I stumbled across these two pictures of Jimmy Johnson, of Muscle Shoals fame, playing this Gretsch in a session with Otis Redding.

I wonder what song it was used on?

Very nice!

That looks like a couple of nice Ampegs on the left, too!

That would have been at FAME Studios in either 1966 or 1967, and it may not have been one of Otis' own recording sessions. instead, it may be from one of the JOTIS/FAME recording sessions where Otis was producing for either Billy Young or Arthur Conley.

Otis himself recorded only a few times at FAME in 1966 and 1967. The most famous are "You Left The Water Running" in 1966 and "Snatch A Little Piece" in June 4, 1967. The first song was never officially released, as it was intended as a demo piece for Wilson Pickett. The song was available as a bootleg issue on the Stone label, a copy of which is worth quite a bit of money now. However, it wasn't released officially until 1987 on "The Otis Redding Story" box set. The song can be heard here:

Link...

"Snatch A Little Piece" was released posthumously in 1970 on ATCO as the B-side of "Give Away None Of My Love".

Aside from these songs, only two other Otis songs have been rumored (but not confirmed) as being recorded at FAME-- "Wholesale Love", and Gotta Go Back And Watch That Little Girl Dance". Session info on these two songs are very sketchy, but most believe that they were indeed recorded at FAME.

Even so, Otis produced several recordings sessions at FAME in 1966 and early 1967. The most famous of these are the Arthur Conley sessions which included the hit "Sweet Soul Music" b/w "Let's Go Steady" , and Billy Young's "Do the Sloopy" b/w "Same Thing All Over".

So says Tartan Phantom, GDP's resident STAX fanatic!

Had to show up with that guitar, didn't ya?

You know I had to.

Had to show up with that guitar, didn't ya?

yeah, but it's a shame he doesn't really know how to play it. I mean, with a guitar like that, it just loves to have the strings bent a little.

just kidding ya, Rob.

Was Jimmy Johnson a known Gretsch user? Looks cool seeing a 6120 in that setting during the 60s.

Is that Otis? I thought it was Wilson P. However, I have temporarily mislaid my specs.

It said it was Otis.

It's the internet, so it must be true.

yeah, but it's a shame he doesn't really know how to play it. I mean, with a guitar like that, it just loves to have the strings bent a little.-- S. Rock

It's strung with manly-man strings-- flatwound 12's-- I'd like to see how well YOU bend them!

Anyway, The top picture is Wilson Pickett. The bottom picture is Otis Redding.

Really.

Hmm, I'm curious as to how this post looks on other people's browsers. I get one big picture of what looks to me like Wilson Picket (hand resting on an amp) and Jimmy Johnson, and alongside it one very small pic no bigger than a postage stamp with three guys who, at this size, could be anybody, although the guitar looks the same. I assume the guy on the right (with his foot up on something) must be Otis. I believe ya, TP!

Whenever I try to post multiple pics I get this effect — the first is normal size, the rest are 'postage stamps'. It must be me.

Dave, they seem to be the same size on my browser.

Dave, they seem to be the same size on my browser.

yep. they're the same size on mine, also.

Dave, here's a re-post of the 2nd picture. Hope it helps

And another photo of Otis at FAME studios, in the control room with Rick Hall.

Speaking of Muscle Shoals, Duane did a session with Spooner Oldham on Friday.

Back to Jimmy Johnson...Oh yes, it's true.

tartanphantom: thanks for posting that pic again. Yep, definitely Otis on that one.

Deed: Is there an album on the way? I love Spooner Oldham's playing and the idea of Spooner and Duane together on a new album sounds just like my kind of record.

A few years back Spooner and Dan Penn did a short two-man European tour and we saw them in a church on Picccadilly in London. All those fabulous songs just rolled out and the lack of a rhythm section didn't matter at all. They had to play I'm Your Puppet twice. Bliss.

Spooner Oldham is such a unique musician, the way he plays piano is hard to describe, but it's so simple and just the right thing for the song, and he did play a little B-3 on this session, which just made everybody crazy.

Not a Duane album project, but an album nonetheless. I'll have more info as it progresses.