Terry Gross

Singer, songwriter, guitar player, Dan Penn. Penn has written soul music classics like Do Right Woman, Cry Like a Baby, Sweet Inspiration, and I'm Your Puppet. His compositions have been made famous by the likes of Aretha Franklin, James Carr, Percy Sledge, Solomon Burke and Otis Redding. Penn left his tiny hometown of Vernon, Alabama when he was sixteen as a white kid, singing like Ray Charles and in love with black music.

An interview with former Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler. Wexler was the producer behind some of the greatest soul music of the '60s, including classic sessions with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding.

Guitarist, songwriter, and producer Steve Cropper. In the 60's, he was with Stax Records, the record company that defined the Memphis sound of the time. He's best known for his playing with Booker T & the MGs; he also played in the band from the film The Blues Brothers. He co-wrote such hits as In the Midnight Hour, Soul Man, and Otis Redding's (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay.

Composer and musician Isaac Hayes. He won an Oscar the the theme music he wrote for the the 1972 movie Shaft. HAYES is also an actor, who has held roles in the movies Robin Hood: Men in Tights, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Posse, and It Could Happen to You. He's also a regular voice (as the Chef) on the cable animation show South Park.

Teddy Pendergrass was a popular soul singer in the group "Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes". He went solo in 1976. In 1982, he was paralyzed after a near fatal car accident in Philadelphia, his hometown. Since then he has returned to the studio and produced several albums. He's currently on tour.

Last year Al Green published a new biography called Down by the River detailing the trip from R&B stardom to Reverend. Presiding over his own Pentacoastal church in Memphis for the last 20 years, Green recently returned to the recording studio to record a set of gospel songs. A popular culture icon, he's had cameo roles in movies and TV shows. He lives in Memphis, Tenn.

Rhythm and blues singer Bobby Womack. His R&B and pop hits include It's All Over Now, Lookin' For A Love, and That's The Way I Feel About Cha. Womack began his career singing gospel with his brothers. They were discovered by Sam Cooke.

Soul singer Barry White, the sweet-talking, deep-voiced performer who rhapsodizes about love. His hits include My First, My Last, My Everything, Never Never Gonna Give Up, and I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More. Before he became a hit as a solo performer, White put together the female vocal trio, Love Unlimited and founded the Love Unlimited Orchestra, a 40 piece ensemble to accompany himself and the trio.

Curtis Mayfield has been called "the thinking man's soul man." He was known for his floating falsetto voice, gospel sound, and social commentary. He was with the group The Impressions for 12 years recording such classics as "Gypsy Woman," "I'm so Proud," and "People Get Ready." After that he went solo. His score for Superfly, was considered a musical breakthrough, and has inspired many of today's hip-hop performers.

We hear from two former members of the vocal group The Impressions who went on to have their own successful solo careers. First, singer Jerry Butler, aka The Iceman. His 1969 hit, –Only the Strong Survive,— is a rhythm and blues classic, and also the title of his autobiography: Only the Strong Survive: Memoirs of a Soul Survivor. (Indiana University Press) Butler founded The Impressions. His awareness of civil rights led him to politics, and he is serving his fourth term on the Cook County Board of Commissioners in Chicago.