The singer became an overnight sensation after the release of his debut hit These Arms of Mine and was so busy touring and writing for other acts he had no time to record an album.

Session musician Wayne Jackson, who was a member of the fabled Memphis Horns, recalls a famous Stax Records session in Memphis, Tennessee as Redding hurriedly attempted to put an album together the day before he resumed his tour.

He says, "Otis was going to depart in 24 hours and that's how much time we had to submit an album. We worked hard."

The album, featuring Redding's soul anthem Respect, is widely considered the soul man's finest.

The prolific singer didn't stop there - he recorded 26 songs in one week following a month of vocal rest after surgery in 1967.

As part of a new Unsung documentary, his former manager Alan Walden explains, "He couldn't talk for two weeks and couldn't sing for six, and all during that time, in his mind, he was writing songs.

"He just kept putting them down and putting them down... Otis put down 26 songs in one week. Imagine that. All these other entertainers today take a year to make 26 songs."

The sessions proved to be timely as Redding died in a plane crash months later (10Dec67), aged 26.