The final recordings of one of soul music’s true giants, this ten song set (the liner notes confusingly claim there are eleven) was originally issued during the late ’70s on Memphis’s Hi Records and finds O.V. Wright in stellar form with a serious crack combo heating things up behind him. Unfortunately, the incomplete liner notes don’t reveal the musicians’ identities-or much else about the gig for that matter-which is a real shame because this band is really tearing it up. But while Live In Japan is short on anything beyond the music (photos, information, art work…), what’s on the actual disc cannot be argued with. After a dramatic introduction, Wright sets the stage with a torturous “I’d Rather Be Blind, Crippled and Crazy” before launching into classics like “Ace Of Spades,” “Precious, Precious” and the brilliant “Eight Men and Four Women.” Wright tips his hat to his Hi Records label mate Al Green with a letter-perfect “Love and Happiness” that manages to capture all the minor-keyed magical weirdness of the original, complete with a percolating organ bubbling under his soaring vocals.