Otis Redding: Live in London and Paris

It would be enough if the revivification of the Stax label meant the re-release of his 1967 set Live In Europe, a London set which defines the live Otis Redding experience at its best (along with documenting his introduction to the continent, a pivotal moment in his and soul music's history). But adding a set from Paris, performed at around the same time, makes this a must have for Otis fans -- and, thus, soul fans of any stripe.

In the minds of casual Otis Redding fans, the story so far has gone like this: the great man travels to Europe, wows London (as can be seen in the excellent documentary Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story), then travels to Monterey and rocks the Summer of Love, making him an instant crossover hit; goes home, records "Dock Of The Bay" to capitalize on his recent arrival, boards a plane, and heads off prematurely into rock history.

It's essentially accurate. But Redding was at the peak of his performance powers at this time, delivering the goods every single night -- has there ever been a backup band so attuned to their vocalist as Booker T. and the MGs were with theirs? -- so you can't have too many documents of his stage show, a theory proven out by the release of Live In London And Paris.

An update of the 1967 release Live In Europe, this collection adds an equally incendiary Paris show recorded just four days after the raucous London gig it immortalized, swapping out "I Can't Turn You Loose," "These Arms Of Mine," and "I've Been Loving You Too Long" for the better Paris versions. And while some of these tracks have been previously released on Ace Records' 1000 Volts label comps and Stax' own out-of-print Stax Volt in Europe, Vol. 3, the sets have been remastered and placed in their proper running order. As always, Otis makes the seminal studio versions of his hits sound positively enervated, dragging "Too Long" and "Tenderness" out for maximum emotional impact, turning both into absolutely insane cyclical exclamation points of pure pain and longing. You also get a righteous medley of the Temps' "My Girl" and Sam Cooke's "Shake," not to mention complete overhauls of the Stones' "Satisfaction" and the Beatles' "Day Tripper" and a singalong version of "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)" that demonstrates just how cathartic live soul can get.