The Bar-Kays

The Bar-Kays were part of the Stax-Volt roster in the mid-'60s and had one big hit, "Soul Finger" (#17), in 1967. The band’s career seemed finished when four members died in the icy plane crash that also killed Otis Redding in 1967. Bassist James Alexander, who'd missed the flight, and trumpeter Ben Cauley, the only passenger to survive the accident, re-formed the group in late 1968, although Cauley quit soon after. For many years Alexander and a changing roster of Bar-Kays consistently placed singles on the R&B chart and enjoyed the occasional pop hit, such as "Shake Your Rump to the Funk” (#23, 1976). The ’80s saw five R&B Top 10s for the group: “Boogie Body Land” (#7, 1980), “Hit and Run” (#5, 1981), “Do It (Let Me See You Shake)” (#9, 1982), “Freakshow on the Dance Floor” (#2, 1984) (from the hip-hop film Breakin’), and “Certified True” (#9, 1987).

Regarded as one of soul’s premier backing bands, the Bar-Kays worked in the early ’70s with such artists as the Staple Singers, Albert King, Carla Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, and Isaac Hayes. They backed the latter on his Grammy Award–winning “Shaft” in 1971. Several excellent R&B musicians have passed through the Bar-Kays’ ranks, including vocalist Vernon Burch and drummer Willie Hall, who went on to play in Hayes’ band for several years and then joined the revamped Booker T. and the MG’s in 1975. Since 1987 the Bar-Kays lineup has remained fairly stable, with vocalist Larry Dodson and Alexander still at the helm.

from The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)