Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Encyclopedia
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 has played with the group ever since. Al Jackson, Jr. was murdered in 1975. Since then, the trio of Dunn, Cropper and Jones have 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
.
, providing backing music for a variety of singers such as Wilson Pickett
and Otis Redding
. In summer 1962, seventeen-year-old keyboardist Booker T. Jones, twenty-year-old guitarist Steve Cropper, bass player Lewie Steinberg, and Al Jackson Jr., a drummer making his debut with the company, were in the Memphis studio to back up former Sun Records
star Billy Lee Riley
. During downtime, the four started playing around with a bluesy little organ ditty reminiscent of Ray Charles
. Jim Stewart
, the president of Stax Records, liked what he heard and hit the “record” button. He liked the finished product enough to want to release it. Cropper remembered a riff that Jones had come up with weeks earlier and before long, they had a second song.
Stewart wanted to release the single with the first song, titled “Behave Yourself”, as the A-side and the second song as the B-side. Steve Cropper and radio disc jockey
s thought otherwise; soon, Stax
released Booker T. & the M.G.'s' “Green Onions” backed with “Behave Yourself”. In conversation with BBC Radio 2
's Johnnie Walker
, on his show broadcast on September 7, 2008, Cropper revealed that the record became an instant success when DJ Reuben Washington, at Memphis radio station WLOK, played it four times in succession, this even before the tune or the band had an agreed-upon name.
The single went to #1 on the US
Billboard
R&B
chart
and #3 on the pop chart
. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
. It is featured in countless movies
/trailers including a pivotal scene in the motion picture American Graffiti
.
Later in 1962, the band released an all-instrumental album entitled Green Onions. Aside from the title track, a 'sequel' ("Mo' Onions") and "Behave Yourself", the album consisted of instrumental covers of popular hits.
Instrumental singles and albums would continue to be issued by Booker T. & The M.G.'s throughout the 1960s. However, although a successful recording combo in their own right, the bulk of the work done by the musicians in the band during this era was as the core of the de facto house band at Stax Records. Members of Booker T. & The M.G.'s (often, but not always, performing as a unit) performed as the studio backing band for Otis Redding
, Sam & Dave
, Albert King
, Johnnie Taylor
, Eddie Floyd
, The Staple Singers
, Wilson Pickett
, Delaney & Bonnie and many others in the 1960s.
They played on and produced hundreds of records, including classics like “Walking the Dog
”, “Hold On, I'm Comin'
” (on which the multi-instrumentalist Jones played tuba
over Donald “Duck” Dunn's bass line), “Soul Man
”, “Who's Making Love
”, “I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)”, and “Try a Little Tenderness
”, among others. Like their Motown contemporaries the Funk Brothers
in Detroit, as a backing band to numerous hits, they are thought to have defined soul music
—especially southern soul—where “the groove” was most important.
Though it's often assumed that Booker T. Jones played on all the above session work, in the mid-1960s Jones was often studying music full-time at Indiana University
. Stax
writer/producer Isaac Hayes
usually stepped in on the occasions when Jones was unavailable for session work, and on several sessions Jones and Hayes played together with one on organ, the other on piano. However, Hayes was never an official member of the M.G.'s, and Jones played on all the records credited to “Booker T. & The M.G.'s”—with one exception. That exception was the 1965 hit “Boot-Leg”, a studio jam recorded with Hayes on keyboards in Jones's place. According to Steve Cropper, the song was recorded with the intention of being released as by The Mar-Keys
(another name used to release singles by the Stax house band.) However, as recordings credited to Booker T. & The M.G.'s were meeting with greater commercial success than those credited to The Mar-Keys, the decision was made to credit “Boot-Leg” to Booker T. & The M.G.'s, even though Booker T. himself does not appear on the recording.
Individual session credits notwithstanding, what's indisputable is that the Stax house band (Cropper, Jackson, Jones, and Steinberg, along with Cropper's Mar-Keys bandmate, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn; keyboardist Isaac Hayes
; and various horn
players, most frequently Floyd Newman, Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love) would set a standard for soul music. Whereas the sign outside Detroit's pop
-oriented Motown Records
aptly read “Hitsville U.S.A.
”, the marquee outside of the converted movie theater where Stax was based proclaimed “Soulsville U.S.A.”.
After a period of commercial decline, Booker T. & The M.G.'s returned to the top 40 with the 1967 instrumental “Hip Hug-Her”. Surprisingly, “Hip Hug-Her” was the first single released with Jones on a Hammond B-3 organ, the instrument he is most known for playing (he played a Hammond M-3 on all of the earlier recordings, including "Green Onions"). They also had a substantial hit with their cover of The Rascals
' “Groovin'
”.
Also in 1967, they joined the now famed Stax
European tour. Dubbed “Hit the Road, Stax!”, they performed and backed up the label's stars. In June of that year, they, along with Otis Redding
, appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival
, alongside performers like Jimi Hendrix
, Janis Joplin
, The Who
, and Jefferson Airplane
. They were also later invited to play Woodstock
, but drummer Al Jackson, Jr. was worried about the helicopter needed to deliver them to the site, and so they decided not to play.
The Hip Hug-Her album was followed by Doin' Our Thing and Soul Limbo
. The song “Soul Limbo
”, featuring marimba by Terry Manning
, was a big hit (later used by the BBC
as their theme for cricket
coverage on both TV and, latterly, radio's “Test Match Special
”), as was their version of “Hang 'em High”. In 1969, the band scored their second biggest hit with “Time is Tight”, from the soundtrack
to the movie “Up Tight!
”, scored by Jones, which reached #6 on the Billboard pop charts.
In 1969, Duck Dunn and Booker T. Jones, in particular, had become enamored with The Beatles
, especially their work on Abbey Road. The appreciation was mutual, as The Beatles had patterned a lot of what they did on the M.G.'s. John Lennon
was a huge Stax
fan who fondly called the group, “Book a Table and the Maitre D's”. Paul McCartney
, like Dunn, played bass melodically, without straying from the rhythm or the groove. It was obvious through each of their playing that they admired one another. And as the story goes, after being locked away in the Memphis studio, when the company embarked on the “Hit the Road, Stax!” tour of 1967, The Beatles
sent limos to the airport and bent down to kiss Steve Cropper
's ring. The M.G.'s had no idea, until then, of the impact they were having on the rest of the world. Lennon was quoted as saying he always wanted to write an instrumental for the M.G.'s.
In 1970, Lennon's wish was granted, in a manner of speaking, as Jones, Dunn, and Jackson recorded McLemore Avenue
, named for the street where Stax was located. Jones later taught Cropper, who had not heard Abbey Road, what to play. They covered thirteen of Abbey Roads songs, condensing twelve of them into three medleys, and included a cover version
of George Harrison
's “Something
”. The album's cover, is indeed an intentional pastiche
of The Beatles' Abbey Road “street crossing” album cover.
During 1970 Booker T & The M.G.'s sat in with Creedence Clearwater Revival for a jam, and were the warm up band for CCR's Jan31 Oakland Colosseum gig that became 'The Concert' album for CCR. It is often suggested that John Fogerty's interest in putting Hammond B3 on the album "Pendulum" was a direct nod to Booker T and the mutual admiration both bands had for each other.
They followed up in 1971 with what would be their last Stax single, “Melting Pot”, and their last Stax album, also called Melting Pot
. “Melting Pot”'s repetitive groove-oriented drumming, loping bass line, and super-tight rhythm guitar made it an underground hit popular in New York City block parties. The song has often been sampled by rappers and techno
DJs.
Before the Melting Pot album was recorded, Booker T. Jones had left Stax. In fact, part of the album was recorded in New York, not the Stax studio. Steve Cropper had also become unhappy with business affairs at Stax and soon left. Dunn and Jackson remained on and did session
and production work. Jackson, who had been in Hi Records
producer Willie Mitchell's band, played on and wrote many of Al Green
's biggest hits.
Without Booker T., the group (billed simply as The MG's) released one final single in October 1971. Called "Jamaica This Morning", the single failed to chart, and the group name was retired for the time being.
In 1973, Dunn and Stax session
guitarist Bobby Manuel
recruited B-3 organ phenom Carson Whitsett
to be part of a band that was to back up a promising new Stax artist named Stefan Anderson. Later, Al Jackson was brought in. The project, however, did not ultimately yield any results, but the rehearsals were promising, prompting Jackson and Dunn to reform The M.G.'s. This version of the band featured Whitsett in the place of Booker T, so was billed “The MG's” rather than “Booker T. & The M.G.'s”.
The 1973 album entitled The MG's
, with Manuel and Whitsett replacing Cropper and Jones, was not commercially successful, though it was critically well received. Carson Whitsett
would go on to back up Bobby “Blue” Bland, Little Milton
, and Kathy Mattea
, and have his songs recorded by the likes of Johnnie Taylor
, Solomon Burke
, B. B. King
, Etta James
, Conway Twitty
, and Lorrie Morgan
. Bobby Manuel
would become a staple of the Memphis music scene playing with everybody from Al Green
to Albert King
and later founded HighStacks Records in a tribute to Stax and Hi Records
.
1975
After a promising meeting in late September 1975, Jones and Cropper (who were now living in Los Angeles) and Jackson and Dunn (still in Memphis), decided to give each other three months to finish up all of their projects. They would then devote three years to what would be renamed Booker T. Jones & the Memphis Group. Nine days later (October 1), Al Jackson, the man Cropper would remember as “the greatest drummer to ever walk the earth”, was murdered in his home.
1977
The remaining three members eventually regrouped under the classic name Booker T. & The MGs. Bringing in drummer Willie Hall
, a Stax session musician who played on many Stax hits (such as Isaac Hayes
's “Theme from Shaft”) as an official member, the group recorded the album Universal Language
for Asylum Records
in 1977. The album didn't meet with either commercial or critical success, and the band once again dissolved.
Over the next decade, Cropper, Dunn and Jones remained very active, producing, writing, and playing with other artists. All three joined The Band
's drummer Levon Helm
as part of his RCO All-Stars. In 1977, Cropper and Dunn famously became part of The Blues Brothers Band
, appearing on the number one album Briefcase Full of Blues
. Cropper and Dunn, along with drummer Willie Hall, also appeared in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers
starring Dan Aykroyd
and John Belushi
. Cropper, Dunn and Hall later reprised their roles in Blues Brothers 2000
.
featured Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn as part of the primary band which backed up the Blues Brothers.
In 1986, former co-owner of Atlantic Records
Jerry Wexler
asked the group to be the house band
for Atlantic Records
' 40th anniversary celebration. The night before the gig, Booker T. Jones came down with food poisoning, so Paul Shaffer
stepped in at the last minute. However, the rehearsals (with Jones, Cropper, Dunn, and drummer Anton Fig
of Shaffer's “World's Most Dangerous Band”, featured on Late Night with David Letterman
) went so well that the group decided to play some dates together.
Over the next few years, they played together occasionally. In 1992, Bob Dylan
asked them to again serve as house band, this time at the concert
commemorating his thirty years in the music business. There, they backed up Dylan, Stevie Wonder
, Johnny Cash
, Eric Clapton
, and even Pearl Jam
's Eddie Vedder
. While there, Neil Young
asked the group to back him up on his world tour the following year.
Also in 1992, Booker T. & The M.G.'s were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
.
In 1994, the group recorded its first album in 17 years, called That's The Way It Should Be
. Steve Jordan was the featured drummer on most tracks.
In 1995, when the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame opened its museum in Cleveland, Ohio, the M.G.'s served as the house band
for the opening ceremonies, playing behind Aretha Franklin
, Sam Moore
, John Fogerty
, and Al Green
, as well as performing themselves.
Jones, Dunn, and Al Jackson Jr.'s cousin, drummer Steve Potts, backed Neil Young
on his 2002 album Are You Passionate?
. Cropper, along with Isaac Hayes
and Sam Moore
, welcomed Stax
president Jim Stewart
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 2002. Cropper and Hayes were later inducted in The Songwriters Hall of Fame. Booker T. & The M.G.'s, usually with Steve Potts on drums, still play select dates. They have been called the most influential stylists in modern American music. In early 2008 they toured with Australian singer Guy Sebastian
in Australia on a sold-out tour.
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the group #93 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and in 2007, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
.
Also in 2004, Eric Clapton featured Booker T., Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn as his house band for the first "Crossroads Guitar Festival". The event was held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and featured many of the legends of various musical genres who play guitar as their primary instrument. Booker T. and the MGs was the back up band for several great acts which Clapton presented "live" for that two day festival and subsequently on the 2 disc DVD version of the show.
On April 21, 2009, Booker T. released Potato Hole
, a new album in collaboration with the band Drive-By Truckers
and featuring Neil Young on guitar
. However, this proved not to be the case.
Musician and record producer Chips Moman
, active in Stax Records when the band was formed, for many years claimed that the band was named after his MG sports car, and only after he left the label did Stax's publicity department declare that “M.G.” stood for “Memphis Group”. To lend some credibility to this story, Moman had played with Jones in an earlier Stax backing group called the Triumphs, which was also named after his car
. Stax historian Rob Bowman avers that the reason the label obscured the story of the meaning of name “The M.G.'s” (and concocted the “Memphis Group” explanation) was to avoid any possible claims of trademark infringement from the manufacturers of the car. Jones, in an interview on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, confirmed Moman's account of the group name's origins in 2007.
Singles
1979
|Green Onions
| Atlantic
| Soul Limbo
| #07
NOTE: Through a period between late 1963 and early 1965, Billboard Magazine did not publish an R&B singles chart. R&B chart figures for this era are from Cashbox magazine.
Instrumental rock
Instrumental rock is a type of rock music which emphasizes musical instruments, and which features very little or no singing.Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style, most notably Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Link...
R&B band that was influential in shaping the sound of southern soul
Southern soul
Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues , country, early rock and roll, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern African-American churches. The focus of the...
and Memphis soul
Memphis soul
Memphis soul, also known as Memphis Sound, is stylish, funky, uptown soul music that is not as hard-edged as Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, bass, and a driving...
. Original members of the group were Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones
Booker T. Jones is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. and the MGs. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime...
(organ, piano), Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
(guitar), Lewie Steinberg
Lewie Steinberg
Lewie Steinberg is an American musician best known as the original bass guitar player for soul music group Booker T. & the M.G.'s....
(bass), and Al Jackson, Jr. (drums). In the 1960s, as members of the house band of Stax Records
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists such as Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
, Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, Bill Withers
Bill Withers
William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...
, Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor voice was Samuel David Moore , and the baritone/tenor voice was Dave Prater .Sam & Dave are members of...
, Carla
Carla Thomas
Carla Thomas is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas.-Childhood:...
and Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas
Rufus Thomas, Jr. was an American rhythm and blues, funk and soul singer and comedian fromMemphis, Tennessee, who recorded on Sun Records in the...
and Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an American vocalist in a wide variety of genres, from rhythm and blues, soul, blues and gospel to pop, doo-wop and disco.-Early years:...
. They also released instrumental records under their own name, such as the 1962 hit single "Green Onions
Green Onions
Green Onions is the debut album by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, released on Stax Records in October of 1962. It reached number 33 on the Pop Albums chart in the month of its release...
". 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 has played with the group ever since. Al Jackson, Jr. was murdered in 1975. Since then, the trio of Dunn, Cropper and Jones have reunited on numerous occasions using various drummers, including Willie Hall
Willie Hall (drummer)
Willie "Too Big" Hall was born August 8, 1950, in Memphis, Tennessee. He began his career as a drummer in 1965, while still in high school. He played with the Bar-Kays band and Isaac Hayes's band The Movement...
, Anton Fig
Anton Fig
Anton Fig , known as "The Thunder from Down Under" is a session drummer, noted for his work in David Letterman's house band, the CBS Orchestra. Letterman often refers to Fig as "Anton Zip"or "Buddy Rich Jr."...
, Steve Jordan
Steve Jordan (musician)
Steve Jordan is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, musical director and Grammy Award-winning artist, who has made a name for himself as a producer from the Bronx in New York City. A graduate of the Fiorello H...
and Steve Potts.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in 1992.
Having two white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
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
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, and the Memphis music scene in particular, were generally considered the preserve of black culture
African American culture
African-American culture, also known as black culture, in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of Americans of African descent to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture. The distinct identity of African-American culture is rooted in...
.
Early years: 1962-1964
The band was formed as the house band of Stax RecordsStax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
, providing backing music for a variety of singers such as Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
and Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
. In summer 1962, seventeen-year-old keyboardist Booker T. Jones, twenty-year-old guitarist Steve Cropper, bass player Lewie Steinberg, and Al Jackson Jr., a drummer making his debut with the company, were in the Memphis studio to back up former Sun Records
Sun Records
Sun Records is a record label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, starting operations on March 27, 1952.Founded by Sam Phillips, Sun Records was known for giving notable musicians such as Elvis Presley , Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash...
star Billy Lee Riley
Billy Lee Riley
Billy Lee Riley was an American rockabilly musician, singer, record producer and songwriter. His most memorable recordings included "Rock With Me Baby," and "Red Hot".-Biography:...
. During downtime, the four started playing around with a bluesy little organ ditty reminiscent of Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
. Jim Stewart
Jim Stewart (music)
Jim Stewart is a former record company executive and producer who co-founded Stax Records.- Biography :Raised on a farm in Middleton, Tennessee, Stewart moved to Memphis in 1948, after graduating from high school. He worked at Sears, at First National Bank, and then was drafted into the United...
, the president of Stax Records, liked what he heard and hit the “record” button. He liked the finished product enough to want to release it. Cropper remembered a riff that Jones had come up with weeks earlier and before long, they had a second song.
Stewart wanted to release the single with the first song, titled “Behave Yourself”, as the A-side and the second song as the B-side. Steve Cropper and radio disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s thought otherwise; soon, Stax
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
released Booker T. & the M.G.'s' “Green Onions” backed with “Behave Yourself”. In conversation with BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
's Johnnie Walker
Johnnie Walker (DJ)
Johnnie Walker MBE is a popular British veteran radio disc jockey and broadcaster....
, on his show broadcast on September 7, 2008, Cropper revealed that the record became an instant success when DJ Reuben Washington, at Memphis radio station WLOK, played it four times in succession, this even before the tune or the band had an agreed-upon name.
The single went to #1 on the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
and #3 on the pop chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. It is featured in countless movies
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
/trailers including a pivotal scene in the motion picture American Graffiti
American Graffiti
American Graffiti is a 1973 coming of age film co-written/directed by George Lucas starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips and Harrison Ford...
.
Later in 1962, the band released an all-instrumental album entitled Green Onions. Aside from the title track, a 'sequel' ("Mo' Onions") and "Behave Yourself", the album consisted of instrumental covers of popular hits.
Instrumental singles and albums would continue to be issued by Booker T. & The M.G.'s throughout the 1960s. However, although a successful recording combo in their own right, the bulk of the work done by the musicians in the band during this era was as the core of the de facto house band at Stax Records. Members of Booker T. & The M.G.'s (often, but not always, performing as a unit) performed as the studio backing band for Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave
Sam & Dave were an American soul and rhythm and blues duo who performed together from 1961 through 1981. The tenor voice was Samuel David Moore , and the baritone/tenor voice was Dave Prater .Sam & Dave are members of...
, Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
, Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an American vocalist in a wide variety of genres, from rhythm and blues, soul, blues and gospel to pop, doo-wop and disco.-Early years:...
, Eddie Floyd
Eddie Floyd
Eddie Lee Floyd is an American soul/R&B singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s and the song "Knock on Wood".-Biography:...
, The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples , the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha , Pervis , Yvonne , and Mavis...
, Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
, Delaney & Bonnie and many others in the 1960s.
They played on and produced hundreds of records, including classics like “Walking the Dog
Walking the Dog
"Walking the Dog" is a Rufus Thomas song. It was released on his 1963 album Walking the Dog. It was his signature hit and also his biggest, reaching number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 1963 and remaining on the Hot 100 for 14 weeks...
”, “Hold On, I'm Comin'
Hold On, I'm Comin' (song)
"Hold On, I'm Comin" is a 1966 single recorded by soul duo Sam & Dave, issued on the Atlantic-distributed Stax label in 1966.The song was written by the songwriting team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, who came up with the title of the song...
” (on which the multi-instrumentalist Jones played tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
over Donald “Duck” Dunn's bass line), “Soul Man
Soul Man
Soul Man may refer to:*"Soul Man" , a hit song by Sam & Dave from 1967*Soul Man , a 1986 film starring C. Thomas Howell*Soul Man , a 2006 album by X Factor runner-up Andy Abraham...
”, “Who's Making Love
Who's Making Love
"Who's Making Love" is a single recorded by singer Johnnie Taylor and released on the Stax label in the late summer of 1968. The single became Taylor's breakthrough single, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and number five on the Billboard Hot 100. It became one of the few...
”, “I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)”, and “Try a Little Tenderness
Try a Little Tenderness
"Try a Little Tenderness" is a love song written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods, and recorded initially on December 8, 1932 by the Ray Noble Orchestra followed by both Ruth Etting and Bing Crosby in 1933...
”, among others. Like their Motown contemporaries the Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
in Detroit, as a backing band to numerous hits, they are thought to have defined soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
—especially southern soul—where “the groove” was most important.
Though it's often assumed that Booker T. Jones played on all the above session work, in the mid-1960s Jones was often studying music full-time at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
. Stax
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
writer/producer Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
usually stepped in on the occasions when Jones was unavailable for session work, and on several sessions Jones and Hayes played together with one on organ, the other on piano. However, Hayes was never an official member of the M.G.'s, and Jones played on all the records credited to “Booker T. & The M.G.'s”—with one exception. That exception was the 1965 hit “Boot-Leg”, a studio jam recorded with Hayes on keyboards in Jones's place. According to Steve Cropper, the song was recorded with the intention of being released as by The Mar-Keys
The Mar-Keys
The Mar-Keys, formed in 1958, were an American studio session band for the Stax label from Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960s. As the first house band for the label, their backing music formed the foundation for the early 1960s Stax sound.-Career:...
(another name used to release singles by the Stax house band.) However, as recordings credited to Booker T. & The M.G.'s were meeting with greater commercial success than those credited to The Mar-Keys, the decision was made to credit “Boot-Leg” to Booker T. & The M.G.'s, even though Booker T. himself does not appear on the recording.
Individual session credits notwithstanding, what's indisputable is that the Stax house band (Cropper, Jackson, Jones, and Steinberg, along with Cropper's Mar-Keys bandmate, bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn; keyboardist Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
; and various horn
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
players, most frequently Floyd Newman, Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love) would set a standard for soul music. Whereas the sign outside Detroit's pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
-oriented Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
aptly read “Hitsville U.S.A.
Hitsville U.S.A.
"Hitsville U.S.A." is the nickname given to Motown's first headquarters. A former photographers' studio located at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan, it was purchased by Motown founder Berry Gordy in 1959 and converted into both the record label's administrative building and recording...
”, the marquee outside of the converted movie theater where Stax was based proclaimed “Soulsville U.S.A.”.
Later success: 1965–1971
Booker T. & The M.G.'s consistently issued singles from 1963 to 1965, but only a few made the charts, and none were as successful as “Green Onions”. Bassist Lewie Steinberg, who was from a family of musicians, recorded with the band through 1965, including their second album 1965's Soul Dressing. Where the Green Onions album was cover-filled, every song but one on Soul Dressing was an original. Nevertheless, the chemistry—musically and personally—wasn't quite right. Steinberg stepped aside, and Donald “Duck” Dunn (who was already part of Stax's house band) became the group's full-time bassist.After a period of commercial decline, Booker T. & The M.G.'s returned to the top 40 with the 1967 instrumental “Hip Hug-Her”. Surprisingly, “Hip Hug-Her” was the first single released with Jones on a Hammond B-3 organ, the instrument he is most known for playing (he played a Hammond M-3 on all of the earlier recordings, including "Green Onions"). They also had a substantial hit with their cover of The Rascals
The Rascals
The Rascals were an American blue-eyed soul group initially active during the years 1965–72. The band released numerous top ten singles in North America during the mid- and late-1960s, including the U.S. #1 hits "Good Lovin'" , "Groovin'" , and "People Got to Be Free"...
' “Groovin'
Groovin'
"Groovin" is a single released in 1967 by The Young Rascals that became a number-one hit and one of the group's signature songs.Written by group members Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati and with a lead vocal from Cavaliere, it is indeed a slow, relaxed groove, based on Cavaliere's newfound...
”.
Also in 1967, they joined the now famed Stax
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
European tour. Dubbed “Hit the Road, Stax!”, they performed and backed up the label's stars. In June of that year, they, along with Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
, appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival
Monterey Pop Festival
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival was a three-day concert event held June 16 to June 18, 1967 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California...
, alongside performers like Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, and Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane
Jefferson Airplane was an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1965. A pioneer of the psychedelic rock movement, Jefferson Airplane was the first band from the San Francisco scene to achieve mainstream commercial and critical success....
. They were also later invited to play Woodstock
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
, but drummer Al Jackson, Jr. was worried about the helicopter needed to deliver them to the site, and so they decided not to play.
The Hip Hug-Her album was followed by Doin' Our Thing and Soul Limbo
Soul Limbo
Soul Limbo is the eighth album by Booker T. & the MGs, released in 1968 on Stax Records. The album was the first Stax LP issued after the label severed its ties with former distributor Atlantic Records in 1968....
. The song “Soul Limbo
Soul Limbo
Soul Limbo is the eighth album by Booker T. & the MGs, released in 1968 on Stax Records. The album was the first Stax LP issued after the label severed its ties with former distributor Atlantic Records in 1968....
”, featuring marimba by Terry Manning
Terry Manning
Terry Manning is a music producer, songwriter, photographer and recording engineer known for work in rock, rhythm and blues, and pop music genres....
, was a big hit (later used by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
as their theme for cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
coverage on both TV and, latterly, radio's “Test Match Special
Test Match Special
Test Match Special is a British radio programme covering professional cricket, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 , Five Live Sports Extra and the internet to the United Kingdom and the rest of the world...
”), as was their version of “Hang 'em High”. In 1969, the band scored their second biggest hit with “Time is Tight”, from the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to the movie “Up Tight!
Up Tight!
Up Tight! is a 1968 American drama film directed by Jules Dassin. It was intended as an updated version of John Ford's 1935 film, The Informer, but the setting was transposed from Dublin, Ireland to Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The soundtrack was performed by Booker T...
”, scored by Jones, which reached #6 on the Billboard pop charts.
In 1969, Duck Dunn and Booker T. Jones, in particular, had become enamored with The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, especially their work on Abbey Road. The appreciation was mutual, as The Beatles had patterned a lot of what they did on the M.G.'s. John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
was a huge Stax
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
fan who fondly called the group, “Book a Table and the Maitre D's”. Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, like Dunn, played bass melodically, without straying from the rhythm or the groove. It was obvious through each of their playing that they admired one another. And as the story goes, after being locked away in the Memphis studio, when the company embarked on the “Hit the Road, Stax!” tour of 1967, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
sent limos to the airport and bent down to kiss Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper
Steve Cropper , also known as Steve "The Colonel" Cropper, is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T...
's ring. The M.G.'s had no idea, until then, of the impact they were having on the rest of the world. Lennon was quoted as saying he always wanted to write an instrumental for the M.G.'s.
In 1970, Lennon's wish was granted, in a manner of speaking, as Jones, Dunn, and Jackson recorded McLemore Avenue
McLemore Avenue
McLemore Avenue is a 1970 album by Booker T. & the MGs consisting entirely of mostly instrumental covers of songs from the Beatles' album Abbey Road...
, named for the street where Stax was located. Jones later taught Cropper, who had not heard Abbey Road, what to play. They covered thirteen of Abbey Roads songs, condensing twelve of them into three medleys, and included a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
's “Something
Something
"Something" is a song by The Beatles, written by lead guitarist George Harrison in 1969. It was featured on the album Abbey Road, and was also the first song written by Harrison to appear on the A-side of a Beatles' single...
”. The album's cover, is indeed an intentional pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of The Beatles' Abbey Road “street crossing” album cover.
During 1970 Booker T & The M.G.'s sat in with Creedence Clearwater Revival for a jam, and were the warm up band for CCR's Jan31 Oakland Colosseum gig that became 'The Concert' album for CCR. It is often suggested that John Fogerty's interest in putting Hammond B3 on the album "Pendulum" was a direct nod to Booker T and the mutual admiration both bands had for each other.
They followed up in 1971 with what would be their last Stax single, “Melting Pot”, and their last Stax album, also called Melting Pot
Melting Pot (Booker T album)
Melting Pot is a 1971 studio album recorded by Booker T. & the MG's for Stax Records. It is the last album to feature the group's classic lineup of Jones, Cropper, Dunn, and Jackson, and featured longer jam-oriented songs for the first time on an MG's album.-Background:By 1970, band leader Booker T...
. “Melting Pot”'s repetitive groove-oriented drumming, loping bass line, and super-tight rhythm guitar made it an underground hit popular in New York City block parties. The song has often been sampled by rappers and techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
DJs.
Before the Melting Pot album was recorded, Booker T. Jones had left Stax. In fact, part of the album was recorded in New York, not the Stax studio. Steve Cropper had also become unhappy with business affairs at Stax and soon left. Dunn and Jackson remained on and did session
Session
-Bureaucracy:*Executive session, a portion of the United States Senate's daily session*Legislative session*Session *Session , a governing body in Presbyterian polity*Court of Session, the supreme civil court of Scotland...
and production work. Jackson, who had been in Hi Records
Hi Records
Hi Records was a Memphis soul and rockabilly label started in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch , and three silent partners, including Cuoghi's lawyer, Nick Pesce....
producer Willie Mitchell's band, played on and wrote many of Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
's biggest hits.
Without Booker T., the group (billed simply as The MG's) released one final single in October 1971. Called "Jamaica This Morning", the single failed to chart, and the group name was retired for the time being.
1970s reunions
1973In 1973, Dunn and Stax session
Session
-Bureaucracy:*Executive session, a portion of the United States Senate's daily session*Legislative session*Session *Session , a governing body in Presbyterian polity*Court of Session, the supreme civil court of Scotland...
guitarist Bobby Manuel
Bobby Manuel
Bobby Manuel is an American guitarist. He was hired by Stax Records in the late 1960s as an engineer and also quickly began doing studio work as a guitarist, becoming one of the company's most dependable and oft-used session players....
recruited B-3 organ phenom Carson Whitsett
Carson Whitsett
Carson Whitsett was an American keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer.-Biography:...
to be part of a band that was to back up a promising new Stax artist named Stefan Anderson. Later, Al Jackson was brought in. The project, however, did not ultimately yield any results, but the rehearsals were promising, prompting Jackson and Dunn to reform The M.G.'s. This version of the band featured Whitsett in the place of Booker T, so was billed “The MG's” rather than “Booker T. & The M.G.'s”.
The 1973 album entitled The MG's
The MG's (album)
The MG's is a 1973 album recorded by The MG's for Stax Records. Both frontman Booker T. Jones and guitarist Steve Cropper were estranged from Stax by 1973. Remaining members Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson, Jr. recruited Bobby Manuel to replace Cropper and Carson Whitsett to replace Jones...
, with Manuel and Whitsett replacing Cropper and Jones, was not commercially successful, though it was critically well received. Carson Whitsett
Carson Whitsett
Carson Whitsett was an American keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer.-Biography:...
would go on to back up Bobby “Blue” Bland, Little Milton
Little Milton
James Milton Campbell, Jr. , better known as Little Milton, was an American electric blues, rhythm and blues, and soul singer and guitarist, best known for his hit records "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Gonna Make It."-Biography:Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi...
, and Kathy Mattea
Kathy Mattea
Kathleen Alice "Kathy" Mattea is an American country music and bluegrass performer who often brings folk, Celtic and traditional country sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a recording artist, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot...
, and have his songs recorded by the likes of Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Taylor
Johnnie Harrison Taylor was an American vocalist in a wide variety of genres, from rhythm and blues, soul, blues and gospel to pop, doo-wop and disco.-Early years:...
, Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke
Solomon Burke was an American singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, mortician, and an archbishop of the United House of Prayer For All People. Burke was known as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", and as the "Bishop of Soul", and described as "the Muhammad Ali of soul", and as "the most...
, B. B. King
B. B. King
Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
, Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
, Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty
Conway Twitty , born Harold Lloyd Jenkins, was an American country music artist. He also had success in early rock and roll, R&B, and pop music. He held the record for the most number one singles of any act with 55 No. 1 Billboard country hits until George Strait broke the record in 2006...
, and Lorrie Morgan
Lorrie Morgan
In 1996 Morgan married Jon Randall, a singer/songwriter now credited with writing the 2004 Brad Paisley/Alison Krauss hit "Whiskey Lullaby"; they divorced three years later in 1999....
. Bobby Manuel
Bobby Manuel
Bobby Manuel is an American guitarist. He was hired by Stax Records in the late 1960s as an engineer and also quickly began doing studio work as a guitarist, becoming one of the company's most dependable and oft-used session players....
would become a staple of the Memphis music scene playing with everybody from Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
to Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...
and later founded HighStacks Records in a tribute to Stax and Hi Records
Hi Records
Hi Records was a Memphis soul and rockabilly label started in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch , and three silent partners, including Cuoghi's lawyer, Nick Pesce....
.
1975
After a promising meeting in late September 1975, Jones and Cropper (who were now living in Los Angeles) and Jackson and Dunn (still in Memphis), decided to give each other three months to finish up all of their projects. They would then devote three years to what would be renamed Booker T. Jones & the Memphis Group. Nine days later (October 1), Al Jackson, the man Cropper would remember as “the greatest drummer to ever walk the earth”, was murdered in his home.
1977
The remaining three members eventually regrouped under the classic name Booker T. & The MGs. Bringing in drummer Willie Hall
Willie Hall (drummer)
Willie "Too Big" Hall was born August 8, 1950, in Memphis, Tennessee. He began his career as a drummer in 1965, while still in high school. He played with the Bar-Kays band and Isaac Hayes's band The Movement...
, a Stax session musician who played on many Stax hits (such as Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
's “Theme from Shaft”) as an official member, the group recorded the album Universal Language
Universal Language (Booker T album)
Universal Language is a 1977 album by southern soul band Booker T. & the MGs. The album was recorded for Asylum Records, following the demise of Stax Records, of which the MG's were an integral element, in 1975....
for Asylum Records
Asylum Records
Asylum Records is an American record label founded in 1971 by David Geffen, and partner Elliot Roberts, who had previously worked as agents at the William Morris Agency. Founded specifically to provide a record contract for Jackson Browne, the label signed Tom Waits, Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell...
in 1977. The album didn't meet with either commercial or critical success, and the band once again dissolved.
Over the next decade, Cropper, Dunn and Jones remained very active, producing, writing, and playing with other artists. All three joined The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
's drummer Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
as part of his RCO All-Stars. In 1977, Cropper and Dunn famously became part of The Blues Brothers Band
The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band founded in 1978 by comedy actors Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as part of a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live...
, appearing on the number one album Briefcase Full of Blues
Briefcase Full of Blues
-External links:* *...
. Cropper and Dunn, along with drummer Willie Hall, also appeared in the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers (film)
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James...
starring Dan Aykroyd
Dan Aykroyd
Daniel Edward "Dan" Aykroyd, CM is a Canadian comedian, actor, screenwriter, musician, winemaker and ufologist. He was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live, an originator of The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters and has had a long career as a film actor and screenwriter.-Early...
and John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
. Cropper, Dunn and Hall later reprised their roles in Blues Brothers 2000
Blues Brothers 2000
Blues Brothers 2000 is a 1998 American musical comedy film that is a sequel to the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. Directed by John Landis, the film featured Dan Aykroyd and John Goodman, with cameos by many musicians.-Plot:...
.
1980s to the present
In 1980 the hit feature film The Blues BrothersThe Blues Brothers (film)
The Blues Brothers is a 1980 musical comedy film directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd as "Joliet" Jake and Elwood Blues, characters developed from a musical sketch on the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live. It features musical numbers by R&B and soul singers James...
featured Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn as part of the primary band which backed up the Blues Brothers.
In 1986, former co-owner of Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
Jerry Wexler
Jerry Wexler
Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
asked the group to be the house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
for Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
' 40th anniversary celebration. The night before the gig, Booker T. Jones came down with food poisoning, so Paul Shaffer
Paul Shaffer
Paul Allen Wood Shaffer, CM is a Canadian musician, actor, voice actor, author, comedian, and composer who has been David Letterman's sidekick since 1982.-Early years:...
stepped in at the last minute. However, the rehearsals (with Jones, Cropper, Dunn, and drummer Anton Fig
Anton Fig
Anton Fig , known as "The Thunder from Down Under" is a session drummer, noted for his work in David Letterman's house band, the CBS Orchestra. Letterman often refers to Fig as "Anton Zip"or "Buddy Rich Jr."...
of Shaffer's “World's Most Dangerous Band”, featured on Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
) went so well that the group decided to play some dates together.
Over the next few years, they played together occasionally. In 1992, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
asked them to again serve as house band, this time at the concert
The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration is a live double-album release in recognition of Bob Dylan's 30 years as a recording artist. Recorded on October 16, 1992 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it captures most of the concert, which featured many artists performing classic Dylan songs,...
commemorating his thirty years in the music business. There, they backed up Dylan, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, and even Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
's Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
. While there, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
asked the group to back him up on his world tour the following year.
Also in 1992, Booker T. & The M.G.'s were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
.
In 1994, the group recorded its first album in 17 years, called That's The Way It Should Be
That's the Way It Should Be
That's The Way It Should Be is the final album by Booker T. & the MGs. Original drummer Al Jackson, Jr having been murdered many years before, the drummer on this album was Steve Jordan...
. Steve Jordan was the featured drummer on most tracks.
In 1995, when the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame opened its museum in Cleveland, Ohio, the M.G.'s served as the house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
for the opening ceremonies, playing behind Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Sam Moore
Sam Moore
Samuel David Moore is an American Southern Soul and Rhythm & Blues singer who was the tenor vocalist for the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave from 1961 through 1981...
, John Fogerty
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
, and Al Green
Al Green
Albert Greene , better known as Al Green, is an American gospel and soul music singer. He reached the peak of his popularity in the 1970s, with hit singles such as "You Oughta Be With Me", "I'm Still In Love With You", "Love and Happiness", and "Let's Stay Together"...
, as well as performing themselves.
Jones, Dunn, and Al Jackson Jr.'s cousin, drummer Steve Potts, backed Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
on his 2002 album Are You Passionate?
Are You Passionate?
Are You Passionate? is the twenty-sixth studio album by Canadian musician Neil Young, the only album to feature Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and his eighth with Crazy Horse, released in 2002. It represents Young's foray into soul music, not sounding like anything he had previously released...
. Cropper, along with Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
and Sam Moore
Sam Moore
Samuel David Moore is an American Southern Soul and Rhythm & Blues singer who was the tenor vocalist for the soul vocal duo Sam & Dave from 1961 through 1981...
, welcomed Stax
Stax Records
Stax Records is an American record label, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee.Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the name Stax Records was adopted in 1961. The label was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and...
president Jim Stewart
Jim Stewart (music)
Jim Stewart is a former record company executive and producer who co-founded Stax Records.- Biography :Raised on a farm in Middleton, Tennessee, Stewart moved to Memphis in 1948, after graduating from high school. He worked at Sears, at First National Bank, and then was drafted into the United...
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in 2002. Cropper and Hayes were later inducted in The Songwriters Hall of Fame. Booker T. & The M.G.'s, usually with Steve Potts on drums, still play select dates. They have been called the most influential stylists in modern American music. In early 2008 they toured with Australian singer Guy Sebastian
Guy Sebastian
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian pop, R&B, and soul singer-songwriter who was the first winner of Australian Idol in 2003. He is currently a judge on the Australian version of The X Factor. Sebastian has released six top ten platinum/multi platinum albums, including a number-one and...
in Australia on a sold-out tour.
In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the group #93 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and in 2007, the group received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is awarded by the Recording Academy to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording."...
.
Also in 2004, Eric Clapton featured Booker T., Steve Cropper and Donald "Duck" Dunn as his house band for the first "Crossroads Guitar Festival". The event was held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas and featured many of the legends of various musical genres who play guitar as their primary instrument. Booker T. and the MGs was the back up band for several great acts which Clapton presented "live" for that two day festival and subsequently on the 2 disc DVD version of the show.
On April 21, 2009, Booker T. released Potato Hole
Potato Hole
Potato Hole is a 2009 album by Booker T. Jones, recorded with Drive-By Truckers as the backing band and guitar accompaniment by Neil Young. The album was nominated for two Grammy awards: the album itself for Best Pop Instrumental Album, and the track "Warped Sister" for Best Rock InstrumentalOn...
, a new album in collaboration with the band Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country/Southern rock band based in Athens, Georgia, though three out of six members are originally from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama, and the band strongly identifies with Alabama. Their music uses three guitars as well as bass, drums, and now...
and featuring Neil Young on guitar
Name
For many years, the "official" story was that the band name "The M.G.'s" was meant to stand for "Memphis Group", not the MG sports carMG (car)
The MG Car Company is a former British sports car manufacturer founded in the 1920s by Cecil Kimber. Best known for its two-seat open sports cars, MG also produced saloons and coupés....
. However, this proved not to be the case.
Musician and record producer Chips Moman
Chips Moman
Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s...
, active in Stax Records when the band was formed, for many years claimed that the band was named after his MG sports car, and only after he left the label did Stax's publicity department declare that “M.G.” stood for “Memphis Group”. To lend some credibility to this story, Moman had played with Jones in an earlier Stax backing group called the Triumphs, which was also named after his car
Triumph Motor Company
The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor manufacturing company. The Triumph marque is owned currently by BMW. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann of Nuremberg initiated S. Bettmann & Co and started importing bicycles from Europe and selling them with his own...
. Stax historian Rob Bowman avers that the reason the label obscured the story of the meaning of name “The M.G.'s” (and concocted the “Memphis Group” explanation) was to avoid any possible claims of trademark infringement from the manufacturers of the car. Jones, in an interview on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, confirmed Moman's account of the group name's origins in 2007.
Discography
Albums- 1962: Green Onions
- 1965: Soul DressingSoul DressingSoul Dressing was the second album by soul band Booker T. & the M.G.'s, released in March 1965.-Track listings:All songs written by Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Jr., Booker T...
- 1966: And Now!And Now! (Booker T album)And Now! was the third studio album released by southern soul band Booker T & The MGs, released in November 1966. It is notable as the first MGs album featuring bassist Duck Dunn on every track. “My Sweet Potato” was the only track released as a single with the non album cut “Booker Loo” as its...
- 1966: In The Christmas SpiritIn the Christmas Spirit (Booker T album)In the Christmas Spirit was the fourth album by southern soul band Booker T & The MGs, also released in November 1966. The album features traditional Christmas carols and songs performed by Booker T & The MGs.-Side one:...
- 1967: Hip Hug-HerHip Hug-HerHip Hug-Her is a soul album by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, released on Stax Records in June of 1967. The title track was the band's most successful single since their debut "Green Onions". Their cover of The Young Rascals song "Groovin was also a hit .-Side one:# "Hip Hug-Her" Hip Hug-Her is a soul...
- 1967: Back To Back (live album)
- 1968: Doin' Our ThingDoin' Our ThingDoin' Our Thing is the sixth studio album by R&B band Booker T & The MGs, released in February 1968. The album charted at number 176 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart.-Track listings:#"I Can Dig It" – 2:42...
- 1968: Soul LimboSoul LimboSoul Limbo is the eighth album by Booker T. & the MGs, released in 1968 on Stax Records. The album was the first Stax LP issued after the label severed its ties with former distributor Atlantic Records in 1968....
- 1969: Up Tight (soundtrack)
- 1969: The Booker T SetThe Booker T Set-Track listings:#"The Horse" #"Love Child" #"Sing a Simple Song" #"Lady Madonna" #"Mrs...
- 1970: McLemore AvenueMcLemore AvenueMcLemore Avenue is a 1970 album by Booker T. & the MGs consisting entirely of mostly instrumental covers of songs from the Beatles' album Abbey Road...
- 1971: Melting PotMelting Pot (Booker T album)Melting Pot is a 1971 studio album recorded by Booker T. & the MG's for Stax Records. It is the last album to feature the group's classic lineup of Jones, Cropper, Dunn, and Jackson, and featured longer jam-oriented songs for the first time on an MG's album.-Background:By 1970, band leader Booker T...
- 1973: The MG'sThe MG's (album)The MG's is a 1973 album recorded by The MG's for Stax Records. Both frontman Booker T. Jones and guitarist Steve Cropper were estranged from Stax by 1973. Remaining members Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson, Jr. recruited Bobby Manuel to replace Cropper and Carson Whitsett to replace Jones...
(released by The MG's) - 1977: Universal LanguageUniversal Language (Booker T album)Universal Language is a 1977 album by southern soul band Booker T. & the MGs. The album was recorded for Asylum Records, following the demise of Stax Records, of which the MG's were an integral element, in 1975....
- 1994: That's The Way It Should BeThat's the Way It Should BeThat's The Way It Should Be is the final album by Booker T. & the MGs. Original drummer Al Jackson, Jr having been murdered many years before, the drummer on this album was Steve Jordan...
Singles
| US release date | A-side | B-side | Label | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B | UK | Notes | ||||
| 08/1962 | Green Onions | Behave Yourself | Volt V-102 | #3 | #1 | #7 | Also issued as Stax S-127. |
| 01/1963 | Jellybread | Aw' Mercy | Stax S-131 | #82 | |||
| 02/1963 | Home Grown | Burnt Biscuits | Stax S-134 | Also issued with "Big Train" as B-side. | |||
| 06/1963 | Chinese Checkers | Plum Nellie | Stax S-137 | #78 | |||
| 12/1963 | Mo' Onions | Fannie Mae | Stax S-142 | #97 | Same catalog number used for "Tic-Tac-Toe", below. | ||
| 01/1964 | Tic-Tac-Toe | Mo' Onions | Stax S-142 | #109 | #46 | ||
| 07/1964 | Soul Dressing | MG Party | Stax S-153 | #95 | |||
| 11/1964 | Can't Be Still | Terrible Thing | Stax S-161 | ||||
| 04/1965 | Boot-Leg | Outrage | Stax S-169 | #58 | #10 | ||
| 11/1965 | Be My Lady | Red Beans and Rice | Stax S-182 | ||||
| 07/1966 | My Sweet Potato | Stax S-196 | #85 | #18 | |||
| Booker-Loo | Stax S-196 | #37 | |||||
| 12/1966 | Jingle Bells | Winter Wonderland | Stax S-203 | “Jingle Bells” peaked at #20 on Billboard's list of Christmas-related singles in 1966. It did not make the standard pop charts. | |||
| 02/1967 | Hip Hug-Her | Summertime | Stax S-211 | #37 | #6 | ||
| 06/1967 | Groovin' | Stax S-224 | #21 | #10 | |||
| Slim Jenkins' Place | Stax S-224 | #70 | |||||
| 12/1967 | Silver Bells | Winter Snow | Stax S-236 | ||||
| 05/1968 | Soul Limbo | Heads or Tails | Stax STA-0001 | #17 | #30 | ||
| 10/1968 | Hang 'Em High | Over Easy | Stax STA-0013 | #9 | #35 | ||
| 02/1969 | Time Is Tight | Johnny, I Love You | Stax STA-0028 | #6 | #7 | #4 | “Johnny I Love You” features vocals by Booker T. Jones. |
| 05/1969 | Mrs. Robinson | Stax STA-0037 | #37 | #35 | |||
| Soul Clap '69 | Stax STA-0037 | #35 | |||||
| 07/1969 | Slum Baby | Meditation | Stax STA-0049 | #88 | #46 | ||
| 06/1970 | Something | Sunday Sermon | Stax STA-0073 | #76 | |||
| 02/1971 | Melting Pot | Kinda Easy Like | Stax STA-0082 | #45 | #21 | ||
| 10/1971 | Jamaica This Morning | Fuquawi | Stax STA 0108 | A-side credited to The M.G.'s; B-side to Booker T. and The M.G.'s | |||
| 1973 | Sugarcane | Blackside | Stax STA 0169 | #67 | Release credited to The M.G.'s | ||
| 1973 | Neckbone | Breezy | Stax STA 0200 | Release credited to The M.G.'s | |||
| 1977 | Sticky Stuff | Tie Stick | Asylum E-45392 | #68 | |||
| 1977 | Grab Bag | Reincarnation | Asylum E-45424 | ||||
| 1994 | Cruisin' | Just My Imagination | Columbia 38-77526 | Cruisin' won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance | |||
|Green Onions
| Atlantic
| Soul Limbo
| #07
NOTE: Through a period between late 1963 and early 1965, Billboard Magazine did not publish an R&B singles chart. R&B chart figures for this era are from Cashbox magazine.
See also
- The Funk BrothersThe Funk BrothersThe Funk Brothers was the nickname of Detroit, Michigan, session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown Records recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972...
- The Wrecking Crew (music)The Wrecking Crew (music)The Wrecking Crew was a nickname coined by the drummer Hal Blaine after the fact for a group of session musicians in Los Angeles, California, who earned wide acclaim in the 1960s. They backed dozens of popular singers, and were one of the most successful "groups" of studio musicians in music history...
- Muscle Shoals Rhythm SectionMuscle Shoals Rhythm SectionThe Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as The Swampers, are a group of American soul, R&B, and country studio musicians based in the town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama...
- MFSBMFSBMFSB was a pool of more than thirty studio musicians based at Philadelphia’s famed Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom Bell, and backed up such groups as Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the O’Jays, the Stylistics, the...
- Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony OrchestraAbnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony OrchestraThe Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra was a group of Hollywood session musicians organized by Frank Zappa in 1967 to record music for his first solo album Lumpy Gravy. Some of these musicians are thought to have worked together in various combinations under the leadership of Ken...