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...
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...
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...
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 ...
Miriam Bienstock was one of three founders of Atlantic Records, which set the stage for over 60 years of recordings of primarily black artists. In the early years this was one of the only...
Kevin Bowe, a native of Minnesota, began playing guitar and writing songs for the rock and punk talent coming out of the Midwest in the 1980s and 90s. Kevin wrote several songs for the te...
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...
Misty Browning loved to watch the smiles 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...
Solomon Burke’s amazing career in music included a number of important landmarks! His early recordings, which combined gospel and the blues, have become important and influential material...
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...
Emilio Castillo plays second tenor sax, as well as providing background and lead vocals for the band he help establish in 1968 called Tower of Power! The year before Emilio formed a band ...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
Lamont Dozier was one of the most successful songwriters in popular music history. From 1962-1967 he teamed with Brian and Eddy Holland to write a string of impressive hit records for Mo...
Larry Dunn played a key role in the success of the legendary group Earth, Wind & Fire! As the keyboardist for the group he added new sounds in the innovative era of electronic musica...
Leroy Emmanuel often shares a telling story about his musical heritage—his parents met in their school band, both playing the violin. Born in Georgia, he moved to Detroit at the age of ei...
Kenneth Gamble was singing and playing the guitar in a band he formed in Philly when he first met his future songwriting partner, Leon Huff. The two discovered they had the same goals of...
David Garibaldi is the innovative drummer for Tower of Power and a much respected clinician well known throughout the world. He joined the group in 1970 just as they signed Bill Graham o...
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...
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...
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 ...
Eddie Holland gained worldwide fame as a Motown Record’s songwriter and music publisher along with his brother Brian. Eddie was also a recording artist who performed the chart-topping hit...
Brian Holland and his brother Eddie are among the most popular songwriting teams in the history of popular music! For decades they have created the words and music to Motown’s classic sou...
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...
Wayne Jackson and his saxophone-playing friend, Andrew Love, formed the Memphis Horns, a group that played on countless recordings and on stage for over 40 years! Wayne, on trumpet, began...
