(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay

The track was recorded in September 1968 at Stax Studios in Memphis for the album Soul Folk in Action. Steve Cropper led the sessions, with the Staples family backed by Donald "Duck" Dunn, Al Jackson Jr., Marvell Thomas, and the Memphis Horns. The cover appeared on the Staple Singers’ first Stax album, recorded during a pivotal period for the label after Otis Redding’s death. It was noted for giving an established hit a distinctly Staples-style interpretation. The song remains a key example of how the Staple Singers absorbed and reshaped Stax material into their own sound. It is regularly revisited on compilations and in discussions of the group’s breakthrough Stax period.