Vineyards in the Champagne region of France

Champagne (French: [ʃɑ̃.paɲ]; English /ˌʃæmˈpeɪn/) is a sparkling wine produced from grapes grown in the Champagne region of France following rules that demand secondary fermentation of the wine in the bottle to create carbonation.^[1] Some use the term champagne as a generic term for sparkling wine,^{[2] [3]} but many countries reserve the term exclusively for sparkling wines that come from Champagne and are produced under the rules of the appellation.^[4]

The primary grapes used in the production of Champagne are Pinot noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. Champagne appellation law only allows grapes grown according to appellation rules in specifically designated plots within the appellation to be used in the production of Champagne. Some sparkling wines produced in other regions of the world use other grapes.

Champagne first gained world renown because of its association with the anointment of French kings. Royalty from throughout Europe spread the message of the unique sparkling wine from Champagne and its association with luxury and power in the 17th, 18th and 19th century. The leading manufacturers devoted considerable energy to creating a history and identity for their wine, associating it and themselves with nobility and royalty. Through advertising and packaging they sought to associate Champagne with high luxury, festivities, and rites of passage. Their efforts coincided with the emergence of a middle class that was looking for ways to spend its money on symbols of upward mobility.^[4]

Origins[link]

Jean François de Troy's 1735 painting Le Déjeuner d'Huîtres (The Oyster Luncheon) is the first known depiction of Champagne in painting

Wines from the Champagne region were known before medieval times. The Romans were the first to plant vineyards in this area of northeast France, with the region being cultivated by at least the 5th century, possibly earlier. Later, churches owned vineyards and monks produced wine for use in the sacrament of Eucharist. French kings were traditionally anointed in Reims, and Champagne wine was served as part of coronation festivities. The Champenois were envious of the reputation of the wines made by their Burgundian neighbours to the south and sought to produce wines of equal acclaim. However, the northerly climate of the region gave the Champenois a unique set of challenges in making red wine. At the far extremes of sustainable viticulture, the grapes would struggle to ripen fully and often would have bracing levels of acidity and low sugar levels. The wines would be lighter bodied and thinner than the Burgundy wines they were seeking to outdo.^{[citation needed]}

Contrary to legend and popular belief, Dom Pérignon did not invent sparkling wine, but he did make important contributions to the production and quality of Champagne wine.^[5][6] The oldest recorded sparkling wine is Blanquette de Limoux, which was apparently invented by Benedictine Monks in the Abbey of Saint Hilaire, near Carcassonne in 1531.^[7] They achieved this by bottling the wine before the initial fermentation had ended. Over a century later, the English scientist and physician Christopher Merret documented the addition of sugar to a finished wine to create a second fermentation, which occurred six years before Dom Perignon set foot in the Abbey of Hautvillers and almost 40 years before it was claimed that the famed Benedictine monk invented Champagne. Merret presented the Royal Society with a paper, in which he detailed what is now called méthode champenoise, in 1662.^[8] Merret's discoveries coincided also with English glass-makers technical developments that allowed bottles to be produced that could withstand the required internal pressures during the secondary fermentation process. French glass-makers at this time could not produce bottles of the required quality or strength.

In France, the first sparkling Champagne was created accidentally; its pressure led it to be called "the devil's wine" (le vin du diable), as bottles exploded or corks jolted away. In 1844 Adolphe Jaquesson invented the muselet to prevent the corks from blowing out. Initial versions were difficult to apply and inconvenient to remove.^[9][10] Even when it was deliberately produced as a sparkling wine, Champagne was for a very long time made by the méthode rurale, where the wine was bottled before the only fermentation had finished. Champagne did not utilize the méthode champenoise until the 19th century, approximately 200 years after Christopher Merret documented the process. The 19th century saw an explosive growth in Champagne production, going from a regional production of 300,000 bottles a year in 1800 to 20 million bottles in 1850.^[11]

In the 19th century Champagne was noticeably sweeter than the Champagne of today. The trend towards drier Champagne began when Perrier-Jouët decided not to sweeten his 1846 vintage prior to exporting it to London. The designation Brut Champagne, the modern Champagne, was created for the British in 1876.^[12]

Champagne and the law[link]

The Champagne appellation highlighted in red

The Champagne winemaking community, under the auspices of the Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, has developed a comprehensive set of rules and regulations for all wine produced in the region to protect its economic interests. They include codification of the most suitable growing places; the most suitable grape types (most Champagne is a blend of up to three grape varieties, though other varieties are allowed); and a lengthy set of requirements specifying most aspects of viticulture. This includes pruning, vineyard yield, the degree of pressing, and the time that wine must remain on its lees before bottling. It can also limit the release of Champagne to market to maintain prices. Only when a wine meets these requirements may it be labelled Champagne. The rules agreed upon by the CIVC are submitted for the INAO's final approval.

The government organization that controls wine appellations in France, the Institut National des Appellations d'Origine, is preparing to make the largest revision of the region's legal boundaries since 1927, in response to economic pressures. With soaring demand and limited production of grapes, Champagne houses say the rising price could produce a consumer backlash that would harm the industry for years into the future. That, along with political pressure from villages that want to be included in the expanded boundaries, led to the move. Changes are subject to significant scientific review and are said to not impact Champagne produced grapes until 2020.^[13]

[edit] Use of the word champagne

1915 English magazine illustration of a lady riding a Champagne cork (Lordprice Collection)

There are many sparkling wines produced worldwide, yet most^{[citation needed]} legal structures reserve the word champagne exclusively for sparkling wines from the Champagne region, made in accordance with Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne regulations. In the European Union and many other countries, the name Champagne is legally protected by the Treaty of Madrid (1891), which reserved it for the sparkling wine produced in the eponymous region and adhering to the standards defined for it as an Appellation d'origine contrôlée; the protection was reaffirmed in the Treaty of Versailles after World War I. Similar legal protection has been adopted by over 70 countries. Most recently Canada, Australia,^[14] and Chile signed agreements with Europe that limit the use of the term "champagne" to only those products produced in the Champagne region. The United States bans the use from all new U.S.-produced wines.^[3] Only those that had approval to use the term on labels before 2006 may continue to use it and only when it is accompanied by the wine's actual origin (e.g., "California").^[3] The majority of U.S.-produced sparkling wines do not use the term champagne on their labels ^[15] and some states, such as Oregon,^[16] ban producers in their states from using the term.

In the United States, name protection of wine-growing place names is becoming more important. Several key U.S. wine regions, such as those in California (Napa, Sonoma Valley, Paso Robles), Oregon, and Walla Walla, Washington, now view the remaining semi-generic labels as harmful to their reputations (cf. Napa Declaration on Place).

Even the terms méthode champenoise and champagne method were forbidden by an EU court decision in 1994.^[17] As of 2005, the description most often used for sparkling wines not from Champagne yet using the second fermentation in the bottle process is méthode traditionnelle. Sparkling wines are produced worldwide, and many producers use special terms to define them: Spain uses Cava, Italy designates it spumante, and South Africa uses cap classique. An Italian sparkling wine made from the Muscat grape uses the DOCG Asti. In Germany, Sekt is a common sparkling wine. Other French wine regions cannot use the name Champagne: e.g., Burgundy and Alsace produce Crémant. In 2008, more than 3000 bottles of sparkling wine produced in California labeled with the term "Champagne" were destroyed by Belgian government authorities.^[18]

Regardless of the legal requirements for labelling, extensive education efforts by the Champagne region, and the use of alternative names by non-Champagne quality sparkling wine producers, some consumers and wine sellers continue to regard champagne as a generic term for white sparkling wines, regardless of origin.

The village of Champagne, Switzerland, has traditionally made a still wine labelled as "champagne", the earliest records of viticulture dated to 1657. In an accord with the EU, the Swiss government conceded in 1999 that by 2004 the village would phase out use of the name. Sales dropped from 110,000 bottles a year to 32,000 after the change. In April 2008 the villagers resolved to fight against the restriction following a Swiss open-air vote.^[19]

Production[link]

Le Remueur: 1889 engraving of the man engaged in the laborious daily task of turning each bottle a fraction

Méthode Champenoise is the traditional method by which Champagne is produced. After primary fermentation and bottling, a second alcoholic fermentation occurs in the bottle. This second fermentation is induced by adding several grams of yeast (usually Saccharomyces cerevisiae, although each brand has its own secret recipe) and several grams of rock sugar.^[20] According to the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée a minimum of 1.5 years is required to completely develop all the flavour. For years where the harvest is exceptional, a millesimé is declared and some Champagne will be made from and labelled as the products of a single vintage rather than a blend of multiple years' harvests. This means that the Champagne will be very good and has to mature for at least 3 years. During this time the Champagne bottle is sealed with a crown cap similar to that used on beer bottles.^[4]

After aging, the bottle is manipulated, either manually or mechanically, in a process called remuage, so that the lees settle in the neck of the bottle. After chilling the bottles, the neck is frozen, and the cap removed. The pressure in the bottle forces out the ice containing the lees, and the bottle is quickly corked to maintain the carbon dioxide in solution. Some syrup (le dosage) is added to maintain the level within the bottle.^[4]

Bubbles[link]

Bubbles from rosé Champagne

An initial burst of effervescence occurs when the Champagne contacts the dry glass on pouring. These bubbles form on imperfections in the glass that facilitate nucleation or, to a lesser extent, on cellulose fibres left over from the wiping/drying process as shown by Gérard Liger-Belair, Richard Marchal, and Philippe Jeandel with a high-speed video camera.^[21] However, after the initial rush, these naturally occurring imperfections are typically too small to consistently act as nucleation points as the surface tension of the liquid smoothes out these minute irregularities. The nucleation sites that act as a source for the ongoing effervescence are not natural imperfections in the glass, but actually occur where the glass has been etched by the manufacturer or the customer. This etching is typically done with acid, a laser, or a glass etching tool from a craft shop to provide nucleation sites for continuous bubble formation (note that not all glasses are etched in this way). In 1662, this method was developed by the British, as records from the Royal Society show.

Dom Pérignon was originally charged by his superiors at the Abbey of Hautvillers to get rid of the bubbles since the pressure in the bottles caused many of them to burst in the cellar.^[22] As sparkling wine production increased in the early 18th century, cellar workers had to wear heavy iron mask that resembled a baseball catcher's mask to prevent injury from spontaneously bursting bottles.^{[citation needed]} The disturbance caused by one bottle's disintegration could cause a chain reaction, with it being routine for cellars to lose 20–90% of their bottles to instability.^{[citation needed]} The mysterious circumstance surrounding the then unknown process of fermentation and carbonic gas caused some critics to call the sparkling creations "The Devil's Wine".^[23]

Champagne producers[link]

There are more than one hundred Champagne houses and 19,000 smaller vignerons (vine-growing producers) in Champagne. These companies manage some 32,000 hectares of vineyards in the region. The type of Champagne producer can be identified from the abbreviations followed by the official number on the bottle:^[24]

• NM: Négociant manipulant. These companies (including the majority of the larger brands) buy grapes and make the wine
• CM: Coopérative de manipulation. Cooperatives that make wines from the growers who are members, with all the grapes pooled together
• RM: Récoltant manipulant. (Also known as Grower Champagne) A grower that also makes wine from its own grapes (a maximum of 5% of purchased grapes is permitted). Note that co-operative members who take their bottles to be disgorged at the co-op can now label themselves as RM instead of RC
• SR: Société de récoltants. An association of growers making a shared Champagne but who are not a co-operative
• RC: Récoltant coopérateur. A co-operative member selling Champagne produced by the co-operative under its own name and label
• MA: Marque auxiliaire or Marque d'acheteur. A brand name unrelated to the producer or grower; the name is owned by someone else, for example a supermarket
• ND: Négociant distributeur. A wine merchant selling under his own name

Marketing Champagne[link]

An Edwardian English advertisement for Champagne, listing honours and royal drinkers

The popularity of Champagne is attributed to the success of Champagne producers in marketing the wine. Champagne houses promoted the wine's image as a royal and aristocratic drink. Laurent-Perrier's advertisements in late 1890 boasted their Champagne was the favourite of King Leopold II of Belgium, George I of Greece, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Margaret Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge, and John Lambton, 3rd Earl of Durham, among other nobles, knights, and military officers. Despite this royal prestige, Champagne houses also portrayed Champagne as a luxury enjoyable by anyone, for any occasion.^[25] This strategy worked, and, by the turn of the 20th century, the majority of Champagne drinkers were middle class.^[26]

In the 19th century, Champagne producers made a concentrated effort to market their wine to women. This was in stark contrast to the traditionally "male aura" that the wines of France had—particularly Burgundy and Bordeaux. Laurent-Perrier again took the lead in this area with advertisements touting their wine's favour with the Countess of Dudley, the wife of the 9th Earl of Stamford, the wife of the Baron Tollemache, and the opera singer Adelina Patti. Champagne labels were designed with images of romantic love and marriage as well as other special occasions that were deemed important to women, such as the baptism of a child.^[27]

In some advertisements, the Champagne houses catered to political interest such as the labels that appeared on different brands on bottles commemorating the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution of 1789. On some labels there were flattering images of Marie-Antoinette that appealed to the conservative factions of French citizens that viewed the former queen as a martyr. On other labels there were stirring images of Revolutionary scenes that appealed to the liberal left sentiments of French citizens. As World War I loomed, Champagne houses put images of soldiers and countries' flags on their bottles, customizing the image for each country to which the wine was imported. During the Dreyfus Affair, one Champagne house released a Champagne Antijuif with anti-Semitic advertisements to take advantage of the wave of anti-Semitism that hit parts of France.^[28]

Champagne is typically drunk during celebrations. For example British Prime Minister Tony Blair held a Champagne reception to celebrate London winning the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games.^[29] It is also used to launch ships when a bottle is smashed over the hull during the ship's launch. If the bottle fails to break this is often thought to be bad luck.

Grape varieties and styles[link]

Champagne is a single Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée. As a general rule, grapes used must be the white Chardonnay, or the dark-skinned "red wine grapes" Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier. Due to the gentle pressing of the grapes and absence of skin contact during fermentation, the dark-skinned varieties also yield a white wine. Most Champagnes are made from a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, for example 60%/40%. Blanc de blanc ("white from white") Champagnes are made from 100% Chardonnay. Possibly the most exquisite of these is grown in a single Grand cru vineyard in Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger for Salon. Blanc de noir ("white from black") Champagne is pressed from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier or a mix of the two.^[24]

Four other grape varieties are permitted, mostly for historical reasons, as they are rare in current usage. The 2010 version of the appellation regulations lists seven varieties as allowed, Arbanne, Chardonnay, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir.^[30] The sparsely cultivated varieties (0.02% of the total vines planted in Champagne) of Arbanne, Petit Meslier and Pinot Blanc, might still be found in modern cuvées from a few producers.^[31] Previous directives of INAO make conditional allowances according to the complex laws of 1927 and 1929, and plantings made prior to 1938.^[32] Before the 2010 regulations, the complete list of the actual and theoretical varieties also included Pinot de Juillet and Pinot Rosé.^[33] The Gamay vines of the region were scheduled to be uprooted by 1942, but due to World War II, this was postponed until 1962,^[34] and this variety is not allowed in Champagne today.^[30]

The dark-skinned Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier give the wine its length and backbone. They are predominantly grown in two areas – the Montagne de Reims and the Valée de la Marne. The Montagne de Reims run east-west to the south of Reims, in northern Champagne. They are notable for north-facing chalky slopes that derive heat from the warm winds rising from the valleys below. The River Marne runs west–east through Champagne, south of the Montagne de Reims. The Valée de la Marne contains south-facing chalky slopes. Chardonnay gives the wine its acidity and biscuit flavour. Most Chardonnay is grown in a north-south-running strip to the south of Épernay, called the Côte des Blanc, including the villages of Avize, Oger and Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger. These are east-facing vineyards, with terroir similar to the Côte de Beaune. The various terroirs account for the differences in grape characteristics and explain the appropriateness of blending juice from different grape varieties and geographical areas within Champagne, to get the desired style for each Champagne house.^[24]

Types of Champagne[link]

Champagne appellation

Most of the Champagne produced today is "Non-vintage", meaning that it is a blended^[35] product of grapes from multiple vintages. Most of the base will be from a single year vintage with producers blending anywhere from 10–15% (even as high as 40%) of wine from older vintages.^[24] If the conditions of a particular vintage are favourable, some producers will make a "Vintage" wine that must be composed of at least 85% of the grapes from vintage year.^[36] Under Champagne wine regulations, houses that make both vintage and non-vintage wines are allowed to use no more than 80% of the total vintage's harvest for the production of vintage Champagne. This allows at least 20% of the harvest from each vintage to be reserved for use in non-vintage Champagne. This ensures a consistent style that consumers can expect from non-vintage Champagne that does not alter too radically depending on the quality of the vintage. In less than ideal vintages, some producers will produce a wine from only that single vintage and still label it as non-vintage rather than as "vintage" since the wine will be of lesser quality and the producers have little desire to reserve the wine for future blending.^[24]

[edit] Prestige cuvée

A cuvée de prestige is a proprietary blended wine (usually a Champagne) that is considered to be the top of a producer's range. Famous examples include Louis Roederer's Cristal, Laurent-Perrier's Grand Siècle, Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, Duval-Leroy's Cuvée Femme and Pol Roger's Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill. Perhaps the original prestige cuvée was Moët & Chandon's Dom Pérignon, launched in 1936 with the 1921 vintage. Until then, Champagne houses produced different cuvées of varying quality, but a top-of-the-range wine produced to the highest standards (and priced accordingly) was a new idea. In fact, Louis Roederer had been producing Cristal since 1876, but this was strictly for the private consumption of the Russian tsar. Cristal was made publicly available with the 1945 vintage. Then came Taittinger's Comtes de Champagne (first vintage 1952), and Laurent-Perrier's Grand Siècle 'La Cuvée' in 1960, a blend of three vintages (1952, 1953, and 1955) and Perrier Jouet's 'La Belle Epoque'. In the last three decades of the 20th century, most Champagne houses followed these with their own prestige cuvées, often named after notable people with a link to that producer and presented in non-standard bottle shapes (following Dom Pérignon's lead with its 18th-century revival design).

[edit] Blanc de noirs

A French term (literally "white of blacks") for a white wine produced entirely from black grapes. Black, or red, grapes have a white flesh and grape juice obtained after minimal possible contact with the skins produces white wine, the colour of which is offset by the small amount of red skin pigments and turns into lighter shades of yellow, often described as white-yellow, white-grey, or silvery. It is often encountered in Champagne, where a number of houses have followed the lead of Bollinger's prestige cuvée Vieilles Vignes Françaises in introducing a cuvée made from either Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier or a blend of the two (these being the only two black grapes permitted within the Champagne AOC appellation). Although Bollinger's wine is famed for its intense richness and full-bodied nature, this has more to do with the way the grapes are planted and when they are harvested than any intrinsic property of blanc de noirs Champagne, which is often little different from cuvées including a proportion of Chardonnay.^[24]

[edit] Blanc de blancs

A French term that means "white of whites", and is used to designate Champagnes made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes. A famous example is Ruinart. The term is occasionally used in other sparkling wine-producing regions, usually to denote Chardonnay-only wines rather than any sparkling wine made from other white grape varieties.^[24]

Rosé Champagne[link]

The rosé wines of Champagne (also known as Pink Champagne) are produced either by leaving the clear juice of black grapes to macerate on its skins for a brief time (known as the saigneé method) or, more commonly, by adding a small amount of still Pinot noir red wine to the sparkling wine cuvee. Champagne is typically light in colour even if it is produced with red grapes, because the juice is extracted from the grapes using a gentle process that minimizes the amount of time the juice spends in contact with the skins, which is what gives red wine its colour. Rosé Champagne is one of the few wines that allows the production of Rosé by the addition a small amount of red wine during blending. This ensures a predictable and reproducible colour, allowing a constant Rosé colour from year-to-year.^[24]

Due to the comparatively high risk and cost of using the saigneé or 'skin contact only' technique, there are very few producers who habitually do not add any additional red wine. These include Laurent Perrier, Louis Roederer, and Guy Charbaut

Sweetness[link]

The amount of sugar (dosage) added after the second fermentation and aging varies and will dictate the sweetness level of the Champagne.

• Brut Natural or Brut Zéro (less than 3 grams of sugar per litre)
• Extra Brut (less than 6 grams of sugar per litre)
• Brut (less than 12 grams of sugar per litre)

The most common is Brut, although throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century Champagne was generally much sweeter than it is today.

Champagne bottles[link]

Side-by-side comparison of Champagne bottles. (L to R) On ladder: Magnum (1.5 litres), full (0.75 litre), half (0.375 litre), quarter (0.1875 litre). On floor: Balthazar (12 litres), Salmanazar (9 litres), Methuselah (6 litres), Jeroboam (3 litres)

Champagne is mostly fermented in two sizes of bottles, standard bottles (750 millilitres), and magnums (1.5 litres). In general, magnums are thought to be higher quality, as there is less oxygen in the bottle, and the volume to surface area favours the creation of appropriately-sized bubbles. However, there is no hard evidence for this view. Other bottle sizes, named for Biblical figures, are generally filled with Champagne that has been fermented in standard bottles or magnums.

Sizes larger than Jeroboam (3 L) are rare. Primat sized bottles (27 L) – and as of 2002 Melchizedek sized bottles (30 L) – are exclusively offered by the House Drappier. The same names are used for bottles containing wine and port; however Jeroboam, Rehoboam and Methuselah refer to different bottle volumes. Unique sizes have been made for special occasions and people, the most notable example perhaps being the 20 fluid ounce / 60 cL. bottle (Imperial pint) made especially for Sir Winston Churchill by Pol Roger.^[37]

In 2009, a bottle of 1825 Perrier-Jouët Champagne was opened at a ceremony attended by 12 of the world's top wine tasters. This bottle was officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest bottle of Champagne in the world. The contents were found to be drinkable, with notes of truffles and caramel in the taste. There are now only two other bottles from the 1825 vintage extant.^[38]

In July 2010, 168 bottles were found on board a shipwreck near the Åland islands in the Baltic Sea by Finnish diver Christian Ekström. Initial analyses indicated there were at least two types of bottle from two different houses: Veuve Clicquot in Reims and the long-defunct Champagne house Juglar (absorbed into Jacquesson in 1829.)^[39] The shipwreck is dated between 1800 and 1830, and the bottles discovered may well predate the 1825 Perrier-Jouët referenced above.^[40][41] When experts were replacing the old corks with new ones they discovered there were also bottles from a third house; Heidsieck. The wreck, then, contained 95 bottles of Juglar, 46 bottles of Veuve Clicquot and four bottles of Heidsieck, in addition to 23 bottles whose manufacture is still to be identified.^[42] Champagne experts Richard Juhlin and Essi Avellan MW.^[39] described the bottles' contents as being in a very good condition. It is planned that the majority of the bottles will be sold at auction, the price of each estimated to be in the region of £40,000 – £70,000.^[40][41][43]

Champagne corks[link]

Corking a Champagne Bottle: 1855 engraving of the manual method

Champagne corks are built from several sections and are referred to as agglomerated corks. The mushroom shape that occurs in the transition is a result of the bottom section, which is in contact with the wine, being composed of two stacked discs of pristine cork, cemented to the upper portion which is a conglomerate of ground cork and glue. Prior to insertion, a sparkling wine cork is almost 50% larger than the opening of the bottle. Originally they start as a cylinder and are compressed prior to insertion into the bottle. Over time their compressed shape becomes more permanent and the distinctive "mushroom" shape becomes more apparent.

The aging of the Champagne post disgorgement can to some degree be told by the cork, as the longer it has been in the bottle the less it returns to its original cylinder shape.

Champagne etiquette[link]

Champagne is usually served in a Champagne flute, whose characteristics include a long stem with a tall, narrow bowl, thin sides and an etched bottom. The Victorian coupe (according to legend, designed using a mould of the left breast (signifying a giving from the heart) of Marie Antoinette as a birthday present to her husband, Louis XVI) is not recommended as it disperses the nose and over-oxygenates the wine. Champagne is always served cold, its ideal drinking temperature at 7 to 9 °C (45 to 48 °F). Often the bottle is chilled in a bucket of ice and water before opening, which also ensures the champagne is less gassy and can be opened without spillage. Champagne buckets are made specifically for this purpose, and often have a larger volume than standard wine-cooling buckets (to accommodate the larger bottle, and more water and ice).^[44]

Opening Champagne bottles[link]

To reduce the risk of spilling or spraying any Champagne, open the Champagne bottle by holding the cork and rotating the bottle at an angle in order to ease out the stopper. This method, as opposed to pushing the cork out, prevents the cork from flying out of the bottle at speed.

A sabre can be used to open a Champagne bottle with great ceremony. This technique is called sabrage (the term is also used for simply breaking the head of the bottle).

Pouring Champagne[link]

Pouring sparkling wine while tilting the glass at an angle and gently sliding in the liquid along the side will preserve the most bubbles, as opposed to pouring directly down to create a head of "mousse", according to the study On the Losses of Dissolved CO2 During Champagne Serving. Colder bottle temperatures also result in reduced loss of gas.^[45] Additionally, the industry is developing champagne glasses designed specifically to reduce the amount of gas lost.^[46]

Spraying and sinking Champagne[link]

Champagne on the podium of the 2007 Tour of Gippsland

Champagne has been an integral part of sports celebration since Moët et Chandon started offering their Champagne to the winners of Formula 1 Grand Prix events. At the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, winner Dan Gurney started the tradition of drivers spraying the crowd and each other.^[47] The practice is performed usually in conjunction with music excerpt from Georges Bizet's Carmen suite #1.

Sinking of champagne is the act of pouring out champagne in the sink, originating in Sweden after a ban on spraying.^[48] Sinking became a replacement for spraying as a way to demonstrate wealth.

Health benefits[link]

On 18 April 2007, the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry published the results of a recent joint study by the University of Reading and University of Cagliari that showed moderate consumptions of Champagne may help the brain cope with the trauma of stroke, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease. The research noted that the high amount of the antioxidant polyphenols in sparkling wine can help prevent deterioration of brain cells due to oxidative stress. During the study scientist exposed two groups of mice with blanc de blancs (100% Chardonnay composition) and blanc de noir (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier based) and a control group with no exposure to Champagne. All groups were then subjected to high levels of neurotoxicity similar to what the human brain experiences during inflammatory conditions. The study found that the groups pre-treated with exposure to Champagne had a higher level of cell restoration compared to the group that wasn't. The study's co-authors noted that it was too early to conclusively say that drinking Champagne is beneficial to brain health but that the study does point researchers to more exploration in this area.^[49]

Mireille Guiliano, former CEO of Clicquot, Inc. (the U.S. subsidiary of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin) and author of the Number 1 bestseller French Women Don't Get Fat, believes that many of Champagne's health benefits are due to its trace minerals such as magnesium, potassium, zinc, and lithium (a natural mood regulator).^[50]

It is a common perception that people become intoxicated more quickly from Champagne. It has been shown that alcohol is more rapidly absorbed when mixed with carbonated water, and this may explain this anecdotal assertion.^[51]

See also[link]

• Autolysis (wine)
• Louis Bohne – Famous sales agent for Veuve Clicquot in the 19th century
• Champagne Riots
• Classification of Champagne vineyards
• Coteaux Champenois AOC – Term used for non-sparkling (still) wines produced in the same area
• List of Champagne houses

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Stevenson, Tom (2003). World Encyclopedia of Champagne and Sparkling Wine. Wine Appreciation Guild. ISBN 1-891267-61-2
• Sutcliffe, Serena (1988). Champagne: The History and Character of the World's Most Celebrated Wine. Mitchell Beazley Publishers. ISBN 0-671-66672-X
• Liger-Belair, Gérard (2004). Uncorked: The Science of Champagne. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-11919-8
• Guy, Kolleen: (2003). When Champagne became French: Wine and the Making of a National Identity. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Champagne (drink)

• Official site of the Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne trade association (CIVC)
• Champagne Bureau U.S. official site
• Union of Champagne Houses official site

Otis Ray Redding, Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger, and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul music and rhythm and blues (R&B), and one of the greatest singers in popular music. His open-throated singing was an influence on other soul singers of the 1960s, and he helped to craft the lean and powerful style of R&B that formed the basis of the Stax Sound. After appearing at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, he wrote and recorded "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", which became a number-one record on both the pop and R&B charts after his death in a plane crash.

Redding was born and raised in the American state of Georgia. At age 15, he left school to support his family by working with Little Richard's backing band, The Upsetters, and by playing talent shows for prize money. In 1958, he joined Johnny Jenkins's band, The Pinetoppers, and toured the Southern United States while serving as driver and musician. An unscheduled appearance on a session led to a turning point in his career. He signed a contract with Stax Records and released his debut album, Pain in My Heart, in 1964. This album produced his first Stax single, "These Arms of Mine".

Although Redding's initial popularity was with African Americans, he later became equally popular among the broader American public. He and his group first played small gigs in the South, then performed at the Whisky a Go Go nightclub, their first concert in the western United States. Internationally, Redding later performed in Paris and London among other venues. Redding's death was devastating for Stax, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. Later Stax discovered that Atlantic Records owned the rights to the entire catalog. Redding received many accolades, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Because of his influence on other artists, he received the honorific "King of Soul".

Early life[link]

Redding was born in Dawson, Georgia to gospel singer Otis Redding, Sr., and housekeeper Fannie Redding. His father had worked as a sharecropper and then at Robins Air Force Base, on weekends sometimes as a part-time preacher. When Redding was three, the family moved to Tindall Heights, a predominantly African American public housing project in nearby Macon. For a short time they lived in a small house in Bellevue. When it burned down the family moved back to Tindall.^[4] At an early age, he sang in the Vineville Baptist Church choir and learned guitar and piano. From the age of 10, he took drum and singing lessons. Later, at Ballard-Hudson High School, he sang in a school band. Every Sunday he earned US$6 by performing songs for Macon radio station WIBB.^[5] His passion was singing and often cited Little Richard and Sam Cooke as major influences. Redding said, "If it hadn't been for Little Richard, I would not be here. I entered the music business because of Richard – he is my inspiration. I used to sing like Little Richard, his Rock 'n' Roll stuff, you know. Richard has soul, too. My present music has a lot of him in it."^[6][7]

At age fifteen, Redding abandoned school to help his family financially. His father had contracted tuberculosis and was often hospitalized, leaving his mother as the primary financial provider for the family.^[4] Redding worked as a well digger, gas station attendant and guest musician in the following years. Another inspiration for Redding was the pianist Gladdy Williams, a well-known Macon musician. She often performed at Hillview Springs Social Club, where Redding sometimes played piano. When she hosted talent shows on Sundays, Redding accompanied his friends from the neighborhood, such as Little Willie Jones and bassist Eddie Ross.^[8] His breakthrough came when he played Little Richard's "Heebie Jeebies", winning a $5 contest fifteen weeks in a row, until being banned.^[9] Redding was soon hired by Little Richard's band The Upsetters. He was well-paid at about $25 per gig,^[4][5] but he did not stay for long.^[10]

In 1958, Redding had the opportunity to compete on disc jockey Hamp Swain's "The Teenage Party", a music contest at the Roxy Theatre, then at the Douglass Theatre.^[11] His backing band was not professional, so gig attendee Johnny Jenkins offered help. Jenkins later worked as lead guitarist and played with Redding on several gigs; with Jenkins' help, he won the contest every week.^[12] Shortly afterwards, he was invited to replace Willie Jones, frontman of Pat T. Cake and the Mighty Panters, featuring Jenkins on guitar.^[8] At the age of 19, Redding met 15-year-old Zelma Atwood at "The Teenage Party". She gave birth to Redding's son, Dexter, in the summer of 1960 and married Redding in August 1961.^[13] In mid-1960, he moved to Los Angeles with his sister, Deborah, and wrote his first songs including "She's Allright", "Tuff Enuff", "I'm Gettin' Hip" and "Gamma Lamma", the first later released as a single.^[5]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

As a member of the Pat T. Cake and the Mighty Panters, Redding toured in the Southern United States, especially on the Chitlin' circuit. These performance venues were safe for African-American musicians during the era of racial segregation which lasted into the early 1960s.^[14][15] Jenkins left the band to become the featured artist with The Pinetoppers.^[16] Around this time, Redding met Phil Walden, the future founder of the recording company Phil Walden and Associates (even though he had no associates),^[17] and later Bobby Smith, who ran Confederate Records, a small label. He signed with Confederate and recorded his second single, "Shout Bamalama" (a rewrite of "Gamma Lamma"), together with his band Otis and the Shooters.^[5][18] Wayne Cochran, the only solo artist signed to Confederate, became Pinetoppers' bass guitarist.^[16]

Next, Redding wrote the song, "These Arms of Mine". At the same time, Walden started to look for a record label. Atlantic Records representative Joe Galkin was interested in working with Jenkins and around 1962 proposed to send him to a Stax studio in Memphis. On the way to a Pinetoppers studio session, Redding drove for Jenkins, as the latter did not have a driver's license.^[19] Jenkins performed with Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and when the session ended early, Redding received the opportunity to perform two songs. The first was "Hey Hey Baby", but studio chief Jim Stewart thought it sounded too much like Little Richard. The second was "These Arms of Mine", featuring Jenkins on piano and Steve Cropper on guitar. Stewart later praised Redding's performance of the latter song and noted, "Everybody was fixin' to go home, but Joe Galkin insisted we give Otis a listen. There was something different about [the ballad]. He really poured his soul into it."^[13][20] Stewart signed Redding for Stax and released "These Arms of Mine", with "Hey Hey Baby" on the B-side. The single was released on Volt on October 1962, but charted in March the following year.^[21] It became one of his most successful songs, selling more than 800,000 copies.^[22]

[edit] Apollo Theater and Otis Blue

	These Arms of Mine noicon Sample of "These Arms of Mine". Redding's first released Volt single, it became his most successful until "I've Been Loving You".
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"These Arms of Mine" and other songs from the 1962–1963 sessions were included on Redding's debut album, Pain in My Heart. "That's What My Heart Needs" and "Mary's Little Lamb" were recorded in June 1963, the latter became one of the worst-selling singles by Redding.^[21] The title track, recorded on September, the next year, sparked some copyright issues, as it sounded like Irma Thomas' "Ruler of My Heart".^[21] Despite this, Pain in My Heart was released on January 1, 1964 and peaked at number 20 on Billboard's R&B chart and at number 85 on Billboard's Hot 100.

In November 1963, Redding and his brother, Rodgers, accompanied former boxer Sylvester Huckaby to the Apollo Theater in New York to record a live album for Atlantic Records, entitled T'Ain't Nothin' To Me. They travelled in a 1963 Ford XL Cabriolet, first to Bluefield, West Virginia, then through Virginia, Maryland, and finally to New York. Redding and his band were paid $400 per week, but had to pay $450 to King Curtis' band for the sheets of notes. Subsequently, the trio returned to Phil Walden and requested money. The boxer explained in Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music their living circumstances in the rundown Theresa Hotel. He also spoke about meeting with Muhammed Ali and other stars. Ben E. King, who performed with Redding at the Apollo, gave him $100 when he heard about his financial situation. The album that resulted from the concert featured soul musicians Ben E. King, The Coasters, Doris Troy, Rufus Thomas, The Falcons and Redding.^[23]

The release of T'Ain't Nothin' To Me brought success to Redding and his band. Their tour car evolved from a plain wagon, to a van, to a minibus, and then a tour bus. Around this time, Phil Walden was drafted by the army, as was Redding's brother Rodgers; Walden's younger brother Alan joined Redding on his tours, while Earl "Speedo" Sims replaced Rodgers. The company, Phil Walden & Associates, grew to one of the most popular R&B booking agencies.^[24]

After he released the song "Security", the majority of Redding's songs had a slow tempo, causing disc jockey Moohah Williams to label Otis Redding as "Mr. Pitiful".^[25] Subsequently Cropper and Redding wrote a song with that name^[13] and included it on Redding's second studio album, The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads, released in March 1965.^[26] Jenkins began working independently from the group out of fear that Galkin, Walden, and Cropper might plagiarize his playing style during the sessions. It was previously suggested that he should back Redding during the time "These Arms of Mine" was on the charts.^[27] Around 1965, Redding co-wrote the song "I've Been Loving You Too Long" with The Impressions lead singer Jerry Butler in a hotel near the Atlanta airport. That summer, Redding and the studio crew arranged new songs for his next album, and ten of the eleven songs were written in a 24-hour period during July 9–10 in Memphis. Two songs, "Ole Man Trouble" and "Respect", had been finished earlier. "Respect" and "I've Been Loving You" were later recut in stereo during the Otis Blue-session, with the remarkable change that on the first song the line "hey hey hey" was sung by Earl Sims and not by Redding, while the latter song was completely rewritten.^[26] The album, entitled Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul, was released in September 1965.^[28]

Whisky a Go Go and "Try a Little Tenderness"[link]

	Try a Little Tenderness noicon Sample of "Try a Little Tenderness". The song, written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods in the 1930s, has been frequently covered by many artists. Clarinetist Ted Lewis was the first to record a successful cover. Redding's rendition has been named the 204th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone.[29][30]
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Redding's success allowed him to buy a 300-acre (1.2 km²) ranch in Georgia, which he called the "Big O Ranch." After his death, the property was extended to a 460-acre (1.9 km²) area.^[31] Stax was also doing well. Walden signed more and more musicians, including Percy Sledge, Johnnie Taylor, Clarence Carter and Eddie Floyd, and together with Redding they founded the production companies "Jotis Records" (derived from Joe Galkin and Otis), on which only four recordings were released, two by Arthur Conley and one by Billy Young and Loretta Williams, and Redwal Music (derived from Redding and Walden).^[32] Their audience had been mostly black, but Stax fans like The Beatles encouraged Redding to perform for a large, white audience. They chose Whisky a Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. Redding was one of the first soul artists to perform in the Western United States. His performance received critical acclaim, including positive press in Los Angeles Times, and pushed him further into the mainstream. Bob Dylan attended the performance and offered Redding an altered version of one of his songs, "Just Like a Woman",^[13] but Redding did not record it, as he felt it contained "too much text".^[33] Redding said that was the "biggest mistake" of his career, according to a private press release issued on September 8, 2011, for a special exhibit at the Stax Museum.^[34]

In late 1966, Redding returned to the Stax studio. On this session he recorded tracks including "Try a Little Tenderness", originally written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods in 1932.^[29] Today it is often considered his signature song.^[35] Jim Stewart said, "If there's one song, one performance that really sort of sums up Otis and what he's about, it's 'Try a Little Tenderness'. That one performance is so special and so unique that it expresses who he is. ... If you want to wrap it up, just listen to [it]." On this version Redding was backed by Booker T. & the MG's, and staff producer Isaac Hayes worked on the arrangement.^[36][37] "Try a Little Tenderness" was included on his next album, Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul. The song and the album were critically and commercially successful—former peaked at number 25 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and at number 4 on R&B singles chart.^[38]

The spring of 1966 marked the first time that Stax scheduled a series of gigs in a number of cities.^[39] Walden and his crew did so as they intended to reach a wider audience. The majority of artists arrived in London, where R&B was popular thanks to artists like The Rolling Stones and The Beatles,^[37] on March 13, but Redding had flown in days earlier because of multiple interviews and an appearance in "Eamonn Andrews Show". When the crew arrived in London, The Beatles sent their limousine near the airport to pick up the band.^[39] Redding began touring Europe six months later.^[40] Prior to that, booking agent Bill Graham proposed that Redding play at the Fillmore Theatre around the late 1966. The performance was commercially and critically successful,^[37] prompting Graham to remark afterwards, "That was the best gig I ever put on in my entire life."^[41]

Last studio album and Monterey[link]

A year after the Fillmore, Redding released the studio album King & Queen, backed by Carla Thomas on vocals. The idea to produce a duet album was Jim Stewart's, as he thought it would progress their musical career, and that "[Redding's] rawness and [Thomas'] sophistication would work".^[42] The album was recorded in January 1967, while Thomas was studying at Howard University in Washington D.C. where she earned her M.A. in English. Ten out of six songs were cut during their session; the rest was overdubbed by Redding in the days following, due to their concert obligations. Three singles were lifted from the album, "Tramp", the first cut song, was released as a single in April, "Knock on Wood", and "Lovey Dovey", all three peaking at least in the top 60 charts on both the R&B and Pop charts.^[42] Redding and Thomas were awarded a gold plaque for this album Thomas recorded a solo-album, in Washington D.C. at the Bohemian Caverns, entitled The Queen Alone, but the album was never released.^[43]

Redding returned to Europe to perform at the Paris Olympia. The album entitled Otis Redding: Live in Europe was released three months later featuring this performance. Other live performances were in London and Stockholm.^[31] Redding was criticized for his arrogant and contrived performances in these last concerts. His controversial decision to take his protege Arthur Conley (whom Redding and Walden had contracted directly to Atco/Atlantic Records rather than to Stax/Volt) on the tour, instead of more established Stax/Volt artists such as Rufus Thomas and William Bell, received negative responses. Al Bell was active in the Stax reorganization, undertaking routine business and managing tours for Redding and others, the latter task formerly done by Estelle Axton, Stewart's sister. He was later hired as the new A&R head, replacing Steve Cropper, as the crew thought he would act superior.^[37][44]

The place Redding wrote his song "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", in the San Francisco Bay

In 1967, Redding performed at the influential Monterey Pop Festival as the closing act on Saturday night, the second day of the festival. He was included on the bill through the efforts of promoter Jerry Wexler, who saw the festival as an opportunity to advance Redding's career.^[45] Until that point, Redding had performed mainly for black audiences.^[46] Redding's act, well received by the audience, included his own song "Respect" and a version of the The Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction".^[47] Redding and his backing band (Booker T and the MGs with the Mar-Keys horn section) opened with Cooke's "Shake" before he delivered an impulsive speech in which he asked the audience if they were the "love crowd", looking for a big response. The ballad "I've Been Loving You" followed. The last song was "Try a Little Tenderness", with an additional chorus. With a last "I got to go, y'all, I don't wanna go", Redding left the stage. This would be his last major concert.^[35] According to Sweet Soul Music, people such as Brian Jones and Jimi Hendrix were captivated by his performance; Robert Christgau wrote in Esquire, "The Love Crowd screamed one's mind to the heavens."^[48]

After Monterey, Redding wanted to record with his close friend Arthur Conley, but Stax was against the idea. The two moved from Memphis to Macon to continue writing. The result was "Sweet Soul Music", based on Sam Cooke's "Yeah Man".^[32] It peaked at number 2 on Billboard Hot 100.^[49][50] By that time Redding had developed polyps on his larynx, which he tried to treat with tea and lemon or honey. He was hospitalized in September 1967 at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York to undergo surgery.^[51]

In the winter of 1967, Redding again recorded at Stax. One new song was "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", which was written by Cropper and Redding while they were staying with friend, Earl "Speedo" Sims, in a houseboat in Sausalito near San Francisco, California.^[52] Redding was inspired by the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and tried to create a similar sound, against the label's wishes. It also met with dissatisfaction from his wife for its atypical melody. However, Redding wanted to change his musical style to avoid boring his audience. Meanwhile, the Stax crew were also dissatisfied with the new sound; Stewart thought that it was not R&B, while bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn thought the sound would damage Stax's reputation. However, Redding thought it was the best song he ever wrote and believed it would top the charts.^[53] Redding whistled at the end, either forgetting Cropper's ending rap,^[54] or paraphrasing it intentionally.^[55]

Death[link]

By 1967 the band had taken to traveling on Redding's Beechcraft H18 to gigs. They flew to Nashville, and on December 9, 1967, appeared on the nationally-syndicated Upbeat television show produced in Cleveland. They played three concerts in two nights at a small club called Leo's Casino.^[50][56][57] After a phone call with his wife and children, Redding's next stop was in Madison, Wisconsin. On the next day they were to play at the "Factory" nightclub near the University of Wisconsin after the opening act "The Grim Reapers", precursor of Cheap Trick.^[56][58]

Although the weather was poor, with heavy rain and fog, and Redding had been warned to postpone the flight, they did not stop their trip.^[59] Four miles from their destination at Truax Field in Madison, the pilot radioed for permission to land. Shortly thereafter, the plane crashed into Lake Monona. Ben Cauley, one of The Bar-Kays and the accident's only survivor,^[50] was sleeping shortly before the accident. He woke just before impact, and saw his bandmate Phalon Jones look out a window and exclaim, "Oh, no!" Cauley said the last thing he remembered before the crash was unbuckling his seat belt. He then found himself in frigid water, grasping a seat cushion to keep afloat.^[51] The cause of the crash was never determined.^[60] The only other Bar-Kays to survive were James Alexander and Carl Sims, who instead flew on a commercial flight for lack of room on the H18.^[61] Andrew Love and Wayne Jackson of The Memphis Horns had earlier declined to take part in the tour.^[50][62]

Redding died just three days after recording Dock of the Bay, on the third anniversary of Sam Cooke's death.^[43][50] His unexpected death was a shock for friends and family. Aretha Franklin stated, "I heard it on the TV. My sister Caroline and I stopped everything and stayed glued to the TV and radio. It was a tragedy. Shocking."^[63]

Redding's body was recovered the next day when the lake bed was searched.^[64] Many musicians asked the family to postpone the funeral from December 15 to December 18 so that they could attend.^[63] The service took place at the City Auditorium in Macon, attended by many prominent musicians. More than 4,500 people came to the obsequy, overflowing the 3,000-seat hall, although many did not know who he was. Johnny Jenkins did not come, fearing his reaction would be worse than Zelma Redding's.^[65] Redding was entombed at his ranch in Round Oak, about 20 miles (32 km) north of Macon.^[66] Jerry Wexler delivered the eulogy.^[67] Redding was survived by his wife and three children, Otis III, Dexter and Karla.^[68] In November 8, 1987, a memorial plaque was placed on the lakeside deck of the Madison convention center, Monona Terrace.^[69]

Posthumous releases and proposed recordings[link]

"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was released in January 1968 and became Redding's only number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, and the first posthumous number-one single in US chart history.^[70] It sold approximately four million copies worldwide and received more than eight million airplays.^[71][72] The album The Dock of the Bay was the first posthumous album to reach the top spot on the UK Albums Chart.^[73]

Shortly after Redding's death, Atlantic Records, distributor of the Stax/Volt releases, was purchased by Warner Bros. Stax was required to renegotiate its distribution deal, and found that Atlantic actually owned the entire Stax/Volt catalog. Stax was unable to regain the rights to its recordings, and severed its relationship with Atlantic. Atlantic also held the rights to all unreleased Otis Redding masters.^[74] It had enough material for three new studio albums—The Immortal Otis Redding (1968), Love Man (1969), and Tell the Truth (1970)—all issued on its Atco Records.^[74] A number of successful singles emerged from these LPs, among them "Amen" (1968), "Hard to Handle" (1968), "I've Got Dreams to Remember" (1968), "Love Man" (1969), and "Look at That Girl" (1969).^[74] Singles were also lifted from two live Atlantic-issued Redding albums, In Person at the Whisky a Go Go, recorded in 1966 and issued in 1968 on Atco, and Monterey International Pop Festival, a Reprise Records release featuring some of the live Monterey Pop Festival performances of The Jimi Hendrix Experience on side one and all of Redding's performances on side two.

In September 2007, the first official DVD anthology of Redding's live performances was released by Concord Music Group, then owners of the Stax catalog. Dreams To Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding featured 16 full-length performances and 40 minutes of new interviews documenting his life and career.^[75] On May 18, 2010, Stax Records released a two-disc recording of three complete sets that he played at the Whisky a Go Go in April 1966.^[76]

Plans were made by Carla Thomas to record another duet album in December the same year, although Phil Walden disputed this claim. There was also a proposal by Redding to record an album featuring cut and rearranged songs in different tempo; for example, ballads would be uptempo and vice versa.^[77] Another suggestion was to record an album entirely consisting of country standards.^[78]

Songwriting[link]

In his early career, Redding mostly covered songs from popular artists, such as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, or Solomon Burke. Around the mid-1960s he wrote his own songs—always taking along his cheap, red acoustic guitar—and sometimes asked for the Stax member's opinion of the lyric's quality. He often worked on lyrics with other musicians, such as Earl Sims, his brother Rodgers, Sylvester Huckaby, Phil Walden or Steve Cropper. During the time of regeneration, Redding wrote about 30 songs in a session lasting about two weeks.^[79] Typical was his free improvisation during the song's end.^[80] Most of lyrics of his songs were about love, leading to his nickname of "Mr. Pitiful". Redding was the sole copyright holder on all of his songs.^[81]

In "(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay" he abandoned the romantic themes and replaced them with "sad, wistful introspections, amplified by unforgettable descending guitar riffs by Cropper".^[82] On the official website of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame, it was suggested that the song "was a kind of brooding, dark voicing of despair, ('I've got nothin' to live for/Look like nothin' gonna come my way')" as "his music, in general, was exultant and joyful". According to the journalist Ruth Rob, author of the liner notes for the 1993 box-set by Rhino Records, "It is currently a revisionist theory to equate soul with the darker side of man's musical expression, blues. That fanner of the flame of 'Trouble's got a hold on me' music, might well be the father of the form if it is, the glorified exaltation found in church on any Sunday morning is its mother." And further on the site declares that "glorified exaltation indeed was an apt description of Otis Redding's songwriting and singing style."^[83] Booker T. Jones compared Redding with Leonard Bernstein stating, "He was the same type person. He was a leader. He'd just lead with his arms and his body and his fingers."^[84]

Otis Redding favored short and simple lyrics over long and complicated; When asked whether he intended to cover Dylan's "Just Like a Woman", he responded that the lyrics were "too long".^[33] Furthermore, he stated in an interview:

Basically, I like any music that remains simple and I feel this is the formula that makes 'soul music' successful. When any music form becomes cluttered and/or complicated you lose the average listener's ear. There is nothing more beautiful than a simple blues tune. There is beauty in simplicity whether you are talking about architecture, art or music.^[85]

Beside the songwriting, Redding also arranged horn lines, always humming to show the horn section what notes he had in his mind. His horn arrangements were described by the blowers as complicated and difficult. The song "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" reflects his habit to hum with the horn section.^[86] Apart from songwriting, Redding served as a record producer, arranger, and talent scout.^[87]

Personal life and wealth[link]

Redding, who was 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m) tall and weighed 220 pounds (100 kg), was an athletic family man who loved football and hunting.^[79][88] He was described as vigorous, trustworthy,^[33] naturally full of fun and vitality,^[68] and as a true businessman. Biographer Peter Guralnick has said Redding would even have been respected by the Ku-Klux-Klan.^[33] According to several people, Redding's personality was not fully matured neither on stage nor in public life. His brother Rodgers thought he was "confused", while Alan Walden described him as "naive". He was not only a musician, company founder, talent scout and record producer, but was also active in philanthropic projects. Through his keen interest for the Black youth he intended to build a summer camp for disadvantaged people from urban slums and ghettos.^[85]

Redding was a very wealthy person. According to several advertising copies, he had around 200 suits, 400 pair of shoes, and he earned about $35,000 per week for his concerts.^[89] For the "Big O Ranch" he spent about $125,000. As the owner of the Otis Redding Enterprises of Macon, he earned through performances, music publishing ventures and royalties from record sales more than a million dollars in 1967 alone.^[63] One columnist said, "in one year ... he sold more records than Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin combined."^[90]

Style[link]

Redding appeared a little bit clumsy on stage, and he sometimes received advice from Rufus Thomas. Jerry Wexler said Redding "did not even know how to move", and "stood stock-still and moved only his upper body". However, Wexler later explained Redding was well received by the audience, as his delivered strong message was noticeable.^[91] Author Peter Guralnick explains in Sweet Soul Music this painful vulnerability, which was attractive for the audience, but not for his friends and partners, as such a feeling was not known in Redding's self-assurance. His early shyness was well-known.^[84] Redding was, however, known for his generally electrifying performances.^[92] After the release of Otis Blue, Redding became a "catalogue" artist, meaning that his albums were not immediately million-sellers, but were rather sold continually over the years.^[32]

Another characteristic was his raw voice and the ability to convey strong emotion. Richie Unterberger of Allmusic noted his "hoarse, gritty vocals, brassy arrangements, an emotional way with both party tunes and aching ballads."^[93] In the book Rock and Roll: An Introduction, authors Michael Campbell and James Brody suggested that "Redding's singing calls to mind a fervent black preacher. Especially in up-tempo numbers, his singing is more than impassioned speech but less than singing with precise pitch."^[94] According to the book, "Redding finds a rough midpoint between impassioned oratory and conventional singing. His delivery overflows with emotion" in his song "I Can't Turn You Loose".^[94] Booker T. Jones, an American musician, described Otis' singing as energetic and emotional, but said that his vocal range was limited, including neither low nor high notes.^[95] Peter Buckley of The Rough Guide To Rock describes his "gruff voice, which combined Sam Cooke's phrasing with a brawnier delivery" and later suggested he "could testify like a hell-bent preacher, croon like a tender lover or get down and dirty with a bluesy yawp".^[87]

Legacy[link]

Otis Redding has been called the "King of Soul",^[96] an honorific title also given to James Brown^[97] and Sam Cooke.^{[98][99][100]} He remains one of the most recognized artists in soul music. His lean and powerful style exemplified the Stax Sound,^{[87][101][102]} and gave Stax a new identity; he was sometimes said to be its "heart and soul",^[103] while artists such as Al Jackson, Duck Dunn and Steve Cropper also helped to expand its structure.^[102] His open-throated singing,^[101] the tremolo/vibrato, the manic, electrifying stage performances,^[92] and honesty were particular hallmarks, along with the use of interjections, for example "gotta, gotta, gotta", some of which came from Sam Cooke.^[33][103] Producer Jim Stewart thought the "begging singing" was stress-induced and also caused by Redding's extreme, early shyness.^[84] Early on he copied the singing style of Little Richard, one of his idols, but gradually developed his own style. He was primarily influenced by soul musicians such as Little Richard and Sam Cooke, whose live album Live at the Copa was a strong influence,^[33] but later explored different genres that were popular during his time. He studied contemporary music of The Beatles, Bob Dylan. The influence of rock musicians such as Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, can be heard in songs like "Hard to Handle", which contains rock and roll elements.^[104]

Artists from many genres named Redding as a musical influence. The Beatles were generally influenced by the soul music of Motown Records and Stax. Guitarist George Harrison called "Respect" an important influence for "Drive My Car".^[105] The Rolling Stones also mentioned Redding an important influence.^[106][107] Other artists who have acknowledged the influence of Redding are bands like Led Zeppelin,^[108][109] The Grateful Dead,^[110] Lynyrd Skynyrd,^[111] The Doors;^[110] and virtually every soul/R&B musicians from the early years, such as Al Green, Etta James,^[31] William Bell,^[110] Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Arthur Conley.^[112] Several musicians from the late 20th century have covered or mixed his songs, perhaps the most notable being the Grammy Award-winning "Otis" by Kanye West and Jay-Z.^[19][31] According to band colleague Sam Andrew, Janis Joplin was influenced by his singing style. She herself stated that she learned "to push a song instead of just sliding over it" after hearing Redding.^[113]

Awards and honors[link]

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 1989, declared Redding's name to be "synonymous with the term soul, music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm and blues into a form of funky, secular testifying."^[114] Readers of the British music newspaper Melody Maker voted him as the top vocalist of 1967, superseding Elvis Presley, who had topped the list for the prior 10 years.^{[71][112][115]} In 1993, the U.S. Post Office issued an Otis Redding 29-cent commemorative postage stamp.^[116] Redding was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994,^[83] and in 1999 he received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.^[117] The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame listed three Redding recordings, "Shake", "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", and "Try a Little Tenderness," among its list of "The 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll."^[118] American music magazine Rolling Stone ranked Redding at number 21 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time"^[119] and number 8 on their list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".^[95] Q ranked Redding at number 4 on "100 Greatest Singers", after only Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley, respectively.^[120]

Five of his albums, Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul, Dreams to Remember: The Otis Redding Anthology, The Dock of the Bay, Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul and Live in Europe, were ranked by Rolling Stone on their list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". The first album was singled out for praise by music critics; apart from the Rolling Stone listing at number 74, NME ranked it 35 on their list of the "Greatest Albums of All Time",^[121] while Time listed it on their "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.^[122] In 2002, the city of Macon honored its native son by unveiling a memorial statue in the city's Gateway Park. The park is next to the Otis Redding Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Ocmulgee River.^[123] The Rhythm and Blues Foundation named Redding as the recipient of its 2006 Pioneer Award.^[124] Billboard awarded Redding the "Otis Redding Excellence Award" the same year.^[31] A year later he was inducted into the Hollywood's Rockwalk in California.^[72] In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Redding's death, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 1988,^[72] presented the first major exhibition of music, photographs, film and artifacts documenting the singer's life and musical legacy.^[125]

Discography[link]

References[link]