5 Facts About Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay

It became Otis Redding’s only number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached the top spot in 1968, after his death.

Redding recorded the track just three days before he died. He laid down the vocals on December 7, 1967, in Memphis.

The song was a stylistic departure from his earlier soul hits. It incorporated folk and pop influences, with a more laid-back, reflective mood.

The whistling outro was improvised because Redding forgot the lyrics. He whistled over the fade-out, and producer Steve Cropper kept it in the final mix.

Redding never heard the finished version. The song was mixed and released posthumously, becoming his signature legacy.