Sam Moore and his singing partner Dave Prater helped put Stax Records on the map with their string of top hits in the 1960s. Their powerful performances inspired their nicknames of Double...

Dennis Coffey was a member of the studio musicians at Motown known as the Funk Brothers. Dennis recorded a string of hits with the group in the 1960s and 70s. He later joined the songwrit...

Sylvester Rivers has applied his musical talents to thousands of hit recordings over the years as well as music for television and motion pictures. His list of credits includes several ca...

Bobby Brooks Wilson is the son of famed soul singer, Jackie Wilson, but he didn’t always know that. Bobby grew up loving music and only found out who his biological father was after so ma...

Joe Chambers was inspired by his older brother George to play guitar and write songs. The brothers, Joe, George, Willie and Lester, formed The Chambers Brothers and began singing gospel m...

Willie Chambers and his brothers fell in love with gospel music while growing up singing in church. Even though they received some strong criticism, they expanded the places where church ...

Charles Wright had a desire to form a solid soul band that would take the drive of R&B and push it to the limits. With an amazing cast of musicians, Charles formed the Watts 103rd Str...

Tommy Couch was born in Tuscumbia, not too far from Muscle Shoals, Alabama and grew up with many of the studio musicians and engineers at the Fame Recording Studio. He later moved to Jack...

Wolf Stephenson met Tommy Couch (the founder of Malaco Records) while the two studied pharmacy in college. They began booking musical acts for their college parties and soon expanded to e...

Dan Hein joined the rock band, The Flippers, in the early 1960s just as the group was starting out. With a strong influence from jump blues and soul bands, they added a horn section and c...

Allee Willis wrote a number of successful songs that have become part of the fabric of pop music. Allee either wrote or co-wrote songs such as “September” by Earth Wind & Fire, the th...

Spooner Oldham was a studio musician down in Muscle Shoals, Alabama before becoming a noted songwriter. Spooner's keyboard skills can be heard on such classic records as "You'd Better Mov...

Donna Jean Godchaux was the only female singer with the Grateful Dead (on stage and on recordings) from 1971 until 1979. In fact, she was the first female singer with the group and was on...

Archie Bell, a native of Houston, Texas, grew up listening to his mother sing in the Baptist church. Out of her seven sons she singled out Archie and suggested that he should try to be a ...

Steve Madaio played trumpet on most of Stevie Wonders recordings during the innovative and creative period between 1971 and 1976.  Stevie was experimenting with electric keyboards and syn...

William Bell began singing in doo-wop groups before signing for Stax Records in Memphis, which is where his first hit was recorded.  In fact that song, "You Don't Miss Your Water" was als...

Charles Hodges and his brothers were regular session players in Memphis.  Charles was among the early keyboardist for Willie Mitchell's band, which was the cornerstone for the Hi Records ...

William Bell began singing in doo-wop groups before signing for Stax Records in Memphis, which is where his first hit was recorded.  In fact that song, "You Will Miss Your Waters" was als...

Chuggy Carter has performed drums and percussion for a number of top performers over his long and fascinating career.  Equally noted to his musicianship by those who worked with Chuggy is...

Lester Chambers performed with his brothers as the Chambers Brothers, a band that became a pivotal group beginning in the late 1960s.  The band had style, so much so that bluesman Snooky ...

Misty Browning loved to watch the smile on the faces of those in her church as a child when they began to sing.  She noticed their mannerisms and expressions completely changed once the m...

Stevie Wonder has earned the title of the "Mayor of the NAMM Show" for his countless visits to the show floor over the years.  He has become an important part of the music products indust...

Larry Dodson Sr. was asked to become the first singer in the Bar-Kays back in 1970.  The band started out as an instrumental group in the 1960s and gained world-wide fame as Otis Redding ...

James Alexander reformed his band, the Bar-Kays following the plane crash that took the lives of  three members, and singer Otis Redding.  The new band was created in tribute to those kil...

Floyd Newman is among the most noted studio musicians from the early days of Stax Records in Memphis. As a saxophonist, Floyd became an integral part of the studio band at Stax Records kn...

Ben Cauley can be heard on hundreds of Stax Record hits including those with Otis Redding.  Ben was a member of Otis's backup band called the Bar-Kays, which originated as the horn sectio...

Steve Cropper became an integral part of the Stax Studio sound in Memphis as guitarist, songwriter and producer. He was a member of the studio's house band, the Mar-Keys as well as Booker...

Ralph Johnson joined Earth, Wind and Fire in 1972. That was an important year for the band as founder Maurice White changed the line-up to include singers Jessica Cleaves and Philip Baile...

Smokey Robinson!  The man changed popular music!  He brought a common, streetwise approach to his lyrics, which were embraced by millions of people the world over who related to his messa...

Verdine White has become a close friend to the NAMM family thanks to his dedication to music education and music advocacy programs around the world.  He has supported the efforts to keep ...

Leon Huff cut his teeth in the recording studios as a session player in the 1950s before meeting Kenneth Gamble.  The two became one of the most prolific and successful songwriting and re...