Memphis

Overton Vertis Wright was born in Lenow, Tennessee, in 1939. He started singing in church and joined various Gospel groups, including the Sunset Travelers and the Harmony Echoes,...

Wilson Pickett was born in Prattville, Alabama, in 1941, where he grew up with his mother. After a difficult childhood, he moved to Detroit in 1955 to live...

When we look at Stax artists of significance, Isaac Hayes stands out because of his abilities as songwriter, producer, and performer/musician. Hayes is the first and only artist at Stax to have...

Bobby Womack’s career started in the mid-fifties, when he started touring with his family group the Valentinos, mentored by Sam Cooke. He had taught himself to play guitar,...

The Bar-Kays were founded in Memphis in 1966, evolving from an earlier band called the Imperials. The founder members were Jimmy King (guitar), Ben Cauley (trumpet), Ronnie Caldwell...

Syl Johnson was born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1936. His family moved to Chicago in 1950, where Johnson started singing with Blues artists, including Magic...

Al Bell was born Alvertis Isbell in 1940 in Brinkley, Arkansas and moved to North Little Rock, where he attended the Scipio Africanus Jones High School. Education in...

Otis Lee Clay was born in Waxhaw, Mississippi, in 1942. He grew up in a musical family and, like so many of his generation, he joined a series...

Don Bryant was born in Memphis in 1942, one of ten children. His father and mother were both Gospel singers, so Don grew up surrounded by music. In...

Ann Lee Peebles was born in Kinloch, Missouri, in 1947, one of eleven children. She grew up singing in her father’s church and soon joined the family Gospel...