Wayne Jackson

Wayne Lamar Jackson (November 24, 1941 – June 21, 2016) was an American soul and R&B musician, playing the trumpet in The Mar-Keys, in the house band at Stax Records and later as one of The Memphis Horns, described as "arguably the greatest soul horn section ever".

Jackson was born in West Memphis, Arkansas, just a few days apart from his musical partner Andrew Love with whom he created the signature horn sound at Stax on hit records by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and others. Jackson was also the voice on the Mar-Keys singular hit "Last Night", due in part, to his proximity to the microphone.

After the years recording at Stax, they incorporated themselves into The Memphis Horns and began freelancing, recording on sessions for such artists as Neil Diamond, Elvis Presley, Al Green, and Dusty Springfield. The duo also toured with The Doobie Brothers, Jimmy Buffett, Robert Cray, and numerous other performers.

In 2012, the Memphis Horns received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding artistic significance in music.

Jackson died on June 21, 2016, at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis of congestive heart failure. His death came after several years of failing health during which he still maintained an active schedule earning an income by giving personalized guided tours at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. He was 74.

Discography

With Luther Allison

• Live in Chicago (Alligator, 1995 [1999])

With Otis Redding

• Pain in My Heart (Atco Records, 1964)
• The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads (Atco Records, 1965)
• Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul (Stax Records, 1965)
• The Soul Album (Stax Records, 1966)
• Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul (Stax Records, 1966)
• King & Queen (Stax Records, 1967)
• The Dock of the Bay (Stax Records, 1968)

With Aretha Franklin

• Aretha Now (Atlantic Records, 1968)
• Young, Gifted and Black (Atlantic Records, 1972)
• Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) (Atlantic Records, 1973)
• With Everything I Feel in Me (Atlantic Records, 1974)

With Rob Thomas

• Someday (Atlantic Records, 2010)

With Mark Knopfler

• Sailing to Philadelphia (Mercury Records, 2000)

With Wilson Pickett

• In the Midnight Hour (Atlantic Records, 1965)
• The Exciting Wilson Pickett (Atlantic Records, 1966)
• The Sound of Wilson Pickett (Atlantic Records, 1967)
• Don't Knock My Love (Atlantic Records, 1971)

With Bonnie Raitt

• Longing in Their Hearts (Capitol Records, 1994)

With Dan Penn

• Do Right Man (Sire Records, 1994)
• Blue Nite Lounge (Dandy Records, 2000)

With Frank Black

• Fast Man Rider Man (Cooking Vinyl, 2006)

With B.B. King

• To Know You Is to Love You (ABC Records, 1973)
• Friends (ABC Records, 1974)

With Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris

• All the Roadrunning (Mercury Records, 2006)

With Neil Young

• Prairie Wind (Reprise Records, 2005)

With Rita Coolidge

• Letting You Go With Love (Victor, 1997)
• Thinkin' About You (404 Music Group, 1998)

With Rod Stewart

• Soulbook (J Records, 2009)

With Stephen Stills

• Stephen Stills 2 (Atlantic Records, 1971)

With Rufus Thomas

• Do the Funky Chicken (Stax Records, 1970)

With Eddie Floyd

• Knock on Wood (Stax Records, 1967)

With Rodney Crowell

• Street Language (Columbia Records, 1986)

With Sting

• Mercury Falling (A&M Records, 1996)

With Billy Joel

• Storm Front (Columbia Records, 1989)

With José Feliciano

• Memphis Menu (RCA Victor, 1972)

With Tony Joe White

• Tony Joe White (Warner Bros. Records, 1971)
• Uncovered (Swamp Records, 2006)

With Paul Young

• The Crossing (Columbia Records, 1993)

With Peter Gabriel

• So (Geffen, 1986)
• Us (Real World Records, 1992)

With Joe Cocker

• Luxury You Can Afford (Asylum Records, 1978)

With Yvonne Elliman

• Rising Sun (RSO Records, 1975)

With Lulu

• Melody Fair (Atco, 1970)

With James Taylor

• Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon (Warner Bros. Records, 1971)

With William Bell

• The Soul of a Bell (Stax Records, 1967)
• Bound to Happen (Stax Records, 1969)
• Relating (Stax Records, 1974)

With David Porter

• Victim of the Joke? An Opera (Enterprise Records, 1971)

With Nicolette Larson

• In the Nick of Time (Warner Bros. Records, 1979)

With Tom Rush

• Ladies Love Outlaws (Columbia Records, 1974)

With Albert King

• Born Under a Bad Sign (Stax Records, 1967)

With Jimmy Buffett

• Floridays (MCA Records, 1986)
• Hot Water (MCA Records, 1988)

With Carla Thomas

• Love Means... (Stax Records, 1971)

With John Prine

• Common Sense (Atlantic Records, 1975)