As captured in the fantastic HBO Documentary on Stax Records released last year, the classic Memphis soul label had no shortage of legends in its 1960s heyday. Indeed, everyone from Otis Redding to Booker T. & the MG’s (who were the original house band of Stax), to Sam & Dave, and of course, The Staple Singers recorded for Stax back in the day. And in this remarkably extraordinary performance from 1967, we have three out of four of those aforementioned artists captured live and in their prime, including the late great Otis Redding who would tragically die in a plane crash later in the same year. He and the rest of his labelmates are in fine form here, as this performance effectively serves as a virtual Stax smorgasbord of soulful gems that perfectly encapsulates everything that made the label and its artists so sensational. Dig it:
