A member of the next Neville Generation, bassist Ivan Neville went with Keith Richards on his first solo tour. The son of Aaron Neville, he has also played in Bonnie Raitt's band and was on The Rolling Stones' Dirty Work LP. His debut album If My Ancestors Could See Me Now for Polydor did land one Top 40 pop hit with "Not Just Another Girl." ~... [+] Read More

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Motown's skilled but mostly anonymous instrumentalists very rarely stepped out on their own. The lone exception to the rule was tenor saxman Junior Walker, whose rough-and-ready, old-school R&B was a marked contrast with the label's typically smooth, polished product. Walker's squealing gutbucket style was inspired by jump blues and early R&B,... [+] Read More

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The brainchild of session musician Martin Dumas Jr., Rasputin's Stash was a '70s soul/funk ensemble from the Windy City of Chicago, IL. In the early '70s, Dumas assembled an eight-piece group out of fellow session regulars from the city. Signed early on to the Cotillion label, the group released a self-titled album in 1971 and gradually lost... [+] Read More

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The career of blue-eyed soul singer Robert Palmer was a study in style versus substance. While the performer's earliest work won praise for its skillful assimilation of rock, R&B, and reggae sounds, his records typically sold poorly, and he achieved his greatest notoriety as an impeccably dressed lounge lizard. By the mid-'80s, however, Palmer... [+] Read More

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Few of rock & roll's founding figures are as likable as Rufus Thomas. From the 1940s onward, he has personified Memphis music; his small but witty cameo role in Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train, a film which satirizes and enshrines the city's role in popular culture, was entirely appropriate. As a recording artist, he wasn't a major innovator, but... [+] Read More

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Sly & the Family Stone harnessed all of the disparate musical and social trends of the late '60s, creating a wild, brilliant fusion of soul, rock, R&B, psychedelia, and funk that broke boundaries down without a second thought. Led by Sly Stone, the Family Stone was comprised of men and women, and blacks and whites, making the band the first... [+] Read More

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One of the few vocal groups on the Stax roster during the '60s, the Mad Lads' doo wop-influenced harmonies were more akin to what you might find in Philadelphia soul acts than those of their native Memphis. Featuring the high, innocent tenor of John Gary Williams, the group were still in high school when they were signed to Stax in late 1964. In... [+] Read More

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Throughout their long careers as both solo performers and as members of the group that bore their family name, the Neville Brothers proudly carried the torch of their native New Orleans' rich R&B legacy. Although the four siblings -- Arthur, Charles, Aaron, and Cyril -- did not officially unite under the Neville Brothers aegis until 1977, all... [+] Read More

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The Showmen were one of the R&B groups to bridge the gap between doo wop and soul in the early '60s, creating a buoyant, energetic fusion of harmonies and propulsive R&B beats. The group only had one hit, "It Will Stand," which charted both in 1961 and in 1964, but their lead singer, General Johnson, went on to greater success as the leader of... [+] Read More

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One of the most popular funk groups of the '70s, War were also one of the most eclectic, freely melding soul, Latin, jazz, blues, reggae, and rock influences into an effortlessly funky whole. Although War's lyrics were sometimes political in nature (in keeping with their racially integrated lineup), their music almost always had a sunny,... [+] Read More

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