Bar-Kays

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The Bar-Kays
The Bar-Kays 1968 press photo.jpg
The Bar-Kays in 1968
Background information
Origin Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres
Years active1964–1989; 1991–present
Labels
Members
  • James Alexander
  • Chris J
  • Carlos Sargent
  • Ez Roc
  • Bo Dae
  • Angelo Earl
  • Darryl Sanford
  • Devin Crutcher
  • Katrina Anderson
Past members
  • Larry Dodson
  • Ben Cauley
  • Ronnie Caldwell
  • Carl Cunningham
  • Phalon Jones
  • Jimmy King
  • Marcus Price
  • Vernon Burch
  • Ronnie Gorden
  • Michael Toles
  • Winston Stewart
  • Charles "Scoops" Allen
  • Alvin Hunter
  • Barry Wilkins
  • Lloyd Smith
  • Dywane Thomas
  • Mike Beard
  • Frank Thompson
  • Sherman Guy
  • Larry "LJ" Johnson
  • Harvey Henderson
  • Tony Gentry
  • Archie Love
  • Bryan Smith
  • Carl Sims
  • Daroll Hagen
  • Mark Bynum

The Bar-Kays are an American funk band [4] formed in 1964. The band had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" (US Billboard Hot 100 number 17, R&B number 3) in 1967, "Son of Shaft" (R&B number 10) in 1972, and "Boogie Body Land" (R&B number 7) in 1980. [5]

Contents

Biography

Black rock years

The Bar-Kays began in Memphis, Tennessee, as a studio session group, backing major artists at Stax Records. [6] In 1967, they were chosen by Otis Redding to play as his backing band, and were tutored for that role by Al Jackson, Jr., Booker T. Jones, and the other members of Booker T. & the M.G.'s. [7] Their first single, "Soul Finger", was issued on April 14, 1967, [6] reaching number 3 on the US Billboard R&B Singles chart and number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. [5]

On December 10, 1967, Redding and four members of the band—Jimmie King (born June 8, 1949; guitar), Ronnie Caldwell (born December 27, 1948; electric organ), Phalon Jones (born 1948; saxophone), and Carl Cunningham (born 1948; drums)—and their partner, Matthew Kelly, died when their airplane crashed into Lake Monona, near Madison, Wisconsin, [8] while attempting to land at Truax Field. Redding and the band were scheduled to play their next concerts in Madison. Trumpeter Ben Cauley was the only survivor of the crash. [1] [6] Bassist James Alexander was on another plane, as the plane carrying Redding held only seven passengers. Cauley and Alexander rebuilt the group. [6]

The re-formed band consisted of Cauley; Alexander; Harvey Henderson, saxophone; Michael Toles, guitar; Ronnie Gorden, organ; Willie Hall, drums; and later Larry Dodson (formerly of fellow Stax act the Temprees), lead vocals. The group backed dozens of major Stax artists on recordings, including Isaac Hayes on his album Hot Buttered Soul . [6]

Cauley left the group in 1971, leaving Alexander, Dodson (vocals, vibes), Barry Wilkins (guitar), Winston Stewart (keyboards), Henderson (tenor sax, flute), Charles "Scoops" Allen (trumpet), and Alvin Hunter (drums) to create the album Black Rock. [9] Lloyd Smith joined in 1973, and the band changed musical direction during the 1970s, forging a successful career in funk music. [6] With the Stax/Volt label folding in 1975, the group signed with Mercury Records. [10]

Funk years

In 1976, Dodson (vocals), Alexander (bass), Lloyd Smith (guitar), Allen (trumpet), Henderson (saxophone), Frank Thompson (trombone), Stewart (keyboards), and Mike Beard (drums) brought their "Shake Your Rump to the Funk" track into the R&B Top Five. [10] In autumn 1977, the group came out with Flying High on Your Love, an album that featured "Shut the Funk Up", a "near-perfect disco song punctuated by the funky horn triumvirate of Charles 'Scoop' Allen, Harvey 'Joe' Henderson, and Frank 'Captain Disaster' Thompson and dominated by vocalist Larry 'D' Dodson's call to 'get on up or just shut the funk up'". [11] The group peaked as a funk band from the late 1970s to the late 1980s. They released singles such as "Move Your Boogie Body" (1979), "Hit and Run" (1981), "Freak Show on the Dance Floor" (1984), "Certified True" (1987), "Struck by You" (1989). [6]

In 1983, Sherman Guy left the group, and Larry 'LJ' Johnson took his place on vocals and percussion. Charles Allen left the group just before it took a more commercial direction. [12] The Bar-Kays continued to have hits on R&B charts well into the 1980s. [5]

Later years

Guitarist Marcus Price, a member of the band, was murdered in 1984. [13] The crime has never been solved by the Memphis police. [14]

The band took an extended break in the late 1980s but regrouped in 1991, with Alexander once again being the only original member. Since 1991, Larry Dodson, Archie Love, Bryan Smith, and Tony Gentry have been added to the group.[ citation needed ]

Alexander's son is the award-winning rapper and record producer Phalon "Jazze Pha" Alexander, named after Phalon Jones, who died in the 1967 plane crash. In 2013, the group was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. [15] On June 6, 2015, the Bar-Kays were inducted into the Official Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in Clarksdale, Mississippi. [16]

Trumpeter Ben Cauley died in Memphis on September 21, 2015, at the age of 67. [17]

The Bar-Kays appeared in the 1973 film documentary, Wattstax . [18]

"Freakshow on the Dance Floor" was featured in the first breakdance scene in the 1984 movie, Breakin' . [19]

In the 1985 movie, Spies Like Us , starring Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase, The Bar-Kays' hit "Soul Finger" was being played by the crew of a Soviet mobile ICBM platform on patrol in the Tajik S.S.R. Their songs "Too Hot To Stop" and "Soul Finger" are featured in the 2007 comedy film, Superbad . "Soul Finger" is also featured in the 2012 remake of Sparkle.[ citation needed ]

The Sugar Hill Gang's 1979 single "Rapper's Delight" contains multiple references to the Bar-Kays.[ citation needed ]

Discography

Albums

YearTitlePeak chart positionsCertificationsRecord label
US Pop
[20]
US R&B
[21]
1967 Soul Finger Volt
1969Gotta Groove40
1971Black Rock9012
1972Do You See What I See?45
1974 Coldblooded
1976 Too Hot to Stop 698 Mercury
1977 Flying High on Your Love 477
  • US: Gold
1978 Money Talks 7221 Stax
Light of Life 8615Mercury
1979 Injoy 352
  • US: Gold
1980 As One 676
1981 Nightcruising 556
  • US: Gold
1982 Propositions 519
1984 Dangerous 527
1985Banging the Wall11511
1987Contagious11025
1989 Animal 36
199448 HoursBasix Music
2003The Real ThingJEA Music
2007House PartyIM Records/Koch
2012Grown Folks [EP]Right Now Records
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Singles

YearTitlePeak chart positions
US Pop
[5]
US R&B
[5]
US Dance
[5]
CAN
[22]
UK
[23]
1967"Soul Finger"1731333
"Knucklehead"7628
"Give Everybody Some"9136
1972"Son of Shaft"5310
1976"Shake Your Rump to the Funk"23541
1977"Too Hot to Stop"748
"Spellbound"29
1978"Let's Have Some Fun"11
"Attitudes"22
1979"Holy Ghost"9
"I'll Dance"26
"Are You Being Real"61
"Shine"14
"Move Your Boogie Body"57390
"Today Is the Day"6025
1980"Boogie Body Land"773
"Body Fever"42
1981"Hit & Run"549
1982"Freaky Behavior"2760
"Do It (Let Me See You Shake)"9
1983"She Talks to Me With Her Body"1362
1984"Freak Show on the Dance Floor"732
"Sexomatic"1251
"Dirty Dancer"17
1985"Your Place or Mine"1244
"Banging the Walls"67
1987"Certified True"9
"Don't Hang Up"56
1989"Struck by You"11
"Animal"66
1994"Mega Mix"96
1995"The Slide"82
2021"Perfect Gentleman"
2022"Choosey Lover" (feat. Jazze Pha)
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

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Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carla Thomas</span> American singer (born 1942)

Carla Venita Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz " (1960), "B-A-B-Y" (1966) and "Tramp" (1967), a duet with Otis Redding. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas.

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James Alexander is an American soul and R&B musician. He is a longtime member of the band the Bar-Kays, for which he plays bass guitar.

Phalon R. Jones, Jr. was an American soul and R&B musician. Jones was a saxophonist for musical group the Bar-Kays, which recorded with and also played backup for Otis Redding. Jones and three other members of the Bar-Kays, their valet Matthew Kelly and the pilot Richard Fraser died along with Redding in a plane crash in Lake Monona while on their way to a performance in Madison, Wisconsin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Cauley</span> American musician (1947–2015)

Ben S. Cauley Jr. was an American trumpet player, vocalist, songwriter, and founding member of the Stax recording group the Bar-Kays. He was the only survivor of the 1967 plane crash that claimed the lives of soul singer Otis Redding and four members of the Bar-Kays.

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<i>Coldblooded</i> (album) 1974 studio album by The Bar-Kays

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<i>Injoy</i> 1979 studio album by the Bar-Kays

Injoy is an album by the Memphis, Tennessee-based funk band the Bar-Kays.

<i>Soul Finger</i> (Bar-Kays album) 1967 studio album by The Bar-Kays

Soul Finger is the debut album of the Bar-Kays, issued three months after the single of the same name. It was recorded by Tom Dowd and Chris Huston on Friday, June 23, 1967, at the Stax studio in Memphis. Though all but one member of the group were black, the album cover art, by Loring Eutemey, suggests an interracial pop music party feeling. The instrumental band, after being signed in early 1967, was tutored by Al Jackson, Jr. and the other members of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which shows in the tightness of the rhythm section. That summer they also were selected by Otis Redding as his new backup band.

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"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. Redding recorded it twice in 1967, including just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. It was released on Stax Records' Volt label in 1968, becoming the first posthumous #1 single in the US. It reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart.

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