"Papa" John Phillips
Incarceration: One month (1981), Los Angeles, CACrimes: drug trafficking
Details: The leader and founder of the Mamas and the Papas somehow only served one month of a proposed eight-year term for faking drug prescriptions with the help of a local pharmacist. The incident did get Phillips off of drugs after a particularly lurid decade.
Wilson Pickett
Incarceration: One year (1993), Hackensack, NJCrimes: reckless driving
Details: Though "The Wicked Pickett" was arrested and charged many times of the years, usually for violent crimes, his only real jail time came when an intoxicated Pickett ran over an 86-year-old pedestrian in 1993, causing injuries that eventually killed him.
Billy Preston
Incarceration: Three years (1997), Los Angeles, CACrimes: violation of parole for insurance fraud
Details: The veteran keyboardist and Seventies solo star was on parole for his part in a million-dollar insurance scam/arson rap the year before when he was convicted of cocaine possession.
The Prisonaires
Incarceration: Various sentences (1943-1953), Tennessee State Penitentiary, Nashville, TNCrimes: rape, murder, manslaughter, larceny
Details: As you might have guessed, this five-piece R&B vocal group, most famous for their Sun Records 1953 hit "Just Walkin' In The Rain" met in prison, many of them serving life sentences for various crimes. While singing in prison, they were overheard by a DJ who got them a spot on his show; soon, Sam Phillips of Sun had them brought in, under guard, to record. All were eventually paroled, largely as a result of their fame and goodwill.
Sly Stone
Incarceration: two months (1989), Los Angeles, CACrimes: cocaine possession, nonpayment of alimony
Details: Between 1973 and 1989, Stone was arrested many times, usually over or unlicensed guns. But when he failed to appear at a court date for possession and non-payment of alimony, FBI agents tracked him down and brought him to L.A. to serve his time. Since his release, Sly has stayed under the police radar -- and everyone else's.
Ike Turner
Incarceration: 18 months (1989-1991), San Luis Obispo, CACrimes: possessing and transporting cocaine
Details: When Ike and Tina were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, Ike was in prison, having beaten the rap eleven times in recent years before finally taking the rap for his cocaine addiction. (He claimed afterward that the prison time was his own personal rehab.) Accepting the award for him that night: Phil Spector, who had some unpleasant things to say about Tina.
Barry White
Incarceration: four months (1961), Los Angeles, CACrimes: theft
Details: A young Barry stole about $30,000 worth of tires -- yes, tires -- at the age of 17. While serving his sentence, he heard a record on the radio and decided to try the straight-and-narrow, making music his life instead. That song? Elvis' "It's Now Or Never."
