I’ve been listening to The Bar-Kays’ early work for many years without really knowing much about them. Just tonight, I learned about the tragedy that befell four of their founding members. Only about six months after their biggest single to date, “Soul Finger,” was released, a plane carrying Otis Redding and about half of The Bar-Kays went down in Wisconsin. Trumpet player Ben Cauley was the only survivor. The remaining members reformed and continued on with a successful funk career. Injoy was released about 12 years later and though it certainly features more polished recordings than the part of the catalog that I am familiar with, the funk roots shine through quite clearly. It’s a remarkable feat to continue to be successful as a musician after the sudden loss of most of the driving creative forces in the band, but The Bar-Kays pulled it off.
