Justin and Shaun Bradley from Sydney band Brother Brad came in to The Music Show studios to cover this classic. 328 sky pilot (SITTIN' ON) THE DOCK OF THE BAY Artist: Otis Redding Written by: Otis Redding, Steve Cropper From the album: Dock of the Bay Label: Volt. It went on to become the first posthumous single to reach number 1 in the US. Steve Cropper decided to leave in the whistling and released it a month later. He died in a plane crash in December 1967 while on tour. Otis Redding originally recorded (Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay written by Steve Cropper and Otis Redding and Otis Redding released it on the single. It was first recorded by Otis Redding in 1967, just days before his death. He was to return to Memphis to record the final verse, but never had the chance. Talk (0) ' (Sittin On) The Dock of the Bay ' is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. Otis hadn't written the last verse by the time he recorded the song, he was supposed to ad-lib a rap during the fade out but forgot what he was going to say, so he ended up whistling a tune instead. "Dock of the Bay" was exactly that: "I left my home in Georgia, headed for the Frisco Bay" was all about him going out to San Francisco to perform. Songs like "Mr Pitiful" "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" they were about Otis and Otis' life. Otis didn't really write about himself but I did. If you listen to the songs I collaborated with Otis, most of the lyrics are about him. And that's about all he had: "I watch the ships come in and I watch them roll away again." I just took that. And the story that I got he was renting boathouse or stayed at a boathouse or something and that's where he got the idea of the ships coming in the bay there.
He had been in San Francisco doing The Fillmore.
Otis was one of those the kind of guy who had 100 ideas.