Booker T. and the MGs

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Biography

'''Booker T. & the M.G.'s''' is an instrumental rock|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 Thomas|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 (drummer)|Willie Hall , Anton Fig , Steve Jordan (musician)|Steve Jordan and Steve Potts (drummer)|Steve Potts .

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Having two White people|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 African American culture|black culture . Note also that in jazz, Benny Goodman led the racially integrated Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet a full quarter-century prior, and integrated jazz bands had existed all through the 1940s and 1950s.

Early years: 1962-1964

The band was formed as the house band of Stax Records , 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 (music)|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 Records|Stax released Booker T. & the M.G.'s' “Green Onions” backed with “Behave Yourself”. In conversation with BBC Radio 2 's Johnnie Walker (DJ)|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 United States|US Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Hot R& B/Hip-Hop Songs|R& B record chart|chart and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100|pop chart . It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a music recording sales certification|gold disc . It is featured in countless film|movies / film trailer|trailers including a pivotal scene in the motion picture American Graffiti .

Later in 1962, the band released an all-instrumental album entitled Green Onions (album)|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' (song)|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 & mdash;especially southern soul& mdash;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 Records|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 wind instrument|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 music|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.”.

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 ' “ Groovin' ”.

Also in 1967, they joined the now famed Stax Records|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 Festival|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, Up Tight! 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 Records|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 Road 's 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 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 (Booker T album)|Melting Pot . “Melting Pot”'s repetitive Groove (music)|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 DJ s.

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 (musician)|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.

1970s reunions

;1973
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 (album)|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|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 (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 (Booker T 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|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 (film)|The Blues Brothers starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi . Cropper, Dunn and Hall later reprised their roles in Blues Brothers 2000 .

1980s to the present

In 1980 the hit feature film The Blues Brothers (film)|The Blues Brothers 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 The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration|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 Records|Stax president Jim Stewart (music)|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 , 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

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 MG (car)|sports car . 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 Triumph Motor Company|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.

Discography

;Albums

1962: Green Onions (album)|Green Onions US #33

1965: Soul Dressing

1966: And Now& #33; (Booker T album)|And Now!

1966: In The Christmas Spirit (Booker T album)|In The Christmas Spirit US #13

1967: Hip Hug-Her US #35

1967: Back To Back (Booker T album)|Back To Back (live album) US #98

1968: '' Doin' Our Thing US #176

1968: Soul Limbo US #127

1969: Up Tight (Original Soundtrack)|Up Tight (soundtrack) US #98

1969: The Booker T Set US #53

1970: McLemore Avenue US #107

1971: Melting Pot (Booker T album)|Melting Pot US #43

1973: '' The MG's (album)|The MG's '' (released by The MG's)

1977: Universal Language (Booker T album)|Universal Language

1994: '' That's The Way It Should Be

;Singles

US release date	A-side	B-side	Label	Chart positions
US release date	A-side	B-side	Label	US Hot 100	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	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"
02/ 1963	Home Grown	Burnt Biscuits	Stax S-134	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	Also issued with "Big Train" as B-side.
06/ 1963	Chinese Checkers	Plum Nellie	Stax S-137	#78	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"
12/ 1963	'''Mo' Onions	Fannie Mae	Stax S-142	#97	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	Same catalog number used for "Tic-Tac-Toe", below.
01/ 1964	Tic-Tac-Toe	Mo' Onions	Stax S-142	#109	#46	style="text-align:center;"
07/ 1964	Soul Dressing	MG Party	Stax S-153	#95	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"
11/ 1964	Can't Be Still	Terrible Thing	Stax S-161	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"
04/ 1965	Boot-Leg	Outrage	Stax S-169	#58	#10	style="text-align:center;"
11/ 1965	Be My Lady	Red Beans and Rice	Stax S-182	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"
07/ 1966	My Sweet Potato		Stax S-196	#85	#18	style="text-align:center;"
		Booker-Loo	Stax S-196	style="text-align:center;"	#37	style="text-align:center;"
12/ 1966	Jingle Bells	Winter Wonderland	Stax S-203	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	“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	style="text-align:center;"
06/ 1967	'''Groovin'		Stax S-224	#21	#10	style="text-align:center;"
		'''Slim Jenkins' Place	Stax S-224	#70	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"
12/ 1967	Silver Bells	Winter Snow	Stax S-236	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"
05/ 1968	Soul Limbo	Heads or Tails	Stax STA-0001	#17	style="text-align:center;"	#30
10/ 1968	'''Hang 'Em High	Over Easy	Stax STA-0013	#9	#35	style="text-align:center;"
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	style="text-align:center;"
		'''Soul Clap '69	Stax STA-0037	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	#35
07/ 1969	Slum Baby	Meditation	Stax STA-0049	#88	#46	style="text-align:center;"
06/ 1970	Something	Sunday Sermon	Stax STA-0073	#76	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"
02/ 1971	Melting Pot	Kinda Easy Like	Stax STA-0082	#45	#21	style="text-align:center;"
10/ 1971	Jamaica This Morning	Fuquawi	Stax STA 0108	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	A-side credited to The M.G.'s; B-side to Booker T. and The M.G.'s
1973	Sugarcane	Blackside	Stax STA 0169	style="text-align:center;"	#67	style="text-align:center;"	Release credited to The M.G.'s
1973	Neckbone	Breezy	Stax STA 0200	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	Release credited to The M.G.'s
1977	Sticky Stuff	Tie Stick	Asylum E-45392	style="text-align:center;"	#68	style="text-align:center;"
1977	Grab Bag	Reincarnation	Asylum E-45424	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"
1979	Green Onions	Soul Limbo	Atlantic	#07	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"
1994	Cruisin'	Just My Imagination	Columbia 38-77526	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	style="text-align:center;"	Cruisin' won the 1994 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance

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 .

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