On This Day…..

Otis Redding Killed in Plane Crash……

December 10, 1967……

26-year-old Otis Redding is killed in a plane crash. He had just recorded the song (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay (1968) two days earlier. It was released after his death, becoming his only Billboard #1 hit and the first posthumously-released song to reach #1 on the U.S. charts. Redding and his band the Bar-Kays were traveling to play in Madison, Wisconsin, flying in poor weather with heavy rain and fog. They were given permission to land at the airport, but somehow the plane crashed into Lake Monona instead. The victims of the crash were: Otis Redding; four members of the Bar-Kays – guitarist Jimmy King, tenor saxophonist Phalon Jones, organist Ronnie Caldwell, and drummer Carl Cunningham; their valet, Matthew Kelly; and the pilot, Richard Fraser. The only survivor of the crash was Bar-Kays trumpeter Ben Cauley. Cauley awoke from the crash in the frigid waters of the lake. He spotted several other survivors floating in the water, but they died before the rescue team arrived 17 minutes later. Bassist James Alexander was the only other survivor of the Bar-Kays. He was not on the plane because it only held eight people, and it was his turn to take a commercial flight. The cause of the crash has never been determined.