Song · Otis Redding
“Try A Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding
From the album Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul (1966)
“Try A Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding appears on 15 radio countdowns from 8 stations between 1991 and 2026. It was first released in 1966 on the album Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul. Its best result is #49 on the WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #6,461 alternative song of all time.
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Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness", cut in 1966 for Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul, takes a song first recorded back in 1932 and rebuilds it from the floorboards up. Harry M. Woods wrote the music and Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly the words, but this is a brand-new animal: Isaac Hayes worked on the arrangement, and Booker T. & the M.G.'s stand behind the singer.
It opens slow and soulful, then Al Jackson, Jr. and Duck Dunn start pushing, Redding pushes back, and the whole thing boils over into a frantic R&B climax, with Wayne Jackson's trumpet, the tenor saxophones of Andrew Love and Gilbert Caples and Steve Cropper's guitar all piling in. Along the way Redding slips in a piece of the Duke Ellington and Lee Gaines song "Just Squeeze Me". Cropper, Jim Stewart and Redding himself produced.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 792 | CFNY 102.1 The Edge | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) | 1002 |
| 2001 | 49 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 88 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2007 | 101 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2009 | 867 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2009 | 245 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2012 | 296 | WYEP | WYEP Top 500 Songs Countdown | 500 |
| 2012 | 808 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Greatest Rock Songs (2012) | 885 |
| 2014 | 142 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2018 | 131 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2020 | 177 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2023 | 173 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time | 909 |
| 2024 | 164 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 850 Cover Songs | 850 |
| 2025 | 261 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs | 800 |
| 2026 | 304 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
Also listed as: Try a Little Tenderness.
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