Stax/Volt Rewiew - Live In Norway 1967[DVD]

Having been a musician for most of my life, and as a guitarist having been influenced by Jeff Beck, I purchased one of the (now many) videos documenting the history of the innovative '60's rock/blues group, "The Yardbirds". During one of the interviews, Jeff mentions "Booker T. and the M.G.s", and soon thereafter some live footage is shown of the band playing "Green Onions". Two things immediately struck me; the enthusiasm and absolute energy of the band, and secondly, the unexpected sight of them all using "Marshall" amplifiers, usually associated with heavy British rock bands! However, the beauty of that, was that it gave the guys a bit of an "edge" in their sound, "Marshall" amps, being famous for their smooth, powerful distortion. Have no fear, though, the guys are pushing the amps "just" enough, to get some extra "bite", and seem to be enjoying it too! That was my first clue that this show was most likely done in Europe, (using different current than over here), and having done some research, discovered that not only were Booker and company available on DVD, but so were a host of other legendary Stax stars, in this concert! First of all we have that "energy" I spoke of from Booker, and band, easily warming up the audience, and displaying no lack of adrenaline and enthusiasm, Donald (Duck) Dunn's head constantly weaving quickly to the side, caught up in the infectious rhythm, and with such intensity, that it would probably hurt anyone else's neck the following day! Steve Cropper displays a similar love for his craft, as does Booker, bobbing constantly in the excitement of the moment. The Markeys then follow with some great songs of their own, great sax playing, and the energy never lets up for a second! And if things weren't already moving, bouncing, and swaying as much as you could expect, on comes Arthur Conley in complete hyper-drive, dancing frantically and performing "Midnight Hour" and his huge hit, "Sweet Soul Music". Eddie Floyd does a great long song, during which he jumps off the stage, and mingles with the audience probably not to the pleasure of the rather "military" looking police/security, who want to keep the audience at bay. The energy just keeps building, in a way that seems like friendly competition between the artists, and "Sam and Dave" don't lose any steam either! At one point there's even some unintentional humour when,(during one of their quick choreographed "dance, spin, and stop" dance routines), Sam (or is it Dave), spins and ends up stopping suddenly with his face about two inches away from Donald Dunn's, and Dunn can't help but crack up! No doubt Sam (or is it Dave!), is probably fighting the temptation to laugh, but we can't really see his face, his back to the audience because of where his spin lands him. Finally, we end with the legendary Otis Redding in great form, (someone not easy to find on video), bringing an amazing show to it's joyous end. Except for some problems in sound levels during the first song,(by Booker T. and the M.G,s- which get fixed pretty quickly), you have here a show which sounds, and looks, great, and exudes a feeling in it's energy, that I personally haven't experienced (as an audience member) in any modern day big budget concert, in any genre, by anyone!

I'm so glad these fantastic performances are available to all of us who loves the Stax/Volt artists from the sixties. Seeing and hearing the late Otis Redding in his prime, is an experience I wouldn't want to be without. In spite of the fact that these picture and sound recordings were made 41 years ago, the quality of the dvd material is remarkably good. An overeager cameraperson goes on a bit with his zoom during one of Sam and Dave's numbers, and the sound is a little uneven at places. but this does not diminish the enjoyment over these great hardworking singers and musicians. Considering this happened in norwegian televisions childhood, 7 years after the start of TV in Norway, I'm fairly impressed with the restored end product.I have had this dvd constantly in my player for over a week now, and Booker T. and the MG's, The Mar-Keys, Arthur Conley (doin' a bit of Otis, with him on the same bill!!), Sam and Dave, (pulling all stops on their fabulous foot routines), not forgetting Eddie Floyd and Otis Redding at their best, gives me so much pleasure and takes me back to the "real" music. I am especially happy that Otis version of My Girl is included here. I know that this was a big hit for The Temptations, but this was issued as a single with Otis in Europe, and a hit for him here. This dvd also contains some very nice shots of the great drummer Al Jackson. He made it all look so easy, while being in full control and on top of every nuance in tempo and changes from the performers. It's great fun watching Cropper and Dunn putting down some fine licks within their ability to lay down steady rhythm with Jackson. To fullfill the procedings the horn section put some spice in the stew while Booker T. Jones floats over the lot. Magnificent!When you watch the norwegian audience in this indoor sports arena in Oslo getting their groove together, you can imagine the mixed emotions and feelings towards this energic but somewhat strange and relativly new music in Norway. You will see everthing from disbelievs to total amazement. Some are swept away by the infectious music, while others sit with open mouth not believing what to make out of this strange musical stuff happening before their very eyes. All in all, I guess everybody had a good time. I wish I was there!It's regretable that Carla Thomas left the tour in Britain, and wasn't on the bill when this historical music event took place in our little country. It's also a bit sad that they couldn't fit in Rufus Thomas on the tour of Europe, I think he would have enjoyed that very much.I recommends this superb dvd to all you people out there, who still find exitement in the "sweet soul music" from Memphis, and the talents behind the Stax/Volt labels that gave us so many hours of enjoyment.By the way - be sure to listen to the commentary track - very amuzing and entertaining.

From the comments I learned that this version is superior to one released earlier. Sharp resolution, great sound, Booker T & The MGs are astonishing, Otis Redding is amazing, horns are perfect. Sam and Dave are pretty great, but, honestly, Otis and Booker T are awesome. PLUS there are post-show interviews that were interesting AND another version of “Green Onions” from a different show, same venue, after the interviews. Definitely worth it. And MGs “Duck” Dunn and Steve Cropper are fantastic. Great show.

The media could not be loaded.  I played on this video. 1967I was one of the Markeys...and we backed all the acts. This was filmed live and was the best show they taped. I use this video to Share on the Internet...Stax Records 1965/67 Group Page on Facebook.I am owed Royalties for this product but they haven't paid me.This is a Great video.I was there for the performance as a Markey.The Kid From STAXThat's my new CD in the photo. And the Markeys at STAX Studio 1967

Not enough content, but I can keep it.

Lovely step back in time - gets you on your feet and dancing!

Amazing to get all these artists at 1 gig

As a collector, glad to have. But the content of this dvd is a concert from Oslo ,Norway .The video is acceptable but no more than that, but sound is even worst and all distorted. The concert is plague with technical sound issues with microphones and more.Was expecting a little better than that from STAX.But you must understand this was done in early years but I'm sure there's better content in there vaults than this.

i remember buying the stax/volt revue LPs when i was in high school ....... now to finally SEE them in action is simply AMAZING !THIS and the 'TAMI show' dvd are essential .......the dvd sounds better than it looks ....... but considering when and how they were originally recorded ..... i've got no complaints ......you can still hear the punch and excitement in the recordings !good bottom end too ....

This DVD was better than I expected. It's an example of the rawness of the way rock shows used to be staged...no big splashy props or pyrotechnics. Just straight ahead rock and roll. In this case the musicianship is incredible since it was the studio musicians who were the band for the performers. The sound quality was solid. Loved this DVD.