The Bo-Keys at Double Door | Concert preview

The soul revival just won’t quit. Young crooners like Mayer Hawthorne and Aloe Blacc are hardly the only ones earning the attention. Charles Bradley, Syl Johnson and Kings Go Forth’s Black Wolf are among a growing pool of older voices who are just starting to enjoy the ride. Now come the Bo-Keys, a posse of Memphis pros wrangled by Scott Bomar. The bassist-producer may not carry the same vintage credentials as his bandmates, but he’s got enough pull to get former Stax and Hi Records ringers together in one room. The session vets are idolized by crate diggers but virtually anonymous compared to the artists they backed—Al Green, B.B. King, etc.

After an instrumental debut in 2004, the band drafted a series of guest vocalists for its new album, Got to Get Back! Local R&B hero Otis Clay belts out the title track. Percy Wiggins takes the mic here at the Double Door’s celebrated Soul Summit party.

What puts this group over is the presence of guitarist Charles “Skip” Pitts, the longtime Isaac Hayes sideman responsible for that funky wah intro to “Theme from Shaft.” Pitts peppers the Bo-Keys’ latest with chicken-fried fret slides, adding another dash of charm to an album that oozes authenticity.