James Jamerson

The late bassist, famous for his work at Stax Records, left a mark on nearly every genre of pop music. Read More

As the bass player on dozens of the most soulful hits in the history of pop music, Donald "Duck" Dunn often found himself out on the road playing to fans who had assumed he was black like the stars he supported, notably Otis Redding , Wilson Pickett and Sam & Dave. When audiences encountered a white bassist in the lineup, "A lot of people thought I was a pick-up bass player — they thought Duck Dunn was a black guy who couldn't make the tour for some reason," Dunn told an interviewer in 2005 about his best-known role as bassist for Booker T. & the MG's, which had a string of instrumental hits apart from its status as the house band at Stax Records in Memphis. Read More