Otis Redding died at a time when many others were dying, both in the U.S. and Vietnam, and his “music gave people a sense of hope,” said UW-Madison Afro-American studies professor Craig Werner.
He and journalist Doug Bradley will be presenting a Redding memorial program called “Echoes From Vietnam: (‘Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay'” on Thursday evening. Werner and Bradley have interviewed hundreds of Vietnam veterans about the era’s music for a collaborative book, “We Gotta Get Out of This Place: Music and the Experience of Vietnam Vets.”