Bar-Kays

The Bar-Kays began in Memphis, Tennessee, as a studio session group, backing major artists at Stax Records.{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Soul Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1993|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-733-9|page=16}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-bar-kays/382848|title=The Bar-Kays on iTunes|publisher=iTunes|date=1967-12-10|access-date=2015-10-14|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151022104513/https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the-bar-kays/id382848|archive-date=October 22, 2015}} Their first single, "Soul Finger", was issued on April 14, 1967, reaching number 3 on the US Billboard R&B Singles chart and number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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,{{cite web|last1=Lauterbach|first1=Preston|title=The Day the Music Died: Ben Cauley remembers the passing of Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays|url=https://memphismagazine.com/culture/the-day-the-music-died/|website=Memphis Magazine|access-date=21 January 2022|date=December 1, 2007}} 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. Bassist James Alexander was on another plane, as the plane carrying Redding held only seven passengers. Cauley and Alexander rebuilt the group.

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.

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.{{cite book|title=The Great Rock Discography|last=Strong|first=Martin Charles|year=2002|publisher=The National Academies|isbn=1841953121|page=144|access-date=March 19, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DE9qW3YfHG4C&q=Bar-Kays+charles+allen&pg=PA144}} Lloyd Smith joined in 1973, and the band changed musical direction during the 1970s, forging a successful career in funk music. With the Stax/Volt label folding in 1975, the group signed with Mercury Records.{{cite book|title=Funk|last=Thompson|first=Dave|author-link=Dave Thompson (author)|year=2001|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=0879306297|page=74|access-date=March 19, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RIEjkWXZdrMC&q=Bar-Kays+charles+allen&pg=PA74|edition=illustrated}}

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. 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'".{{cite book|title=All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul|last=Bogdanov|first=Vladimir |year=2003|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=0879307447|page=35|access-date=March 19, 2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o552g5xRRiwC&q=Bar-Kays+charles+allen&pg=PA35|edition=illustrated}} 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).

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.Bogdanov, p. 34. The Bar-Kays continued to have hits on R&B charts well into the 1980s.

Guitarist Marcus Price, a member of the band, was murdered in 1984.{{cite magazine|title=Bar Kays Member Killed by Robbers in Memphis|magazine = Jet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gq0DAAAAMBAJ&dq=marcus+price+bar-kays&pg=PA13|date=15 October 1984|page=13|volume=67|issue=6|issn=0021-5996|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company}} The crime has never been solved by the Memphis police.{{cite web|title=The Band Tragedy Could Not Silence|url=https://vocal.media/beat/the-band-tragedy-could-not-silence|access-date=21 January 2022}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Barkays.html|title=The Bar-Kays|website=soulwalking.co.uk|accessdate=15 June 2024}}

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.{{cite web|last=Bacle|first=Ariana |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/23/trumpeter-ben-cauley-dies-stax-records|title=Stax Records trumpeter Ben Cauley dies|publisher=EW.com|date=2015-09-23|access-date=2015-10-14}} On June 6, 2015, the Bar-Kays were inducted into the Official Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in Clarksdale, Mississippi.{{cite web|url=https://staxrecords.com/spotlight/the-bar-kays/|title=The Bar-Kays|publisher=Stax HP|accessdate=13 June 2024}}

Trumpeter Ben Cauley died in Memphis on September 21, 2015, at the age of 67.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/arts/music/ben-cauley-sole-survivor-of-otis-redding-crash-dies-at-67.html|title=Ben Cauley, Sole Survivor of Otis Redding Plane Crash, Dies at 67|date=September 24, 2015|accessdate=April 29, 2021|newspaper=The New York Times}}

The Bar-Kays appeared in the 1973 film documentary, Wattstax.{{cite web|title=The Bar-Kays |url=https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/barkays/|website=Memphis Music Hall of Fame|date=January 13, 2015 |access-date=21 January 2022}}

"Freakshow on the Dance Floor" was featured in the first breakdance scene in the 1984 movie, Breakin'.{{cite web|title=Breakin' - Original Soundtrack|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/breakin-mw0000649921|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=21 January 2022}}

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.

The Sugar Hill Gang's 1979 single "Rapper's Delight" (long version, 14:40) contains lyrics about the Bar-Kays, Farrah Fawcett, DJ Frankie Crocker and Johnny Carson.{{cite web|url=https://genius.com/Sugarhill-gang-rappers-delight-long-version-lyrics|title=Rapper's Delight|website=Genius.com|accessdate=24 June 2024}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Bar-Kays}}

• {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p54079|label=The Bar-Kays}}
• {{discogs artist|artist=Bar-Kays|name=The Bar-Kays}}
• {{IMDb name|nm1931209}}
• [https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/james-alexander James Alexander Interview] at NAMM Oral History Collection (2015)

{{The Bar-Kays}}

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Category:Accidental deaths in Wisconsin

Category:American disco groups

Category:American funk musical groups

Category:American soul musical groups

Category:Atlantic Records artists

Category:Mercury Records artists

Category:Psychedelic soul music groups

Category:Musical groups established in 1966

Category:Musical groups from Memphis, Tennessee

Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States

Category:1966 establishments in Tennessee

Category:P-Vine Records artists

Category:Stax Records artists

Category:Rhino Entertainment artists