From deep within the heart of Memphis to your stereo, the rich legacy of Stax Records will be honored this year as two label partners join forces to commemorate the label's 60th anniversary.

Rolling Stone reported yesterday a massive campaign to celebrate Stax artists and albums across physical and digital formats. Notably, this initiative will be carried out by both owners of the Stax catalogue: Rhino/Warner Music Group, which controls much of the label's Atlantic-distributed output from 1957 to 1968, and Concord Bicycle Music, handler of the Stax masters released from 1968 to the mid-1970s, when the label declared bankruptcy.

Founded by siblings Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton (whose surnames gave the label its moniker), Stax Records was to the South what Motown was to Detroit: a pioneer in locally sourced, gritty soul and R&B. With crack house band Booker T. & The MG's at the fore (an integrated group which included keyboardist Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn and drummer Al Jackson, Jr.) and a stable of stars like Sam & Dave, Otis Redding and Carla Thomas, there seemed little Stax could not achieve. The label weathered major setbacks in the mid-'60s, notably the tragic loss of Redding in an airplane crash and a split with distributor Atlantic Records when they were sold to Warner Bros. The independent Stax soldiered on with legends like William Bell, The Staple Singers and Isaac Hayes, all of whom helped define '70s soul in many ways.

The release plans of the Stax 60 campaign will include:

• Stax Classics: available May 19, 10 affordable hits collections from the label's biggest names will be released on CD and digitally, all featuring new liner notes.
• Vinyl: five new LP reissues of famous and underrated Stax titles are already available for pre-order. April 28 will see the reissue of the 1973 self-titled solo album by John Gary Williams, frontman for The Mad Lads (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada); May 26 will welcome the soundtrack to the 1971 blaxploitation film Sweet Sweetbacks' Baadasssss Song, written by star/writer/director/co-producer Melvin Van Peebles and performed by a then-unknown Earth, Wind & Fire (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada); and June 23 is the reissue date for three Otis Redding LPs: 1965's The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (Amazon U.S.), 1966's The Soul Album (Amazon U.S.) and 1967's collaboration with Carla Thomas, King & Queen (Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada).
• The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, Vol. 4: the latest installment in the box set series, which spanned three volumes in 1991, 1993 and 1994 (totaling some 28 discs!), will include buried treasures on Stax and Volt along with subsidiaries Enterprise, Hip, Chalice, Gospel Truth and others. No release date has been set.
• Additional box sets: Isaac Hayes: The Spirit of Memphis (1962-1976) will tell Hayes' "hot buttered soul" story across four CDs in August, while Concord and Rhino will jointly issue a triple-disc Stax 60th anniversary set.
• Digital catalogue clean-up: expect many Stax albums from Conord and Rhino to be remastered in high-resolution and offered on high-end digital partners as well as Mastered for iTunes. For the hardcore fans, additional rare Stax/Volt LPs will make their way to digital channels for the first time.

Look for more info on the Stax 60 campaign as it develops! In the meantime, you can pre-order the Stax Classics collections now at the links below, where track lists also sit.

Stax Classics: Booker T. & The MG's (Stax/Atlantic/Rhino, 2017)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. (TBD)

1. Green Onions
2. Hip Hug-Her
3. Jellybread
4. Time is Tight
5. Tic-Tac-Toe
6. Boot-Leg
7. Mo' Onions
8. Soul Dressing (Single Version)
9. Groovin'
10. Melting Pot
11. Soul Limbo
12. One Mint Julep

Tracks 1 and 7 from Green Onions (Stax/Atlantic, 1962)
Tracks 2 and 9 from Hip-Hug-Her (Stax/Atlantic, 1967)
Tracks 3, 5 and original version of Track 8 from Soul Dressing (Stax/Atlantic, 1965)
Track 4 from UpTight (Stax, 1969)
Track 6 from Stax single, 1965 and The Best of Booker T. & The MG's (Stax/Atlantic, 1968)
Track 10 from Melting Pot (Stax, 1971)
Track 11 from Soul Limbo (Stax, 1968)
Track 12 from And Now! (Stax/Atlantic, 1966)

Stax Classics: Otis Redding (Stax/Atlantic/Rhino, 2017)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.

1. (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay
2. These Arms of Mine
3. Try a Little Tenderness
4. I've Been Loving You Too Long
5. Mr. Pitiful (Single Version)
6. Respect
7. Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)
8. Pain in My Heart
9. Just One More Day
10. That's How Strong My Love Is
11. Security
12. Satisfaction

Track 1 from The Dock of the Bay (Volt/ATCO, 1968)
Tracks 2, 8 and 11 from Pain in My Heart (ATCO, 1964)
Tracks 3 and 7 from Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul (Volt/ATCO, 1966)
Tracks 4, 6 and 12 from Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul (Volt/ATCO, 1965)
Original version of Track 5 and Track 10 from The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (Volt/ATCO, 1965)
Track 9 from The Soul Album (Volt/ATCO, 1966)

Stax Classics: Sam & Dave (Stax/Atlantic/Rhino, 2017)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.

1. Hold On, I'm Comin'
2. Soul Man
3. I Thank You
4. Soothe Me
5. When Something is Wrong with My Baby
6. You Don't Know Like I Know
7. Don't Knock It
8. I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down
9. You Got Me Hummin'
10. A Place Nobody Can Find
11. Said I Wasn't Gonna Tell Nobody
12. I Take What I Want

Tracks 1, 6 and 12 from Hold On, I'm Comin' (Stax/Atlantic, 1966)
Tracks 2 and 7 from Soul Men (Stax/Atlantic, 1967)
Track 3 from I Thank You (Atlantic, 1968)
Tracks 4-5, 9 and 11 from Double Dynamite (Stax/Atlantic, 1966)
Track 8 from Stax/Atlantic single, 1967
Track 10 from Stax/Atlantic single, 1965

Stax Classics: Carla Thomas (Stax/Atlantic/Rhino, 2017)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.

1. B-A-B-Y
2. Tramp
3. Something Good (is Going to Happen to You)
4. I Like What You're Doing (to Me)
5. 'Cause I Love You - Carla and Rufus
6. Let Me Be Good to You
7. Comfort Me
8. When Tomorrow Comes
9. What is Love?
10. Pick Up the Pieces
11. I've Got No Time to Lose
12. I Play for Keeps

Tracks 1 and 6 from Carla (Stax/Atlantic, 1966)
Track 2 from King & Queen (Stax/Atlantic, 1967)
Tracks 3 and 8 from The Queen Alone (Stax/Atlantic, 1967)
Tracks 4 and 12 from Memphis Queen (Stax, 1969)
Track 5 from Satellite single, 1960
Tracks 7, 9 and 11 from Comfort Me (Stax/Atlantic, 1966)
Track 10 from Stax/Atlantic single, 1967

Stax Classics: William Bell (Stax, 2017)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. (TBD)

1. I Forgot to Be Your Lover
2. Private Number (with Judy Clay)
3. You Don't Miss Your Water
4. Lovin' On Borrowed Time
5. A Tribute to a King
6. My Baby Specializes (with Judy Clay)
7. Save Us
8. All for the Love of a Woman
9. My Whole World is Falling Down
10. I've Got to Go On Without You
11. Everybody Loves a Winner
12. Gettin' What You Want (Losin' What You Got)

Tracks 1 and 9 from Bound to Happen (Stax, 1969)
Tracks 2 and 6 released as Stax/Atlantic single, 1966
Tracks 3, 8 and 11 from The Soul of a Bell (Stax/Atlantic, 1967)
Tracks 4, 10 and 12 from Relating (Stax, 1973)
Track 5 from Stax/Atlantic single, 1968
Track 7 from Phases of Reality (Stax, 1972)

Stax Classics: Albert King (Stax, 2017)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. (TBD)

1. Born Under a Bad Sign
2. The Sky is Crying
3. I'll Play the Blues for You (Part 1)
4. That's What the Blues is All About
5. Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven
6. Crosscut Saw
7. Can't You See What You're Doing to Me
8. Breaking Up Somebody's Home
9. Blues Power (Live)
10. The Hunter
11. Don't Turn Your Heater Down (with Steve Cropper & Pops Staples)
12. Travelin' Man

Tracks 1, 6 and 10 from Born Under a Bad Sign (Stax, 1967)
Track 2 from Years Gone By (Stax, 1969)
Track 3 and 8 from I'll Play the Blues for You (Stax, 1972)
Tracks 4 and 12 from I Wanna Get Funky (Stax, 1974)
Track 5 from Lovejoy (Stax, 1971)
Track 7 from Stax single, 1970
Track 9 from Live Wire/Blues Power (Stax, 1968)
Track 11 from Jammed Together (Stax, 1969)

Stax Classics: Johnnie Taylor (Stax, 2017)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. (TBD)

1. Who's Making Love
2. Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone
3. I Believe In You (You Believe In Me)
4. Steal Away
5. Somebody's Been Sleeping in My Bed
6. Testify (I Wonna)
7. Take Care of Your Homework
8. Cheaper to Keep Her
9. I Got to Love Somebody's Baby
10. We're Getting Careless with Our Love
11. Love Bones
12. I Am Somebody (Part 2)

Tracks 1 and 7 from Who's Making Love... (Stax, 1968)
Tracks 2 and 12 from One Step Beyond (Stax, 1970)
Tracks 3, 8 and 10 from Taylored In Silk (Stax, 1973)
Track 4 from Stax single, 1970
Track 5 from Stax single, 1967
Tracks 6 and 11 from The Johnnie Taylor Philosophy Continues (Stax, 1969)
Track 9 from Wanted: One Soul Singer (Stax, 1967)

Stax Classics: The Staple Singers (Stax, 2017)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. (TBD)

1. I'll Take You There
2. Respect Yourself
3. If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)
4. Long Walk to D.C.
5. Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)
6. The Weight
7. We'll Get Over
8. Touch a Hand (Make a Friend)
9. City in the Sky
10. This World
11. Be What You Are
12. Oh La De Da

Tracks 1-2 and 10 from Be Altitude: Respect Yourself (Stax, 1972)
Tracks 3, 8 and 11 from Be What You Are (Stax, 1973)
Tracks 4 and 6 from Soul Folk In Action (Stax, 1968)
Track 5 from The Staple Swingers (Stax, 1971)
Track 7 from We'll Get Over (Stax, 1969)
Track 9 from City in the Sky (Stax, 1974)
Track 12 from Wattstax: The Living Word (Stax, 1972)

Stax Classics: Isaac Hayes (Stax, 2017)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. (TBD)

1. Theme from Shaft
2. Walk On By (Single Version)
3. Never Can Say Goodbye (Single Version)
4. The Look of Love (Single Version)
5. By the Time I Get to Phoenix (Single Version)
6. I Stand Accused (Single Version)
7. Run Fay Run
8. Do Your Thing (Single Version)
9. Wonderful (Single Version)
10. Hyperbolicsyllabicsequedalymistic
11. Soulsville (Single Version)

Track 1 and original versions of Tracks 8 and 11 from Shaft: Music from the Soundtrack (Enterprise, 1971)
Original versions of Tracks 2 and 5 and Track 10 from Hot Buttered Soul (Enterprise, 1969)
Original version of Track 3 from Black Moses (Enterprise, 1971)
Original version of Track 4 from ...To Be Continued (Enterprise, 1970)
Original version of Track 6 from The Isaac Hayes Movement (Enterprise, 1970)
Track 7 from Tough Guys: Music from the Soundtrack of the Paramount Release "Three Tough Guys" (Enterprise, 1974)
Track 9 from Enterprise single, 1974

Stax Classics: The Dramatics (Stax, 2017)

Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K. (TBD)

1. In the Rain
2. Whatcha See is Whatcha Get
3. Get Up and Get Down
4. Hey You! Get Off My Mountain
5. And I Panicked - Ron Banks & The Dramatics
6. Your Love Was Strange
7. The Devil is Dope
8. Thank You for Your Love
9. Toast to the Fool - Ron Banks & The Dramatics
10. Fall in Love, Lady Love
11. Fell for You
12. Gimme Some (Good Soul Music)

Tracks 1-3, 8, 10 and 12 from Whatcha See is Whatcha Get (Volt/Stax, 1971)
Tracks 4, 7 and 11 from A Dramatic Experience (Volt/Stax, 1973)
Tracks 5 and 9 from Dramatically Yours (Volt/Stax, 1974)
Track 6 from Volt/Stax single, 1969