Mar-Keys

The Mar-Keys

The Mar-Keys were not a phenomenal hit making machine. They had a few hits and were well known in the Mid-South part of the U.S.


Normally, I wouldn't do a story on a group like the Mar-Keys. It's just that...well, hell I liked them. I liked what they became. I liked the sound they made as individuals and as a group. I liked the spin off individual acts, the spin off groups and the spin off folks who copied their sound. 

The Mar-Keys in action.

What I am talking about is the basis group for what became known as the "Soul music" or "the Memphis" sound. Just like the ribs from Charlie Vergos, it just don't get any better than the sweet soul music of Memphis, Tennessee.


I was in high school in the mid South when they had the first hits. Then at Memphis State during the rest of their record run. Sure I was influenced by all that great music. It was everywhere you went. But that was back when Memphis was so innocent. Times change, so do cities. Music and memories are the constant.

The Mar-Keys

There were the spin off groups. Groups are still being influenced by these fellows. It's not what they did as young men, rather it's who they became and what they collectively did with their talents.  


The Mar-Key's.......Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, Booker T. Washington, Al Jackson, Jr., Packy Axton, Don Nix, James Terry Johnson, Wayne Jackson, Smoochie Smith, and Isaac Hayes.

The Mar-Keys

They backed individually or collectively just about everyone who recorded any sort of music in Memphis. That's a lot of sessions and a heck of a lot of records.


These are some of the Stax related artists. 

The Mar-Keys

Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, Isaac Hayes, Johnnie Taylor, Elvis Presley, Sam and Dave, Booker T. and the M.G.'s, Wilson Pickett, Albert King, The Staple Singers, Little Milton, O.B. McClinton, Luther Ingram and many more.


   


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Please remember I am a fan. An outsider. I have no way of verifying who played with who on what sessions. So I am going to qualify this information by saying I have adhered strictly to the WAG theory and hoped for the best. If any of the Mar-Key or Stax folks reads this I would appreciate corrections. 

The Mar-Keys