Otis Redding - Merry Christmas Baby (Atco Records 1967)

“Merry Christmas Baby“ is an R & B Christmas standard written by Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore. The original 1947 version by Johnny Moore’s Three Trailblazers (featuring singer/pianist Charles Brown (musician), is the definitive version of this song. Otis Ray Redding, Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger, and talent scout. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul and rhythm and blues. His singing style was powerfully influential among soul artists of 1960s and helped exemplify the Stax sound. Born and raised in the US state of Georgia, Redding quit school at age 15 to support his family, working with Little Richard’s backing band, the Upsetters, and also performing at talent shows for prize money. In 1958, he joined Johnny Jenkins’s band, the Pinetoppers, and toured the Southern states as a driver and musician. An unscheduled appea