Biography
Formed in Memphis, Tennessee, USA by Jimmy King (1949, d. 10 December 1967; guitar), Ronnie Caldwell (b. 1948, d. 10 December 1967; organ), Phalon Jones (b. 1949, d. 10 December 1967; saxophone), Ben Cauley (trumpet), James Alexander (bass) and Carl Cunningham (b. 1949, d. 10 December 1967; drums) were originally known as the River Arrows. Signed to Stax Records, the Bar-Kays were groomed as that label’s second-string house band by Al Jackson, drummer in Booker T. And The MGs. They were employed as Otis Redding’s backing group on tour, and the tragic plane crash at Lake Monona, Madison, Wisconsin, USA in 1967 that took his life also claimed King, Caldwell, Jones and Cunningham. Alexander, who missed the flight, put together a new line-up with Cauley, the sole survivor of the accident, recruiting Harvey Henderson (saxophone), Ronnie Gordon (keyboards), Michael Toles (guitar), Willie Hall (drums) and Roy Cunningham (drums). By 1970 Cunningham and Gordon had...
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