Memphis Street will be named after the last surviving member of the bar-case

The last surviving member of The Bar-Case band, James Alexander, who supported soul music star Otis Redding, will be named after a street in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, the Stax Museum reported.

Located near Stacks Records Studios where Soul-Funk jointly recorded, Stafford Avenue in Memphis is set to receive a new name April 24: James E. Alexander Avenue. The flutist is the founder of the bar-case and the last surviving member. Four band members and Redding died when their plane crashed into an ice lake in Wisconsin on December 10, 1967. They were going to do a show in Madison when the plane crashed.

A band member, Trumpeter Ben Cowley, survived the crash. Alexander was not on the flight. He boarded a commercial flight because the plane could only carry a certain number of people, Stacks said.

Bar-Case made their first hit with “Soul Finger” in 1967, after which the band became Redding’s Turing band. After the crash, Alexander and Cowley reconstituted the band, adding lead singer Larry Dodson. Alexander played the bass in “Theme from Shaft”, written by Isaac Hayes. The song won an Academy Award in 1971. Cowley has since died.

Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley sponsored the street name change resolution. Alexander said in a statement, “I am terrified of changing the name of the street on which I grew up.

The Stacks Museum is housed in the building that housed Stacks Records, which includes Reading, Hayes, Sam and Dave, The Staples Singers, Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett, Booker T. And made music by MG and others.