John Belushi actually met Stax legend Steve Cropper early into putting together the Blues Brothers band. But he assumed Cropper was someone else.

This Mid-Year Best of 2015 list also includes Boz Scaggs, Pops Staples, Papa Mali, Wes Montgomery, Robben Ford, the Word, Steve Earle and Beth Hart.

Lost R&B legend Carl Hall gives each performance a gospel-infused, four-octave charge. And yet he somehow remains stubbornly obscure.

The famous “shave-and-a-haircut, two-bits” beat didn’t start with Bo Diddley, who died on June 3, 2008. Through sheer force of will, he made it his own.

For years, maybe from the beginning, the music of Hall and Oates has been described by the same musical term – and Daryl Hall despises it.

If Booker T. and the MGs’ signature hit “Green Onions” always felt like a loose-limbed good time among musical friends, that’s because it actually was.

When Steve Cropper finally got a chance to work with Percy Sledge, he did everything he could to make it happen — regardless of the cost.

‘Moonlight’ covers a lot ground musically, yet Armenian-born keyboardist Vahagn Stepanyan manages to hit the mark with each song.

Rare is the group that appeals to both squealing girls and picky critics, but such was the Jackson 5.

Steve Cropper thought he was going to talk to Booker T. Jones because he could round out the band on keyboards. There’s a lot more to it.