Stax Records Releasing Otis Redding – Live in London and Paris

Otis Redding was at the peak of his stardom in March, 1967 when he crossed the Atlantic to perform for his growing European fan base. As part of the traveling Stax/Volt Revue that is credited with spreading the sound of Memphis across the world, Redding played two exemplary shows in London and Paris. These performances have been combined to form the 19-song Otis Redding — Live in London and Paris, set for release September 23, 2008 on the reactivated Stax Records through Concord Music Group.

Backing Redding was Stax’s own in-house all-star band: Booker T. & the MGs (Booker T. Jones, keyboards; Steve Cropper, guitar; Duck Dunn, bass; and Al Jackson, drums) plus the Mar-Keys (Wayne Jackson, trumpet; Andrew Love, tenor saxophone; and Joe Arnold, tenor saxophone). Legendary producer Tom Dowd supervised the recording both at Finsbury Park Astoria in London on March 17, 1967 and at the Olympia Theatre in Paris on March 21, 1967. Bill Belmont produced the reissue.

Although some of the songs have appeared as part of the Ace Records 1,000 Volts series and the long out of print Stax Volt in Europe, Vol. 3, the new Stax collection is the first to present the songs in the order they were played onstage in 1967. The set was mixed from the original multi-track tapes by Stephen A. Hart at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley.