Search - Bar-Kays :: Do You See What I See

A mothership landed in memphis?

d.nice | richmond,va | 07/10/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Bar-Kays were the funksters for the STAX label without any doubt. I picked up on the Bar-Kays during their Mercury years when they began scoring hits alongside other hard core 70 Funk bands like P-Funk, The Ohio Players and Bootsy Rubberband. Their STAX years were very interesting especially tracking their evolution from a Memphis style house band ("Soul Finger" etc..) to a radical Funk/Black Rock band as witnessed in concert,via the film "WattStax". This collection of songs came from their 4th STAX album. Each track stands on their on on this masterpiece "Love Pollution" and "I was made to love her" signify that Funk effort which would produce million sellers for Mercury in years to come while showcasing instrumental material from the late 60's on 2 of the disc 5 bonus tracks. The liner notes said it all concerning the Bar-Kays. STAX did'nt understand how to properly promote this group on a roster that also included a diverse yet Soul/Gospel influenced artist featuring among others The Staple Singers,Albert King and Johnny Taylor etc.. The Bar-Kays "Do you see what I see" should have been a Funk classic when it was originally released in January of 1973, however it came and went. The group got to prove it self again and again when STAX folded and they headed to Mercury creating several million seling albums and numerous top 20 records.It is interesting to note that during The Bar-Kays run at Mercury the Fantasy label who had just purchased the STAX catalog in the late 70's sent out the album "Money Talks" which produced the top ten hit "Holy Ghost"..ultimately they would sell a million from that record."