If all you did was listen to oldies radio, you would think this song was the only hit that Redding had. And it IS true that it was his only top 20 song (it went to #1), but he had success going all the way back to 1965 having 7 songs in the top 40 during that time. His success on the R&B charts and in Britain were much stronger.
As opposed to what some might think, "Dock of the Bay" was actually to be Redding's next single and worked on it just a few days before his death. The whistle at the end was speculated to be there because he forgot the next verse. However, Steve Cropper who co-wrote the song and Otis, and played the distinctive guitar part has said that there was a spoken word part and he had forgotten the words. In either case, the decision was made to leave it there, which ended up making the perfect ending to the song.
As opposed to what some might think, "Dock of the Bay" was actually to be Redding's next single and worked on it just a few days before his death. The whistle at the end was speculated to be there because he forgot the next verse. However, Steve Cropper who co-wrote the song and Otis, and played the distinctive guitar part has said that there was a spoken word part and he had forgotten the words. In either case, the decision was made to leave it there, which ended up making the perfect ending to the song.
