Otis Redding - These Arms of Mine

These arms of mine they are lonely and feeling blue.

Album: Pain in My Heart [debut album]
Recorded: Los Angeles, California
Genre: Soul, Deep Soul, Rhythm & Blues
Album Release: March 1964
Single Release: October 1962
Length: 2:34
Producer: Jim Stewart
Vocalist: Otis Redding [age 22]
Label: Stax Records

Music Video


Live in New York

Charts, Streams & Sales

Spotify: Over 128 million
YouTube Music: Over 100 million

Credits

Details

• Uses a 3/3 time signature.

"We had a few minutes left at the end of the session, and Al Jackson, our drummer, said, 'This guy with Johnny, he wants us to hear him sing.' Booker had already left for the day, so I sat down at the piano, which I play only a little for writing. Otis said, 'Just gimme those church things.' We call them triplets in music. I said, 'What key?' He said, 'It don't matter.'

He started singing 'These Arms of Mine.' And, man, my hair stood on end. Jim [Stewart, co-owner of Stax] came running out and said, 'That's it! That's it! Where is everybody? We gotta get this on tape!' So I grabbed all the musicians who hadn't left already for their night gigs, and we recorded it right there. When you hear something that's better than anything you ever heard, you know it, and it was unanimous. We almost wore out the tape playing it afterwards." [Producer Steve Cropper talking to Rolling Stone]

Artwork