Joe Eszterhas: That Time Otis Redding Called Me a ‘White F–ing N-Word’ | Guest Blog
thewrap.comThe Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio… and crazy in love with the music of Otis Redding. When I read that he was coming to a Black nightclub called Leo’s Casino on Cleveland’s East Side, I somehow convinced my white editors — Sinatra and Dean Martin and Tony Bennett fans — to let me interview him.
I had never seen Otis in person before.The club, Cleveland’s hottest Black nightclub, was filled. Otis bounded onstage — a big man who, after the first few bars of his first song, had the predominantly Black audience in his big Black palm.
Many women were moved to tears. He knocked me out. He was magnetic, romantic, sexy and explosive. At the end of the show, he got a standing ovation that wouldn’t stop.I went backstage.
I looked like a preppy. Striped tie, blue suit, brightly shined shoes, short hair, very pale and freckled face. When I got there, he was sweating profusely.
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