Soul master at the peak of his powers

Redding’s live performances of the mid-60s are surprisingly well documented. Individual pieces of his work on Stax’s package tours of Europe can be heard on Live in Europe, The Stax/Volt Revue: Live in London, the Ace Records collection 1,000 Volts of Stax, and the DVD Stax/Volt Revue Live in Norway 1967. His stateside performances have turned up on several Monterey Pop artifacts, and two albums worth of tracks document his shows at the Whisky A Go Go (1 2). What separates this new release from the rest is the full picture of Redding’s set at the top of the Stax ticket. Stretching to over an hour, the nineteen tracks collect performances from back-to-back concerts in London and Paris, showing off not only the incendiary songs, but the excitement of the shows, from Emperor Rosko’s name-spelling introduction in London to the climactic renditions of “Try a Little Tenderness” that leave both audiences chanting for more.

Heading up a bill that featured Arthur Conley, Eddie Floyd and Sam & Dave, and backed by Booker T. and the M.G.’s and the Mar-Keys, Redding’s headlining slot found the party already well under way. Even so, his introduction was enough to take the crowd to a new level of excitement. With the M.G.’s kicking off the pulsing intro of “Respect,” Redding hits the stage like a soul hurricane at full speed, pulling the band into the cyclone with all his might. In the shorter London set he slows for a cover of “My Girl,” burning with emotion on what had been his first hit single in the UK. The band plays more grittily than Motown’s funk brothers, with the Mar-Keys’ horns stretching to hit high notes and Redding scatting to close the song. The rolling drum and horn intro of “Shake” elicits a cheer from the crowd, dialing up the electricity as the crowd shouts along to Redding’s exhortations.

Redding included two British Invasion hits in this set, working the Beatles’ “Day Tripper” and the Stones’ “Satisfaction” into Stax-styled soul shouts. The former found Redding weaving his way in and around the lyrics at double-speed with the horn section on his tail, the latter revs up Redding’s soul testimony to a frenzy. The London show closes with a tour de force seven-minute version of “Try a Little Tenderness,” opening with melancholy horns that segue into the opening stanza from Redding and organist Booker T. Jones. It’s the calm before the storm, as the song rises to crescendo after crescendo, sustained for three minutes by the emcee and crowd’s invitations for more, and culminating with most of the Stax revue joining in the finale.

The Paris program opens similarly to London’s with a call-and-response introduction and the pounding intro of “Respect.” Unlike the London show, which had a curfew, Redding’s Paris set was longer, and kept up the pulsing rhythm with “I Can’t Turn You Lose” before turning to the showcase ballad “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long.” The song’s starts and stops leave the crowd breathless, and Redding’s vocal pyrotechnics elicit both shouts and applause. The set list reprises several selections from London before adding a somber version of “These Arms of Mine” and closing the show with yet another barn-burning version of “Try a Little Tenderness.”

Remixed from the original multitrack masters (recorded originally by the legendary Tom Dowd), the results are crisp and punchy, with Redding’s vocals forcefully at the fore and the Stax band solidly underneath. The disc is delivered in a digipack with a 16-page booklet that includes period photos and poster art, and liner notes from Bill Belmont, Ace Records’ Roger Armstrong, French author Jean-Noel Orgouz, and M.G. guitarist Steve Cropper. Redding’s return to Europe was a triumph, and his stage patter showed deep appreciation for his audiences as he playfully acknowledged “it’s good to be home.” Home for Redding was anywhere that people loved soul music, and at the height of his powers there were few who could unleash anything more soulful than this. [©2008 hyperbolium dot com]

Listen to “I Can’t Turn You Loose”