"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" was released 50 years ago Monday, less than a month after Otis Redding died at the age of 26. The song was a departure for the R&B superstar — and it almost never saw the light of day."

"Otis had had a throat operation in the fall that year, and he was very worried about whether he would be able to sing again — and sing like Otis," biographer Mark Ribowsky says. "He needed to sort of make it quieter, make it more poetic. And he came up with this song."