{"id":7770,"date":"2019-12-14T05:26:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T10:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=7770"},"modified":"2019-12-12T15:42:15","modified_gmt":"2019-12-12T20:42:15","slug":"beyond-the-spotlight-otis-redding-his-family-music-and-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2019\/12\/14\/beyond-the-spotlight-otis-redding-his-family-music-and-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Spotlight: Otis Redding, His Family, Music and Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Karla Redding-Andrews\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a child growing up, Karla Redding-Andrews (\u201885) didn\u2019t realize her dad was famous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh no, no, no,\u201d she said. \u201cEven when I was here at Georgia Southern, I had no idea of the magnitude, of the impact my father had on the music world, or even other people’s lives. We just weren’t raised that way. I mean we knew we were very lucky. We lived on a beautiful farm and we had nice things, but we just figured Dad went to work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until Redding-Andrews\u2019 junior year at Georgia Southern that her classmates realized that her father was the great R&B singer, Otis Redding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the beginning of my junior year, my brothers, The Reddings, had some hit records and were in the music news. And someone said to me, \u2018I can’t believe you’re Otis Redding’s daughter.\u2019 And I’m like, yeah, but it’s not really that big of a deal. He’s not Elvis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd they were like, \u2018You don’t get it. He was better than Elvis.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired to Research <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

That conversation inspired Redding-Andrews to do some research on her father and find out more about his life. Since that time,
\nshe has strived to find ways to keep his legacy alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The student-curated exhibit of Otis Redding artifacts displayed through April at the Statesboro Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB), is one such example. This must-see exhibit highlights her father\u2019s legacy of philanthropy and the Otis Redding Foundation\u2019s music education programs for young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow I know,\u201d said Redding-Andrews. \u201cAnd as I do events like this museum exhibit with Georgia Southern students, I get to learn so much more about my dad and what an impact he had and what a great person he was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Otis Redding performed at Georgia Southern in October 1965. Because of that connection and being a graduate herself, Redding-Andrews had long been talking to the University about creating something Otis Redding-related.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe finally worked out this project,\u201d she explained. \u201cI worked closely with the students to select memorabilia that told the story of my father, reflecting what he did off the road and outside of the studio. It’s so wonderful to see the legacy of Otis Redding living on and having younger generations discover him.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
L-R: Redding’s widow Zelma, Redding-Andrews, and her sons Jarred and Justin<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The exhibit is a collaboration between the SCVB and Georgia Southern University History Department. Georgia Southern Museum director and history professor, Brent Tharp, Ph.D., teaches a museum studies class each spring semester. His students design and curate a new Museum on Main exhibit while working toward their master\u2019s in history with a concentration in public history. He says that the exhibit reflects another side of the music icon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOtis Redding\u2019s music is a well-established piece. What the public may not know is how much his foundation has done and how much his family continued his legacy in this area,\u201d said Tharp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redding Always a Philanthropic Man<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Redding\u2019s philanthropy is featured prominently in the exhibit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell you know my dad was already being very philanthropic even before he died,\u201d said Redding-Andrews. \u201cHe was giving out college scholarships and he had already put a plan in place to invite young kids out to the ranch. He wanted to bring underserved kids to the ranch every summer and let them talk with industry professionals. Professional musicians, people in television, people in radio.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2007, on the 50th anniversary of Redding\u2019s death, Redding-Andrews and his widow Zelma created an exhibit for the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. With it they started the Otis Redding Foundation and the first Otis Music Camp, now in its 12th year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Substitute for Musical Talent<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, Redding-Andrews didn\u2019t end up with musical talent like her father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know I look at my brothers, Dexter and Otis III, who have Dad\u2019s talent. I have none of that musical talent. So I get to continue it in another way through the music and education programs of the foundation. It is amazing what it has done for those kids. Our biggest success story to come out of the Otis Redding Foundation is a young African American man that we supported to become an orchestra conductor. Now he’s an orchestra conductor living in Berlin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Redding-Andrews is thrilled that she was able to come up with a project involving Georgia Southern students. As a student herself, she majored in communication arts with an emphasis in public relations. Part of her degree requirements included an internship. She was the marketing and advertising assistant for an Atlanta company involved in shopping center development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI learned so much with that internship that helps me with the business of the foundation. And I wouldn’t have had that opportunity if it hadn’t been for Georgia Southern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Giving Back to Georgia Southern<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Redding-Andrews has served on the board of the Georgia Southern Alumni Association and returns to the Statesboro Campus every year for homecoming and most other events. True Blue runs in the family. She met her husband of 32 years, Timothy Andrews (’84) while a student, and her son Jarred is now a junior business major.
\n  \u201cYou know Statesboro, being here for those years was wonderful. And I think that’s why I continue to come back and give back every opportunity that I can. And I will do whatever I need to do to continue being a part, an active part, of Georgia Southern.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Liz Walker<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Redding-Andrews is vice president and executive director of the Otis Redding Foundation. She is vice-chair of the Georgia Music Foundation board and on the Georgia Film, Music & Digital Entertainment Advisory Commission. In 2018, she received the \u201cShe Rocks Award\u201d from The Women\u2019s International Music Network, where she was honored alongside Pat Benatar, Melissa Etheridge, The B-52\u2019s Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Karla Redding-Andrews\u00a0 As a child growing up, Karla Redding-Andrews (\u201885) didn\u2019t realize her dad was famous. \u201cOh no, no, no,\u201d she said. \u201cEven when I was here at Georgia Southern, I had no idea of the magnitude, of the impact my father had on the music world, or even other people’s lives. We just weren’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":7771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[62],"class_list":["post-7770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-fall-2019"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}