The Bar-Kays play “Son Of Shaft” live in Los Angeles 1972

The Bar-Kays singing Son Of Shaft before a live audience of 100,000 people at the Los Angeles Coliseum on August 20, 1972. This event was part of the Wattstax concert festival that year, which was organized by the Memphis, Tennessee Stax Record Label to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Watts riots and black power, pride, culture, tradition and heritage struggle. The party and peaceful atmosphere of Wattstax was seen by some as “the African Americans answer to Woodstock”, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson gave the invocation, which included his “I Am – Somebody” poem, which was recited in a call and response with the assembled stadium crowd. There was a film (Wattstax) directed by Mel Stuart which was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Documentary Film in 1974.

The songs in the film, in order of appearance:

“What You See Is What You Get”, performed by The Dramatics
“Oh La De Da”, performed by the Staple Singers
“We the People”, performed by the Staple Singers
“Respect Yourself”, performed by the Staple Singers
“Star-Spangled Banner”, performed by Kim Weston
“Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”, performed by Kim Weston
“Someone Greater Than I”, performed by Jimmy Jones
“Lying on the Truth”, performed by the Rance Allen Group
“Peace Be Still”, performed by The Emotions
“Old-Time Religion”, performed by William Bell, Louise McCord, Debra Manning, Eric Mercury, Freddy Robinson, Lee Sain, Ernie Hines, Little Sonny, the Newcomers, Eddie Floyd, the Temprees, Frederick Knight
“Son of Shaft/Feel It”, performed by The Bar-Kays
“I’ll Play The Blues For You”, performed by Albert King
“Jody’s Got Your Girl and Gone”, performed by Johnnie Taylor
“Walking the Backstreet and Crying”, performed by Little Milton
“I May Not Be What You Want”, performed by Mel and Tim
“Picking Up the Pieces”, sung by Carla Thomas
“The Breakdown”, sung by Rufus Thomas
“If Lovin’ You Is Wrong, I Don’t Want to be Right”, sung by Luther Ingram
“Theme from Shaft”, sung by Isaac Hayes
“Soulsville”, sung by Isaac Hayes

More on The Bar-Kays:

The Bar-Kays are a popular soul, R&B, and funk group which began performing in 1966 and continue to perform today, although with only one original member. They began in Memphis, Tennessee as a favorite recording studio session musician group, backing major artists at Stax Records. They were chosen in 1967 by Otis Redding to play as his backing band.

On 10 December 1967, Redding, his manager, and band members Jimmy King (b. 1949; guitar), Ronnie Caldwell (b. 1948; organ), Phalon Jones (b. 1949; saxophone), and Carl Cunningham (b. 1949; drums) died in a plane crash in Lake Monona while on their way to a performance in Madison, Wisconsin. Trumpeter Ben Cauley survived the crash and bassist James Alexander (who missed the flight due to returning a rental car) rebuilt the group. The reformed band consisted of Cauley; Alexander; Harvey Henderson, saxophone; Michael Toles, guitar; Ronnie Gorden, organ; Willie Hall, drums and later Larry Dodson, lead vocals. The group backed dozens of major Stax artists on recordings afterwards, including on Isaac Hayes’ Hot Buttered Soul album, and changed direction in the 1970s to have a successful funk music career on Mercury Records. They continued to score hits on R&B charts well into the 1980s and have performed all over the world. The band took a hiatus in the late 1980s, but then reformed in 1991 with Alexander as the only remaining original member.

Lloyd Smith joined The Bar-Kays in 1973.

Soul Finger (1967) Pop Top 20, R&B#3
Son of Shaft (1972) R&B Top 10

Note
In the movie Spies Like Us, starring Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase, The Bar-Kays’ hit “Soul Finger” is the favorite song of the crew of a Soviet mobile ICBM platform on patrol in Tajikistan S.S.R.
Dan Aykroyd also covered “Soul Finger” with John Belushi and their band, The Blues Brothers, on one of their albums.
James Alexander’s son is award-winning rapper and music producer Phalon “Jazze Pha” Alexander, who was named after Phalon Jones.
Their songs “Too Hot to Stop” and “Soul Finger” are featured in the 2007 film Superbad.

Similar artists and followers include:

Booker T. & the MG’s, The Mar-Keys, The J.B.’s, Isaac Hayes, Charles Wright, Zapp, The Ohio Players, Cameo, Dazz Band, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Right Choice, Michael Cooper, Otis Redding, Willie & the Mighty Magnificents, The Funk Brothers, The Meters, James Brown, George Clinton, Chuck Brown, The Average White Band, Kool & the Gang, MFSB, The Salsoul Orchestra, Brass Construction, Norman Harris, Earl Young, Ectomorph, Ron Baker, Aristocrats, Cee Knowledge, Diplomatics, Lefties Soul Connection, Arthur Conley, Stax, The Artist Formerly Known as Prince and the Revolution, New Power Generation, Earth, Wind & Fire, Funkadelics, Parliament, Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, afros, 70’s, 70s, 1970’s, 1970s, seventies celebration

Author: Insightful
Keywords: Isaac Hayes Theme Anthem Electric Guitar Riffs Live Concerts Rock Bands Funk Funky Soul Blues R&B Jazz Pop Woodstock sex
Added: January 1, 2008