Featured In
ALBUMTheir Best (Rerecorded Version)The Bar-Kays
Albums by The Bar-Kays
ALBUMTheir Best (Rerecorded Version)The Bar-Kays
ALBUMHouse PartyThe Bar-Kays
ALBUMThe Real Thing (Digital Only)The Bar-Kays
ALBUM48 HoursThe Bar-Kays
ALBUMBlack Rock / Gotta GrooveThe Bar-Kays
ALBUMAnimalThe Bar-Kays
ALBUMContagiousThe Bar-Kays
ALBUMDangerousThe Bar-Kays
ALBUMPropositionsThe Bar-Kays
ALBUMNightcruisingThe Bar-Kays
The Bar-Kays's Popular Music Videos
Freakshow On the Dance Floor
The Bar-Kays
Struck By You
The Bar-Kays
Artist Playlists
The Bar-Kays Essentials
The instrumental group behind one of the Stax label's greatest party records.
Artist Biography
Even though four group founders were killed in a 1967 plane crash along with Otis Redding, the Bar-Kays came back to reign as one of the top R&B outfits of the '70s. The original Bar-Kays were a Memphis instrumental combo who scored an R&B hit on Volt with 1967's rousing "Soul Finger." Guitarist Jimmy King, organist Ronnie Caldwell, drummer Carl Cunningham, and saxist Phalon Jones perished with Redding, leaving trumpeter Ben Cauley and bassist James Alexander to re-form the group. After honing their chops with session work at Stax, the new Bar-Kays kicked off a long string of R&B smashes in 1976 with "Shake Your Rump to the Funk" on Mercury, making for a career longevity that no one would have predicted for Stax's formerly star-crossed number-two house band.
Hometown
Memphis, TN, United States
Genre
R&B/Soul