Can’t turn them loose October 26, 2007

Otis Redding (1941-1967), along with Eric Burdon and Chris Farlowe, perform on the British TV show Ready, Steady, Go!, recorded on September 16, 1966 — my thirteenth birthday.

Otis blazes through “Satisfaction”, “My Girl” and “Respect”. Remember that Otis Redding wrote “Respect”, and if I agree with you that Aretha took it over from him, it sure wasn’t without a fight.

Cathy MacGowan introduced Eric Burdon as making his “first solo appearance” after the breakup of the Animals. Chris Farlowe (the guy who looks kinda like Rupert Grint from the Harry Potter movies) was a British R&B performer who seems to have made something of a career of Rolling Stones covers.

Watch in awe as Otis wraps it up with “Can’t Turn You Loose” and “Shake”, accompanied by Burdon and Farlowe, as the white people dance almost as well as the black people*, and the whole studio goes crazy.

*except for Otis, for whom it was a standing joke that he couldn’t dance worth a damn

Joe Bratcher says the middle go-go dancer is a dead ringer for his college girlfriend.

Technorati tags: Otis Redding, Ready, Steady, Go!, Eric Burdon, Chris Farlowe, Satisfaction, My Girl, Respect, Can’t Turn You Loose, Shake