For all of the unabridged amazement surrounding Billy Preston’s high school-aged mastery of both the bubbling jazz of Jimmy Smith and the lean Memphis R&B of Booker T. Jones, the truth is, he’d been at this a while. You May Also Like: Billy Sherwood Talks #Yes50, ‘Topographic Drama’ and aRead More

For Stax Records executive Al Bell, the label’s focus on personalized arrangements was what made its stable of stars into timeless figures. Unlike some of their competitors, he says no two of their records sounded exactly alike. You May Also Like: Booker T. and the MGs’ ageless ‘Green Onions’ hadRead More

It’s not always easy to find an unfiltered moment like this from Hall and Oates — a pairing that has become so closely associated with genre-jumping mixtures of street-corner soul with modern new-wave verve. You May Also Like: For John Oates, picking a favorite Hall and Oates song isn’t easy:Read More

A trick of fate launched Otis Redding’s career. He was, in 1962, working with a flamboyant guitarist named Johnny Jenkins, who had some unused studio time at Stax Records. Up to the mic stepped Redding. You May Also Like: Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay” emerged out of crushing grief:Read More

There is perhaps no more unpredictably weird image than Hugh Laurie — who, from 2004-12, played the Golden Globe-winning title protagonist on TV’s House — weaving his way through Professor Longhair You May Also Like: No related posts.

When Tom “T-Bone” Wolk died in 2010, Hall and Oates lost more than just their long-time bassist. Over a collaboration that went back to 1981’s Private Eyes, he’d become so much more. You May Also Like: For John Oates, picking a favorite Hall and Oates song isn’t easy: ‘There’s soRead More

After years of fan complaints, Hall and Oates have belatedly made the list of nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not that the duo has ever attached too much significance to the recognition. You May Also Like: Hall and Oates have developed an unspoken kinship: ‘It’s soRead More

Otis Redding’s 1965 No. 11 R&B hit “I Can’t Turn You Loose” was aptly named, considering that he refused to leave for his next show until guitarist Steve Cropper laid down the song’s famous lick. You May Also Like: Otis Redding’s “Dock of the Bay” emerged out of crushing grief:Read More

Former collaborators Bill Summers and Mike Clark join us to discuss Herbie Hancock’s ‘The Complete Columbia Album Collection.’

You know Steve Cropper from his legendary work with Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, William Bell, Johnnie Taylor — and, of course, with Booker T. and the MGs. His beginnings with the Stax Record label, however, were decidedly less glamorous. You May Also Like: John Belushi’s death almost ended Steve Cropper’sRead More