THE BAR-KAYS: Funk kingpins’ sound keeps coming back

By JOHN BENSON

entertainment@vindy.com

No matter how much time has passed since The Bar-Kays had a hit single, the ’70s soul-R&B-funk group — known for songs such as “Soul Finger” and “Son of Shaft” — seems to find a way to pop back into pop culture.

Not only did Will Smith sample The Bar-Kays’ “Song and Dance” for his monster 1998 hit “Getting’ Jiggy Wit It,” but the band’s music made a resurgence a decade later when it was prominently used in feature films “Superbad” and “Kickin it Old School.” Singer Larry Dodson said his reaction to the latter mainstream attention was financially-based joy.

“When I saw the check, my reaction was really good,” Dodson said, laughing, calling from his Memphis, Tenn., home. “That was a good year for us. As a matter of fact, ‘Kickin it Old School’ and ‘Superbad,’ we were on the national trailers for those movies. So it was not only financially good, but it was just good exposure for The Bar-Kays.”

Regarding the financial end of the music industry and its convoluted royalties, just how lucrative was it for The Bar-Kays having its music used in two movies?

“It was five-figures. I could stay in my house for another year,” Dodson said. “What people don’t know, if your song introduces a new character in a movie, that’s a prime place, so our stock went up.”

The Bar-Kays roots actually go back into the ’60s when some of its members were Stax Records session musicians. Sadly, most musicians died in a 1967 plane crash that also killed Otis Redding, who used The Bar-Kays as his live backing band. The soul legend had played a show in Cleveland the day before and was headed to Wisconsin when the tragedy occurred.

Surviving members Ben Cauley and James Alexander kept the act going by adding Dodson and others. During the next 20 years, the act released numerous albums and toured nonstop. Dodson believes this is why audiences still flock to see the act in concert.

“I think we’re a party band, and our music has always helped people have a good time,” Dodson said.

“Despite all of the bad things around them, they could always depend on The Bar-Kays music to lift them up. And on the other side of the fence, our ballads were very romantic, probably a lot of babies were made from our songs. Also, our stage show was always entertaining. We always had a lot of smoke, fire, snakes and weird stuff. And you never knew what you were going to see but you knew you were going to be entertained and see a real good show even when we didn’t have a hit record at that time.”

Fans will get to see The Bar-Kays in action when it comes back to the area as part of the “The Masters of Funk Tour,” which also includes Sugar Foot’s Ohio Players, Slave, Confunk Shun and Dazz Band. The trip down memory lane takes place Friday at Powers Auditorium. Tickets are still available.

When Dodson thinks back to the old days of The Bar-Kays, he remembers coming through Northeast Ohio and playing the old Reed’s Arena.

For some reason, he believes most of those shows took place in the winter with bitter cold and heavy snow. This won’t be the case when the funk act returns to Youngstown.

“It won’t be cold that night; it will be just right,” Dodson said. “As a matter of fact, it will be real hot when we get there and real hot when we leave. People will hear all of the hits, and they’ll walk out hot and sweaty, feeling like they’ve been in a wrestling match. The audience never sits down.”