— SpacePack

Bustin' Out on Funk – The Bar-Kays

As 2Pac, Eazy-E and Biggie all once said, “We live for the funk, we die for the funk”. They said it best, so let’s get funky!

The Bar-Kays were a popular soul, R&B and funk group formed in the 1960′s. These guys are arguably the toughest bass slappers in the 1960′s and their always apparent horn sections has been flooding dancefloors since your parents’ era. The movie Superbad unearthed some of these timeless gems to use for their soundtrack and now I fee like it’s SpacePack’s civil duty to bring them to your ears. Bust out on funk with these,

The Bar-Kays – Too Hot To Stop, Pt. 1 (Right click to download)

The Bar-Kays – Soul Finger

The Bar-Kays – Holy Ghost

Wanna see how these ministers of funk get down? This guitar line for sure belongs in an 80′s porno,

I came across a few crazy parallels while researching The Bar-Kays. Many of the original band members from The Bar-Kays were chosen to back Otis Redding in 1967 (see the post titled A Tribute to Otis.) On December 10, 1967, Redding, his manager, and band members Jimmy King (b. 1949; guitar), Ronnie Caldwell (b. 1948; electric organ), Phalon Jones (b. 1949; saxophone), and Carl Cunningham (b. 1949; drums) died in a plane crash in Lake Mona while on their way to a performance in Madison, Wisconsin. Trumpeter Ben Cauley survived the crash and bassist James Alexander was on another plane, since there were eight members in Redding’s party and the chartered plane could only hold seven. Cauley and Alexander rebuilt the group into the Bar-Kays you hear in today’s offerings.

Another interesting fact is the son of James Alexander is Phalon Anton Alexander, better known for his rap pseudonym Jazze Pha, well-known for his trademark hollering “Ladies and Gentlemen!” at the beginning, and sometimes at the end of the tracks he has contributed to.