The Bar-Kay

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The Bar-Kay

Soul group

The Bar-Kays emerged from the mid-1960s classic soul era, enjoying success as an instrumental group before a deadly tragedy forced them to replace key members and essentially change their musical identity. Reborn as a funk group, they were the ultimate chameleons, alternately embracing the party-down sound of Kool and the Gang, the sartorial flair of George Clinton and P-Funk, and the group interplay of Sly and the Family Stone. Versatile and willing to experiment with mixes of brass, synthesizers, and popping bass lines, their commercial success lasted well beyond the disco era in the days of break-dancing.

Toured with Otis Redding

Beginning their group life as the Imperials, the group consisting of James Alexander, Ronnie Caldwell, Ben Cauley, Carl Cunningham, Phalon Jones, and Jimmy King, was inspired to change their moniker to Bar-Kays by a billboard advertising Barclay Rum. Regular performers on the Memphis scene, they auditioned unsuccessfully for Steve Cropper at Stax Records several times. However, once granted a private audition with co-owner Jim Stewart, the band was quickly signed. Stax envisioned them as another version of the Mar-Keys, who scored a million-selling instrumental hit with "Last Night" and backed many of the label's top acts in the studio.

During their very first session, the Bar-Kays were trying to perfect an instrumental version of Phil Upchurch's song "You Can't Sit Down." After a brief break, Stewart came back in the studio and heard the band jamming on an elemental version of "Soul Finger." Ben Cauley was quoted by Rob Bowman, author of Soulsville U.S. A.—The Story of Stax Records, as saying, "We got to thinking, and I always would do little comical things on the trumpet, so I did 'Mary's Little Lamb' and they said, 'Why don't you put that on the front of it, man.' It started happening from that point on."

The Bar-Kays highlighted trembling trumpet and stinging electric guitar for a dance track that evoked rock as well as soul. Stewart brought in neighborhood children to shout out the song's title on cue, and a classic was born. By the summer of 1967, "Soul Finger" had hit number 17 pop and number three soul, with the B-side "Knucklehead" also charting. Subsequently, the group was awarded a gold record. Overnight, the band that Steve Cropper feared didn't have what it took to be a recording act was in demand for live shows and also by their fellow Stax-Volt artists.

One of the greatest stars the band worked with was Otis Redding. The soul legend had dismissed his regular road band during his lengthy recovery from throat polyp surgery, and needed a hot and hungry band to tour with him. En route to a concert in Milwaukee with most of the Bar-Kays—it was James Alexander's turn to take a commercial flight—Redding's new twin-engine Beechcraft plane went down in Lake Minona, just outside of Madison, Wisconsin. Only Cauley, who was asleep with his arms clutching a seat cushion/flotation device as a pillow, survived. Miraculously thrown through an opening in the crashing plane, Cauley, who could not swim, heard his bandmates' futile cries for help as they were drowning.

Greatest Success at Mercury Records

The death of Caldwell, Jones, Cunningham, King, and Redding nearly retired the group permanently. However, after a period of mourning, Alexander and Cauley joined with Stax writer/producer Allen Jones to re-form the group with saxman Harvey Henderson, keyboard player Ronnie Gordon, guitarist Michael Toles, and percussionists Roy Cunningham and Willie Hall. Although this lineup played in a similar style to that of the original members, no hits were forthcoming. To bide their time, the group took on session work behind the likes of Albert King, Rufus Thomas, and Isaac Hayes.

After Cunningham and Gordon departed (keyboardist Winston Stewart took the latter's place), the band hired its first-ever lead vocalist, Larry Dodson. Following the lead of Sly & the Family Stone, the Bar-Kays reinvented themselves as a self-contained funk and soul group that tackled social themes in their music. The band finally scored another hit with the Isaac Hayes knock-off "Son of Shaft," which featured the funky guitar work of short-term member Vernon Burch. On the strength of the soul hit, they made a successful appearance in the concert film Wattstax, but the ensemble would have to wait another five years before their next chart success.

The Bar-Kays laid down an abundance of great rock and soul before they left Stax-Volt. One of the best was "Holy Ghost." Recorded during the final days of the band's contract with the label, it became a major hit when Fantasy—which had purchased the Stax catalog—finally released it in 1978. In the meantime the Bar-Kays had moved to Mercury Records and began to craft a string of major radio hits.

At Mercury, Alexander, Dodson, Henderson, and Stewart added trumpeter Charles Allen, guitarist Lloyd Smith, trombonist Frank Thompson, and drummer Michael Beard. They de-emphasized the lead guitar and concentrated more on dominant bass lines, synthesizer fills, and punchy horn arrangements. After a 1976 tour with George Clinton and P-Funk, the band began adopting a similar instrumental approach while delivering Kool & the Gang-type group vocal performances aimed strictly at the disco floor. These included "Shake Your Rump to the Funk," "Too Hot to Stop (Pt.1)," "Move Your Boogie Body," "Hit and Run," and "Do It (Let Me See You Shake)."

Occasionally the band expanded into pre-Quiet Storm romance ballads such as the intimate "Attitudes," but their fans preferred songs with a less subtle groove where the words didn't get in the way. Indeed one of the biggest singles of their collective careers came with "Freakshow on the Dancefloor," which was part of the movie soundtrack to 1984's Breakdance, a deliberate parody of Midnight Star's hit "No Parking on the Dancefloor."

The sudden death of their beloved writer/producer Allen Jones in 1987 forced the Bar-Kays' hit-making machine to grind to a halt, and Mercury let their contract expire. Their final album for the label, Animal, boasted a guest appearance from their spiritual mentor Sly Stone. Afterwards the group recorded without success for BMG subsidiary Zoo, Basix, and Curb.

During their 1980 peak the Bar-Kays had as many as ten members on stage. By the 1990s only the core group of Henderson, Dodson, and Stewart remained. They kept the group alive with incessant tours overseas until 1996. Dodson then teamed with founding member Alexander and tried hard to revive the band with all-star reunions during the 1990s' funk revival. Several lineups of the group, featuring hired guns and temporary members, have come and gone since then. As of 2006 the Bar-Kays were completely dormant, but many of their hits have continued to garner exposure with the Hip-Hop generation through constant looping and sampling.

For the Record …

Members have included James Alexander, bass; Ron Caldwell, organ; Ben Cauley, trumpet; Carl Cunningham, drums; Ronnie Gordon, keyboards; Harvey Henderson, sax; Phalon Jones, sax; Jimmy King, guitar; Michael Toles, guitar; Roy Cunningham, drums; Willie Hall, drums. Later members have included Charles "Scoop" Allen, trumpet, vocals, guitar, percussion; Michael "Buck-board" Beard, drums, vocals; Vernon Burch, guitar; Larry "D" Dodson, lead vocals, harmonica; Sherman Guy, percussion, vocals; Lloyd "Luscious Lloyd" Smith, lead guitar, acoustic guitar; Winston "Winnie" Stewart, keyboards; synthesizers; Frank "Captain Disaster" Thompson, trombone, bass trumpet, percussion.

Soul instrumental group; funk and fusion group; formed in Memphis, TN, 1966; signed with Stax-Volt and began backing such artists as Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes, 1966–75; while touring with Otis Redding a plane crash killed four members of original group, 1967; band reformed with new members, 1968; recorded for Mercury Records, 1976–89; appeared in concert film Wattstax, 1973; recorded for Zoo, Basix, and Curb labels, 1990–96.

Addresses: Record company—Collectables Records, Inc., P.O. Box 35, Narberth, PA 19072; phone: (800) 336-4627; e-mail: [email protected], website: http://www.oldies.com. mailto: [email protected].

Selected discography

Singles

"Soul Finger," Volt, 1967.
"Give Everybody Some," Volt, 1967.
"Son of Shaft," Volt, 1971.
"Shake Your Rump to the Funk," Mercury, 1976.
"Too Hot to Stop (Pt. 1)," Mercury, 1977.
"Spellbound," Mercury, 1977.
"Let's Have Some Fun," Mercury, 1978.
"Attitudes," Mercury, 1978.
"Holy Ghost," Stax, 1978.
"I'll Dance," Mercury, 1979.
"Shine," Mercury, 1979.
"Move Your Boogie Body," Mercury, 1979.
"Today is the Day," Mercury, 1980.

"Boogie Body Land," Mercury, 1980.
"Hit and Run," Mercury, 1981.
"Freaky Behavior," Mercury, 1982.
"Do It (Let Me See You Shake)," Mercury, 1982.
"She Talks to Me with Her Body," Mercury, 1983.
"Freakshow On the Dance Floor," Mercury, 1984.
"Dirty Dancer," Mercury, 1984.
"Sexomatic," Mercury, 1985.
"Certified True," Mercury, 1987.
"Struck By You," Mercury, 1989.

Albums

Soul Finger, Stax, 1967.
Gotta Groove, Stax, 1969.
Black Rock, Volt, 1971.
Do You See What I See?, Stax, 1972.
Coldblooded, Stax, 1974.
Flying High On Your Love, Mercury, 1977.
Money Talks, Stax, 1978.
Light of Life, Mercury, 1978, rereleased 1991.
Injoy, Mercury, 1979.
As One, Mercury, 1980.
Nightcruising, Mercury, 1981.
Proposition, Mercury, 1982.
Dangerous, Mercury, 1984.
Banging the Wall, Mercury, 1985.
Contagious, Mercury, 1987.
Animal, Mercury, 1988.
The Best of the Bar-Kays, Stax, 1988.
The Best of the Bar-Kays, Mercury, 1993.
48 Hours, Basix, 1994.
The Real Thing, JEA/Right Now, 2003.
20th Century Masters—The Millenium Collection: The Best of the Bar-Kays, 1985, Mercury, 2005.