In the summer of 1965, just days before the Watts Rebellion broke out, a group of rising Memphis soul stars took the stage at Los Angeles’ 5-4 Ballroom and lit the place up. Stax Records, already gaining traction as a force in American music, brought the Stax Revue to the West Coast for the first time. The lineup was stacked with future legends, including Rufus and Carla Thomas, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, William Bell, Wilson Pickett, and more. It was a bold move, a cultural exchange, and a defining moment in the label’s history.

Now, sixty years later, Stax Revue: Live in ’65! brings that moment roaring back with a newly remastered double LP and 2CD sets. The release includes eighteen live tracks, six of them previously unreleased, and pairs the electricity of those two Los Angeles shows with a rare recording from Club Paradise in Memphis, believed to have been taped earlier that summer during a radio DJ convention.

The contrast between the two venues tells its own story. The 5-4 Ballroom, known as the Apollo of the West, crackles with adrenaline and ambition, while Club Paradise offered a looser, more intimate groove that reflects the comfort of a hometown crowd. Together, they reveal both the reach and the roots of the Stax sound.

Highlights include Wilson Pickett’s urgent performance of “In the Midnight Hour,” recorded just as the single was storming the charts. Booker T. & the M.G.’s deliver a previously unreleased hypnotic version of “Boot-Leg.” Rufus Thomas turns “The Dog” into a nearly 20-minute party, while William Bell strips “You Don’t Miss Your Water” down to its emotional core. David Porter’s set at Club Paradise offers an early glimpse of a songwriter who would soon help shape soul music from behind the scenes.

Producer Alec Palao called the 5-4 Ballroom recordings “Stax in its prime,” and described the Club Paradise set as a fascinating window into the label’s early magic. The performances are unpolished, unpredictable, and deeply human.