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THE TWO SIDES OF STAX REUNITE
FOR 60TH ANNIVERSARY
4/27/17

The Stax Records catalog, separated between Rhino Entertainment and Concord Music Group, is being reunited for the marketing and reissuing of classic and new titles to celebrate the legendary Memphis label’s 60th anniversary.

Part of the plan is a fourth box set in the much-lauded Complete Stax Singles series.

The two labels are partnering on a Stax Classics series that debuts 5/19 with the release of 12-track compilations for artists such as Otis Redding, Booker T & the MGs, Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers and William Bell.

Throughout the year, Rhino and Concord will reissue various albums on vinyl, among them a 50th anniversary pressing of Otis Redding and Carla Thomas' King & Queen, the classic The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads, and a rarity, John Gary Williams, the solo debut from the front man of The Mad Lads. A four-CD anthology Isaac Hayes: The Spirit of Memphis (1962-1976) will be released in August on the 75th anniversary of Hayes’ birth.

The Stax catalog has been divided between the Atlantic-owned sides released between 1960 and 1967 and the 1968-1975 recordings that Concord acquired when it bought Fantasy in 2004. Fantasy had purchased the post-’68 company in 1977.

The new three-CD Stax 60th box set will focus on the label’s diversity and include singles released on sister labels Volt, Enterprise, Hip, Chalice and Gospel Truth.

"The Stax catalog features some of the greatest and most culturally significant albums and singles of all time and continues to resonate with music fans 60 years later," says Mark Pinkus, President of Rhino Entertainment. "We are thrilled to be partnering with Concord's team on a wide array of new releases fitting of such an important moment in the Stax legacy."

Stax co-founder Jim Stewart said, "It's long-overdue and a good omen for the unending popularity of the very best of Memphis soul music. Stax Records was my baby. Stax music was and always will be inspirational. I am so pleased that the music we created and recorded at Stax is still being discovered, and it continues to reside in the hearts of devotees everywhere that know the joy and power of 'real' music."