Rock N Roll History December 10

December 10, 1967.  Otis Redding, singer of #1 hit "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay", was killed in a plane crash near Madison, Wisconsin.  Otis Ray Redding, Jr., was born September 9, 1941 in Dawson, Georgia.  Redding never graduated, quitting school at the age of 15 to help support his family.  Throughout his short musical career, Redding played small venues in the Southern United States, attended "Battle of the Bands" contests, and played at the famous Apollo Theater in New York.  Redding became one of the first soul performers to play the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles.  December 7, 1967, Otis Redding recorded what later proved to be his "signature song" "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay".  December 10, 1967, just three days after recording "Dock of the Bay", Redding was killed in a plane crash.  He was flying in a twin engine Beechcraft which crashed into icy waters in Lake Monona outside of Madison, Wisconsin.  Four members of his back-up group also died.  Redding's body was recovered the next day during a search of the crash site.  He was 26 years of age at the time of his death.  His body is entombed at his ranch near Macon, Georgia.