Otis spent part of the early-mid ‘60s in Baltimore booked to play at clubs such as the Royal Theater, Carr’s Beach, and the Baltimore Coliseum by Ru-Jac Records owner and concert promoter Rufus Mitchell. Baltimore’s Upsetters (see bio) were often Otis’s backup group at the Rhapsody Club and eventually went on a national tour with him in the spring of 1967.
Redding’s departure to Memphis and the Stax/Volt group apparently caused some friction to the relationship between him and Mitchell. Otis picked up on the promising young vocalist Arthur Conley whom Mitchell was managing at the time and took him to Memphis. Conley went on to record the soul classic “Sweet Soul Music.”
