James Last, Little Richard, Tony Christie and Sammy Hagar.

After that we saw versions by Sam and Dave, Rod Stewart, Engelbert Humperdinck, Craig David, Garth Brooks, Sting and Suzi Quatro.

We have to make special mention of Michael Bolton's 1987 cover (a number 11 hit in the US), and Vinnie Jones's effort from his unlikely 2002 crooner album Respect.