On his 80th birthday, Otis Redding’s legacy remains strong decades after his death

Otis Redding would have been 80 years old Thursday.

Betty Freeman, who’s lived in Macon’s Greenwood Bottom neighborhood all her life, told me her mother worked with Redding when he was a youngster at a car wash down their street. She told her Redding dreamed of a singing career and sang all the time. She said the owner would tell Redding to get his mind on his work and “forget that entertainment foolishness.”

But Redding obviously didn’t heed the advice and kept dreaming.

Though he died in a plane crash 54 years ago at age 26, Redding’s family and others have kept his dream alive through the Otis Redding Foundation. As it turns out, his dream was bigger than being the famous singer he became.

“Otis was a phenomenal singer, songwriter and performer, no doubt about that,” said Kimberly Kelsey Epps, center director at the foundation’s Cotton Avenue facility. “But he also dedicated himself to helping young people and gave scholarships to help with education. He even had music camps for kids way back then. Along with keeping his musical legacy alive, helping young people is really the heartbeat of the foundation and why it was created.”

The Otis Redding Foundation was founded in 2007 by his widow, Zelma Redding, though she had continued his philanthropic work after his death and long before the foundation became tangible. His daughter, Karla Redding-Andrews, serves day-to-day operations as executive director and his grandson, Justin Andrews, keeps busy with events and furthering the foundation’s impact as director of global outreach.

These aren’t name-only roles.

Since it began, Epps said among the many things the foundation does, the nonprofit has impacted more than 2,000 youth through its Otis Music Camps alone and upwards of 3,500 through the camp and programs like virtual camp, Camp Dream after-school and school break programs, the Dream Team performing groups, “O’Tis the Season” performances and more, such as the Otis Redding Center for Creative Arts which offers a safe environment for musical instruction with many students receiving tuition-paid tutelage.

The overall programs aren’t all about singing, either, but include dance, visual arts, songwriting, theater, voice and other creative pursuits.

There’s a good chance you’ve heard some of Otis’ kids at community functions but maybe you didn’t realize the driving force was more than just putting kids up on a stage.

“Educating children through music was a dream of my husband’s,” Zelma Redding wrote on the foundation’s website about the camp and work of the foundation. “(This) emphasis on creativity and inspiration is something I think he would have been proud of and it is the kind of program we will continue to foster through our foundation.”

Epps said studies show exposure to music and the arts enrich and improve academics and life skills.

“We’ve seen kids who struggle in math or other subjects do better in school because our programs helped them with things like critical thinking through songwriting, playing music and other things we do,” she said. “I don’t think people realize how important this was to Otis or how he wanted to expand his philanthropic work. That’s what drives us every day to provide genuinely caring, nurturing opportunities for kids. And the sense of self-worth they gain goes a long way.”

There are also the “Respect” and “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” books for children. Often they’re given to young kids in schools and foundation programs. You can guess what “Respect” is about and “Sittin’…” deals with the song’s themes of loneliness and hopelessness as a young bunny successfully deals with these problems.

But this moment is certainly about the music and the man who would have just turned 80.

Redding-Andrews was all smiles during Thursday’s celebration at the foundation but that’s not unusual for her. A proclamation was read declaring the day “Otis Redding Day” in Georgia and a new exhibit was unveiled with never-before-shown memorabilia from Zelma Redding. I’ll attest the various handwritten notes, photos and items on display are fascinating but some can downright stop you dead in your tracks.

Like Redding’s briefcase pulled from plane wreckage and an assortment of touring flight tags.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 caused the cancellation of a host of activities originally planned for the weekend, most involving kids from camps and programs. But to help the community celebrate and remember, there are the Otis Redding Museum’s new displays and a special exhibition of local artists’ work titled “Inspired by Otis” at the Macon Arts Alliance’s gallery at 486 First St. (www.maconartsalliance.org).

It shows through Sept. 24.

“I could not be more ecstatic over what’s happening,” Redding-Andrews told me while holding the state proclamation. “All the community support for my father and honor toward him and what the foundation is doing on his behalf is pretty overwhelming. He loved helping kids. We can’t forget that.”

Now and in the coming days and months, record companies are marking Redding’s 80th with new releases and remixes of recordings that will add to the millions of records he’s already sold and the 3 billion streams of his songs. Rhino Records has put out Dolby Atmos mixes of top Redding tracks and other outlets are re-releasing material such as the very popular but out-of-print, seven-LP, vinyl boxed set, “The Definitive Studio Album Collection.”

It will be re-released in December.

And there will be more and more things like Redding’s 1967 classic duet, “Tramp,” with Carla Thomas being released as a remix by Australian electronic duo Korky Buchek.

Personally, thinking back on Redding, I vividly recall exactly where I was and what I was going through on a particular occasion listening to “Dock of the Bay” when it was first a top 40 radio hit. I don’t think I remember that clearly because it was just a good song. It transcended being just a song and made a difference to me in that moment and situation.

That’s something art does and as a writer, arranger and singer, Redding was an artist.

When I think of Redding overall, I think of him at the Monterey Pop Festival. It was three days of top L.A. and Bay area bands — including Jimi Hendrix — back in 1967 and one of the first festival-ish sort of things. Some of the biggest buzz was not about the Hendrix or bands the audience knew well but about this soul singer named Otis Redding. He and his backup band, Booker-T and the MGs and the Bar-Kays horn section.

Redding’s performance was epic. I wasn’t there, of course, but it was a big deal in all the underground newspapers and music magazines I read in those days.

There are videos of Redding at Monterey worth watching on YouTube. And taking it a step further, to dig deeper into understanding Redding’s talent and skill as an artist/performer, I suggest YouTube’s Wings of Pegasus channel’s Redding review and analysis. The knowledge and insight of the presenter is second-to-none plus there’s a bit of how-to guitar training and Redding history. But on showcase is what a superior craftsman-musician Redding was.

Of course, Redding’s grandson Jason said he’s excited about what the celebration means to his family but also what the attention means to the foundation. So even if you don’t do YouTube, have a listen somehow, somewhere this weekend to Redding’s or Aretha Franklin’s version of “Respect” – Redding did write that, you know – and think back on him and then toward the future and the foundation. Stay in touch with them at www.otisreddingfoundation.org. Visit them at 339 Cotton Ave. Museum admission is free and donations and sales of store items go toward education projects.

And do take Redding’s advice-in-song seriously on his 80th and throughout the year and remember to “Try a Little Tenderness.”

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.