Tell the Truth

When Atlantic Records released the monumental Complete Stax/Volt Singles boxed set last year — indisputable proof there was more to ’60s soul than just Motown — it vowed to reissue all of the Memphis label’s albums as well. This reissue is changing soul’s reputation as a singles-only affair. In the months before his 1967 death, Otis Redding — the singer who put Stax on the map — recorded enough material to stock several posthumous albums. Of those, Tell the Truth is surprisingly muted; Booker T. and the MG’s, the Stax house band responsible for some of the era’s most electrifying music, play as if they’ve been sedated. B-