This months featured artists

Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 - April 3, 2003) was an African-American songwriter, singer and record producer, best known for his songs for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s. Many of the songs he wrote have become contemporary classics.

Banks was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and at the age of 16 formed the Soul Consolidators gospel group which toured around the southern states, often performing his own material. After military service, he returned to Memphis in 1964, and started a singing career with the small Genie label where he met Isaac Hayes and David Porter. Soon, Stax founder Estelle Axton hired him to work at the record shop attached to the company's Satellite Studios, where he stayed for three years, also recording for the Minit label. One of his Minit recordings, "(Ain't That) A Lot of Love", provided the basic riff later used by the Spencer Davis Group on their hit "Gimme Some Lovin'"

African American soul singer. She was signed to the Motown record label in 1963, scoring a minor hit with "Love Me All the Way". Her biggest solo hits with Motown were "Take Me in Your Arms" 1965, Her biggest claim to fame was singing the classic hit "It Takes Two" with Marvin Gaye in 1966 and her later recording of the Black National Anthem, "Lift Every Voice and Sing." It was the success of "It Takes Two" with Marvin Gaye that caused Motown to seek Tammi Terrell to replace her as his singing partner, which spawned even more success for the label.

Weston left Motown in 1967 and later sued the label over disputes about royalties. She and her then-husband William "Mickey" Stevenson, both went to MGM Records. Weston cut a couple of singles for MGM, "I Got What You Need," and "Nobody," which went largely unnoticed due to lack of airplay and promotion. She recorded several more albums for various labels, Stax/Volt among them, and also made an album of duets with Johnny Nash. None of these recordings charted, and Weston reportedly relocated to Israel, where she worked with young singers.

Today she is a disc jockey on a local Detroit, Michigan radio station, where she sponsors the summer events at Hart Plaza. She also tours sporadically, often alongside former Motown colleagues Mary Wilson, Martha Reeves and Brenda Holloway. She is also featured on the 2006 four CD release of the Motortown Revue series.

Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor (higher)voice was Samuel David Moore (born Samuel David Hicks on October 12, 1935 in Winchester, Georgia), and the baritone/tenor(lower)voice was Dave Prater (May 9, 1937, Ocilla, Georgia – April 9, 1988, Sycamore, Georgia).

According to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Sam & Dave were the most successful soul duo, and brought the sounds of the black gospel church to pop music with their call-and-response records. Recorded at Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, from 1965 through 1968, these included "Soul Man", "Hold On, I'm Comin", "I Thank You", "When Something is Wrong with My Baby", "Wrap It Up", and many other Southern Soul classics.

Their crossover charts appeal, helped paved the way for the acceptance of soul music by white pop audiences, and their song "Soul Man" was one of the first songs by a black group to top the pop charts using the word "Soul", helping further define the genre "Soul Music". "Soul Man" has been recognized as one of the most influential songs of the past 50 years by the Grammy Hall of Fame.

The Dells are an influential R&B musical group who were one of the few groups to span music genres resulting in successful recordings surpassing more than four decades. Formed in 1952 after attending high school together, the Dells' repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul, disco and contemporary rhythm and blues. Unlike many of their contemporaries, the group's lineup hasn't changed much since 1960 and has consisted of falsetto leader Johnny Carter, baritone lead singer Marvin Junior and background singers Mickey McGill, Verne Allison and Chuck Barksdale.