Universal Language is a 1977 album by 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...

 band Booker T. & the MGs. The album was recorded 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...

, following the demise 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...

, of which the MG's were an integral element, in 1975.

MG's drummer Al Jackson, Jr. was murdered in 1975; the remaining members recruited 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...

 to replace him on this album. The group would not record another album for seventeen years, returning in 1994 with 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...

.

Reception

The Allmusic review awarded the album 2 stars.

Side one

1. "Sticky Stuff" – 4:09
2. "Grab Bag" – 4:32
3. "Space Nuts" – 3:27
4. "Love Wheels" – 3:38
5. "Motocross" – 4:33

Side two

1. "Last Tango In Memphis" – 5:26
2. "MG's Salsa" – 5:27
3. "Tie Stick" (Johnny Stevenson) – 5:01
4. "Reincarnation" – 5:12

Personnel

• 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...
  
   - keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  
• 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
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Donald "Duck" Dunn - bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• 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...
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....