Many have dubbed the outro to this song as “perhaps the most famous whistling in music history”. (BMI) has accredited “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” with being “the sixth-most performed song of the 20 th century”, despite the fact that the artist behind it never had a chance to do so live. But for the sake of history, the most-notable cover is perhaps Michael Bolton’s, as not only did his rendition help launch his career, but it is also the favorite version of Zelma Redding’s, Otis Redding’s widow. Logically a song of this magnitude has been covered by a number of artists.
![otis reading dock of the bay lyrics otis reading dock of the bay lyrics](https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/019/514/385/medium/damian-castellini-otisredding-painting-2k.jpg)
![otis reading dock of the bay lyrics otis reading dock of the bay lyrics](https://i.etsystatic.com/10542559/r/il/b62c0f/1426954761/il_794xN.1426954761_22ek.jpg)
Moreover Steve Cropper, who co-wrote the track, says that the experience of being forced to complete it freshly in the wake of Redding’s death was “one of the hardest things (he) ever had to do”.But due to pressure by his record labels (Stax Records and Atlantic Records) to capitalize on this event, the song was officially released a month later on 8 January 1968. Otis Redding recorded “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” just three days before he tragically died in a plane crash on 9 December 1967.
![otis reading dock of the bay lyrics otis reading dock of the bay lyrics](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rTVjnBo96Ug/hqdefault.jpg)
Facts about “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”