Stax Revue Live in ’65!
Various Artists
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
The 2CD or 2LP Stax Revue: Live in ’65! expands a pivotal pair of concerts undertaken at the 5-4 Ballroom in Los Angeles 60 summers ago when the Memphis label – newly bolstered by a distribution deal with Atlantic Records – took several of its marquee acts to the West Coast (many for the first time) for a spirited club set packed with favorites by William Bell (“You Don’t Miss Your Water”), Rufus Thomas (“Walking the Dog”), his daughter Carla (“Every Ounce of Strength”) plus bands like Booker T. & The MG’s and Stax house band The Mar-Keys. What made the set’s timing truly striking was that, days after the shows went on from August 7 to 8, the L.A. neighborhood of Watts saw its population rise up to protest the racism and discrimination from the city towards its Black residents. (The uprising, quashed by the National Guard, resulted in 34 deaths; those five days of rebellion were commemorated in a label-sponsored music festival held in the city seven years later, called Wattstax.) The shows were first issued in truncated form in 1992; this set adds previously unreleased tracks (with three more songs on CD than on vinyl). As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
