Otis Redding, “Cigarettes and Coffee” | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 73^rd edition of Throwback Vibez (2022), we recollect and reflect on “Cigarettes and Coffee” by Otis Redding. 

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome – we don’t discriminate ‘round here! In the 73^rd edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2022), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “Cigarettes and Coffee”, performed by 🎙 Otis Redding. 

Theme & Lyrics ✍

“It’s early in the morning / About a quarter ‘til three / I’m sitting here talking with my baby / Over cigarettes and coffee, now.” The late, great 🎙 Otis Redding is best known for gems like 🎵 “Sittin’ On (The Dock of the Bay)”, 🎵 “These Arms of Mine”, and 🎵 “Try a Little Tenderness”.  Also, Redding penned “Respect”, though 🎙 Aretha Franklin owns the definitive version.  Sadly, 🎵 “Cigarettes and Coffee,” a marvelous gem from his 1966 album,  💿 The Soul Album (1966), doesn’t get the same hype.  It should though! “Cigarettes and Coffee” is a cover, though the original received little fanfare;  the Redding version is easily the definitive take.  The record was written by 🎼 ✍  Jerry Butler, 🎼 ✍  Eddie Thomas, and 🎼 ✍ Jay Walker.

On “Cigarettes and Coffee,” Redding proves he was a once in a generation artist. Despite the fact that he didn’t live long, his impact on soul music is undeniable. “Cigarettes and Coffee” finds Redding at his most expressive; his voice is amazing with vocal cracks, grit, nuance. “Cigarettes” oozes with soul, only amplified by an epic horn arrangement/overall production.

“But it seems so natural, darling

That you and I are here

Just talking over cigarettes and drinking coffee.”

Final Thoughts 💭 

You listen to records like 🎵 “Cigarettes and Coffee”, and it makes you yearn for that authentic soul sound that’s so rare in the 2020s. Otis Redding is EVERYTHING on this 1966 highlight from The Soul Album which is, indeed, soulful. Also, it’s worth noting that 🎙 Etta James made a pretty sick cover of “Cigarettes and Coffee” in her final years.  Dig deeper into the Otis Redding collection, and you’ll find a masterpiece such as this one.

Appears in 🔻:

• 13 Delightful Songs Coffee Drinkers Can Get Behind

🎙 Otis Redding • 💿 The Soul Album • 🏷 Atlantic • 🗓 1966

Otis Redding, “Cigarettes and Coffee”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 73 (2022) [📷: Atlantic, Brent Faulkner, Gerhard G., JL G via Pixabay,  Karl Hörnfeldt via Unsplash,  The Musical Hype]