Booker T. & the M.G.'s

Booker T. And The MG's were an American Soul / Rhythm & Blues Band, which was known for its instrumental hits in the early 1960s, but also as a session band for many artists of the independent record label Stax Records functioned.

Genesis

It was named after Booker T. Jones, Jr., while on the abbreviation " MG's " some time was uncertainty. Booker T. & the MG's were recruited in May 1962 largely from the studio band Mar - Keys; except for the missing horn section ( " Memphis Horns" ) and the post of drummer they were identical with this band. Your initial population therefore consisted of Booker T. Jones (organ, born November 12, 1944), Steve " The Colonel " Cropper (guitar, born October 21, 1941), Lewis " Lewie " Steinberg (bass, * September 13, 1933 ) and Al Jackson, Jr. (drums, born November 27, 1935 † October 1, 1975 ). Soon, Steinberg was replaced by Donald " Duck" Dunn on bass.

Own Hits

In May 1962 Booker T. & the MG's were intended as a studio band for the under contract with Sun Records rockabilly singer Billy Lee Riley. When this did not appear to booked recording session, the band took the time einzuspielen two own instrumental recordings. The song Behave Yourself was early as the A- side fixed, because for the B-side neither a title nor the complete instrumentation was present. Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper developed this successively a reef, to which they remembered. Within 30 minutes, it was arranged for refining and the other instruments. After 2 Takes an instrumental piece was completed, which is known as Green Onions today. It was published as Behave Yourself / Green Onions in May 1962 volts # 102 After intervention by the producer Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records partners the single was released again on the parent label Stax Records (# 127) in August 1962 in reverse page order. This change led to a huge success of the plate, which is listed for 4 weeks to rank one of the Rhythm & Blues charts and could penetrate up to third place in the pop charts. This sales success was reflected, for Green Onions sold 700,000 copies within a few months, a total of over 1 million by the end of 1967 After this success came Donald " Duck" Dunn. (* November 24, 1941, † 13 May 2012) for Lewis Steinberg in August 1962 for the first time at the LP Green Onions as the new bassist for use.

Although it is still followed by a large number of similar Instrumental Hits of the group, but few were able to reach the Top 10 of the R & B charts. These included Boot Leg (Rank 10 May 1965), Hip Hug -Her (6th April 1967), Soul Limbo (Rank 7 July 1968) and Time is Tight (Rank 7, April 1969). In March 1967, the instrumental band like the Mar - Keys attended the " Stax / Volt Revue ," a European tour of the Soul Artists of these labels, in part. Your part in the Jazz into reaching, highly syncopated instrumentation of pop songs are on the album Doin ' Our Thing (recorded on February 2, 1968) included an example.

Session Band

Much more successful was its use as a session band as a rhythm section for many Soul artists of Stax Records. They accompanied particular Rufus Thomas (Single Walkin 'the Dog, October 1963 ), Otis Redding ( from January 16, 1964, LP Pain in My Heart ), Wilson Pickett (especially In the Midnight Hour, May 12, 1965 ), Don Covay & Good timer ( See Saw, June 30, 1965 ), Sam & Dave ( Hold On, I'm Coming, March 8, 1966 ), Eddie Floyd ( Knock on Wood, 13 July 1966 ), Albert King ( Born Under a Bad Sign, May 17, 1967 ) or Johnnie Taylor ( especially in the LP Who's Making Love, May and October 1967 and June and November 1968). In most cases the MG's were still supplemented by the " Memphis Horns". This also makes Booker T. & the MG's coined the Memphis sound by given by the bass guitarist clear rhythm accents, economical, almost abrupt organ riffs and staccato guitar shortcuts.

Final phase

The first generation of Booker T. & the MG's was almost 10 years until 1971 when they parted after their LP Melting Pot. Without their namesake appeared as " The MG's " in October 1971, the single Jamaica This Morning. In September 1975, the Group entered into their original cast back together, now of clarification as Booker T. Jones & the Memphis Group. But already on 1 October 1975, the band was history again when Al Jackson was shot at home by a burglar. Since 1977, the group tries with Willie " Too Big " Hall of the Bar -Kays as a new drummer a comeback, especially in oldies shows. In 1978, Dunn, Cropper and Hall together for the movie Blues Brothers ( 1980). 1990 went Jones, Cropper and Dunn on a nostalgia tour, accompanied Neil Young in 1993 as a tour band and then took again his own plates - with great success: Your published on 17 May 1994 song Cruisin ' won the 1994 Grammy for best instrumental music of the year. On April 21, published in 2009 Booker T. in collaboration with the band Drive-By Truckers and Neil Young on the guitar a new album, Potato Hole. In 1992 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2007 she received the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award. 13 May 2012 died bassist Donald Dunn after a concert in Japan in his sleep.

Discography

Discography Singles ( complete)

• Bahave Yorself / Green Onions ( V # 102), recorded in May 1962
• Green Onions / Behave Yourself ( Stax # 127), published on August 4, 1962
• Jelly Bread / Aw 'Mercy (# 131), recording: November 12, 1962
• Homegrown / Burnt Biscuits ( # 134), February 11, 1963
• Chinese Checkers / Plum Nellie (# 137), June 17, 1963
• Mo ' Onions (27 August 1962) / Fannie Mae ( alternative B-side: Tic Tac Toe ) (# 142), December 1963
• Soul Dressing / MG Party (# 153), July 1964
• Can not Be Still / Terrible Thing ( # 161), November 1964
• Boot Leg / Outrage (# 169), April 5, 1965
• Be My Lady / Red Beans And Rice ( # 182), November 5, 1965
• My Sweet Potato / Booker - Loo (# 196 ), July 1966
• Jingle Bells / Winter Wonderland ( # 203), October 28, 1966
• Hip Hug- Her / Summertime ( # 211), February 9, 1967
• Groovin ' / Slim Jenkins Place ( # 224), April 26, 1967
• Winter Snow / Silver Bells (# 236), November 7, 1967
• Soul Limbo / Heads Or Tails ( Stax # 0001 ), May 1968
• Time Is Tight / Johnny I Love You (# 0028), February 1969
• Mrs. Robinson / Soul Clap '69 (# 0037), May 1969
• Slum Baby / Meditation ( # 0049), July 1969
• Something / Sunday Sermon (# 0073), June 1970
• Melting Pot / Kinda Easy Like (# 0082), February 1971
• Fuquawi / Jamaica This Morning (# 0108), October 1971

Discography LPs (complete)

• Green Onions ( Stax # 701), August 27, 1962
• Soul Dressing ( 705), March 1965
• And Now! (711 ), September 19, 1966
• In the Christmas Spirit ( 713), October 28, 1966
• Hip Hug- Her ( 717), April 26, 1967
• Back to Back (720), July 1967
• Doin ' Our Thing ( 724), February 1968
• Soul Limbo (2001), September 1968
• Uptight (2006), January 1969
• The Booker T. Set ( 2009), May 1969
• McLemore Avenue (2007), April 1970
• Melting Pot ( 2035), January 1971