Booker T. & the M.G.'s is an instrumental R&B band that was influential in shaping the sound of southern soul and Memphis soul. Original members of the group were Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson, Jr. (drums). In the 1960s, as members of the house band of Stax Records, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists such as Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Carla and Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. They also released instrumental records under their own name, such as the 1962 hit single "Green Onions". As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of their era. By the mid-1960s, bands on both sides of the Atlantic were trying to sound like Booker T. & the M.G.'s.
In 1965, Steinberg was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn, who played with the group until his death in 2012. Al Jackson, Jr. was murdered in 1975, after which the trio of Dunn, Cropper and Jones reunited on numerous occasions using various drummers, including Willie Hall, Anton Fig, Steve Jordan and Steve Potts.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Having two white members (Cropper and Dunn), Booker T. & the M.G.'s was one of the first racially integrated rock groups, at a time when soul music, and the Memphis music scene in particular, were generally considered the preserve of black culture.
As part of the Concord Music Group’s initiative to reissue the seminal Stax catalog comes the 50th anniversary release of Booker T. & the M.G.s’ classic album Green Onions.
The main attraction is doubtless the title song, a favorite of the Blues Brothers which has also been covered by everybody from Henry Mancini to The Ventures. It’s the perfect convergence of organist Booker T. Jones, guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Lewis Steinberg and drummer Al Jackson, Jr., who also doubled as the Stax house band. (Donald “Duck” Dunn would later assume the bass reins from Steinberg.) For two minutes and 55 seconds, these sophisticated and versatile cats offer a deceptively simple instrumental master class.
The original 1962 LP’s twelve tracks conclusively prove that instrumental music can have as much soul as that coming from a powerhouse vocalist. It’s not an exaggeration to state that the backing of Booker T.’s band further inspired the supremely passionate singers at Stax; the group was every bit as solid as the Funk Brothers or the Wrecking Crew. Under their own name, Booker T & the M.G.s played on some 23 singles and 11 albums for the Memphis label.
Tracklist:
1. Green Onions [02:41]
2. Rinky-Dink [02:27]
3. I Got a Woman [03:20]
4. Mo’ Onions [02:41]
5. Twist and Shout [01:58]
6. Behave Yourself [03:44]
7. Stranger On the Shore [02:08]
8. Lonely Avenue [03:14]
9. One Who Really Loves You [02:11]
10. Can’t Sit Down [02:37]
11. A Woman, a Lover, a Friend [02:20]
12. Comin’ Home Baby [03:01]
13. Green Onions (Live from 5/4 Ballroom, Los Angeles/1965) [03:33]
14. Can’t Sit Down (Live from 5/4 Ballroom, Los Angeles/1965) [04:44]
Media Info:
Bitrate: 320 kbps
Channels: stereo
Samplerate: 44100
Encoder: LAME 3.99
MPEG-1 layer 3
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