Brought to you by FUNKNSTUFF.NET and hosted by Scott “DR GX” Goldfine — musicologist and author of “Everything Is on THE ONE: The First Guide of Funk” ― “TRUTH IN RHYTHM” is the interview show that gets DEEP into the pocket with contemporary music’s foremost masters of the groove. Become a TRUTH IN RHYTHM Member at https://www.patreon.com/truthinrhythm.

Featured in TIR Episode 224: Original Bar-Kays bassist James Alexander! For more than 50 years he has held down the bedrock bottom for one of the greatest funk and R&B bands of all-time and his deep pocket rhythms have set the foundation for dozens of classic songs and 18 Top 20 R&B singles.

Alexander helped reform the group after most original members perished in the 1967 plane crash that claimed Otis Redding’s life. From 1976 onward, the Bar-Kays’ funk jams included “Shake Your Rump to the Funk,” “Too Hot to Stop,” “Let’s Have Some Fun,” “Holy Ghost,” “I’ll Dance,” “Move Your Boogie Body,” “Hit and Run,” “Traffic Jammer,” “Freakshow on the Dancefloor,” “Sex O Matic,” “Your Place or Mine,” and “Certified True.” Their mellow cuts included “Attitudes,” “Anticipation,” “Running in and Out of My Life” and “You Can’t Run Away.”

While forging their own gritty, authentic sound, the Bar-Kays kept current by mixing in flavors of acts like the Ohio Players, Earth, Wind & Fire, Rick James and Prince. Here Alexander lends insights into that legacy and previews what’s yet to come.

RECORDED OCTOBER 2021