MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Trumpeter Ben Cauley, a member of the Stax Records group the Bar-Kays and the only survivor of the 1967 plane crash that killed most of his bandmates and Stax star Otis Redding, has died in Memphis. He was 67.
Cauley's eldest daughter, Chekita Cauley-Campbell, said her father died late Monday at Methodist South Hospital. His death was first reported by The Commercial Appeal.
Cauley-Campbell said she often recognized the sound of his trumpet on records because it was so different from anyone else's playing.
The Bar-Kays caught Redding's attention, and he asked them to work with him. In December 1967, they were traveling on Redding's new twin engine Beechcraft when it went into Lake Monona near Madison, Wisconsin. Cauley held on to a seat cushion and was the only survivor.