The Bar-Kays

Not to be confused with The Mar-Keys, a 1950's/1960's studio session band.

The Bar-Kays
Origin	Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	R&B, soul, funk
Years active	1966–1988, 1991–present
Labels	Stax, Rhino, Island Records
Associated acts	Otis Redding, Albert King
Website	jearightnowrecords.com
Members
James Alexander Larry Dodson
Past members
Ronnie Caldwell Ben Cauley Carl Cunningham Ronnie Gorden Willie Hall Harvey Henderson Phalon Jones Jimmy King Lloyd Smith Michael Toles Marcus Price Angelo Earl Winston Stewart

The Bar-Kays are a popular soul, R&B, and funk group who began performing in 1966 and continue to perform today, although with only one original member. The group had dozens of charting singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" (U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #17, R&B #3) in 1967, "Son of Shaft" (R&B #10) in 1972, and "Boogie Body Land" (R&B #7) in 1980.

History

The Bar-Kays began in Memphis, Tennessee as a studio session musician group, backing major artists at Stax Records. They were chosen in 1967 by Otis Redding to play as his backing band. On December 10, 1967, Redding, his manager, and band members Jimmy King (b. 1949; guitar), Ronnie Caldwell (b. 1948; electric organ), Phalon Jones (b. 1949; saxophone), and Carl Cunningham (b. 1949; drums) died in a plane crash in Lake Monona while on their way to a performance in Madison, Wisconsin. Trumpeter Ben Cauley survived the crash and bassist James Alexander was on another plane, since there were eight members in Redding's party and the chartered plane could only hold seven. 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, lead vocals. The group backed dozens of major Stax artists on recordings afterwards, including Isaac Hayes's Hot Buttered Soul.

Cauley left the group in 1971, with Lloyd Smith joining in 1973 and the band changed musical direction in the during that decade to have a successful funk music career on Mercury Records. The Bar-Kays continued to have hits on R&B charts well into the 1980s. Marcus Price was also a member of the Bar-Kays, until he was murdered coming from rehearsal in 1984, a crime never solved by the Memphis police. The band took a hiatus in the late 1980s, but regrouped in 1991, with Alexander once again being the only original member involved.

Alexander's son is the award-winning rapper and record producer, Phalon "Jazze Pha" Alexander, who was named after Phalon Jones.

Discography

Albums

• 1967Soul Finger (Volt S417)
• 1969 Gotta Groove (Volt VOS-6004)
• 1969 "Hot Buttered Soul" (Isaac Hayes) (The band backing Hayes on his 2nd album)
• 1971 Black Rock (Volt VOS-6011)
• 1972 Do You See What I See?
• 1974 Coldblooded (Volt VOS-6023) reissued as (Volt VOS-9504)
• 1976 Too Hot to Stop (Mercury Records)
• 1977 Flying High on Your Love
• 1978 Money Talks
• 1978 Light of Life
• 1979 Injoy
• 1980 As One
• 1981 Nightcruising
• 1982 Propositions
• 1984 Dangerous
• 1985 Banging the Wall
• 1987 Contagious
• 1988 Animal

Singles

• 1967 - "Soul Finger" (#17 pop, #3 R&B)
• 1967 - "Knucklehead" (#76 pop, #28 R&B)
• 1967 - "Give Everybody Some" (#91 pop, #36 R&B)
• 1972 - "Son of Shaft" (#53 pop, #10 R&B)
• 1976 - "Shake Your Rump To The Funk" (#23 pop, #5 R&B)
• 1977 - "Too Hot to Stop" (#74 pop, #8 R&B)
• 1977 - "Spellbound" (#29 R&B)
• 1978 - "Let's Have Some Fun" (#11 R&B)
• 1978 - "Attitudes" (#22 R&B)
• 1979 - "Holy Ghost" (#9 R&B)
• 1979 - "I'll Dance" (#26 R&B)
• 1979 - "Are You Being Real" (#61 R&B)
• 1979 - "Shine" (#14 R&B)
• 1979 - "Move Your Boogie Body" (#53 pop, #90 dance, #3 R&B)
• 1980 - "Today is the Day" (#60 pop, #25 R&B)
• 1981 - "Hit & Run" (#5 R&B)
• 1981 - "Boogie Body Land" (#73 dance, #7 R&B)
• 1981 - "Body Fever" (#42 R&B)
• 1982 - "Freaky Behavior" (#60 dance, #27 R&B)
• 1982 - "Hit & Run/Freaky Behavior" (#49 dance)
• 1983 - "She Talks to Me With Her Body" (#62 dance, #13 R&B)
• 1984 - "Freak Show on the Dance Floor" (#73 pop, #2 R&B)
• 1984 - "Sexomatic" (#12 R&B)
• 1984 - "Dirty Dancer" (#17 R&B)
• 1985 - "Your Place or Mine" (#44 dance, #12 R&B)
• 1985 - "Banging the Walls" (#67 R&B)
• 1987 - "Certified True" (#9 R&B)
• 1989 - "Struck By You" (#11 R&B)
• 1994 - "Old School Megamix" (#44 rap)
• 1995 - "Mega Mix" (#96 R&B)
• 1995 - "The Slide" (#82 R&B)

Films

The Bar-Kays appeared in the 1973 film documentary, Wattstax. 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 Tajikistan S.S.R. Their songs "Too Hot To Stop" and "Soul Finger" are featured in the 2007 comedy film, Superbad.

Influences

• Booker T. & the MG's
• James Brown
• Bill Doggett
• The Isley Brothers
• Little Richard
• the late Otis Redding, the jewel of Southern soul
• the OG Soul Brother Jackie Wilson
• Bill Black
• The Mar-Keys
• Junior Walker
• Booker T. Jones

External links

• The Bar-Kays at Allmusic
• The Bar-Kays discography at Discogs