While December is a month filled with holiday celebrations, it is also a month that many soul and R&B music enthusiast call "the month that soul music died".

On December 11, 1964 Sam Cooke was killed.  Cooke had been the greatest influence on soul music -- some saying he was the architect of the sound.  He merged the sound of the African American church with secular lyrics and soul was born.  Following his tragic death just three years later almost to the day, was the death of Otis Redding, the star performer of Stax Records.  Otis died in a tragic plane crash on December 10, 1967.  Not only did Otis perish, but most of the members of the Bar-Kays, the house band of Stax, and performers in their own right.  We talk about these performers who left their imprint on classic soul.

But we first talk with Jeff Kollath, executive director of the Stax Museum in Memphis.  And of course we talked about other stuff, too.

You can hear Karen and Steve LIVE on The Ride Home on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2 p.m. - 6 p.m. CDT. Thesoundofsoul.net

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ALSO: You can order our Sound of Soul 2021 Music Calendar! Everyday celebrates the birthday of someone who contributed to American soul music!  It's a daily musical history lesson! Also get

We hope you have a great holiday and we ALL hope that 2021 will be a MUCH better year!