Booker T. & the M.G.'s

Toolsband

EST1962 -- Memphis

The LPGreen Onions (1962)

VIBES soul r&b instrumental

Booker T. & the M.G.'s were Stax Records' house band -- four men, two Black and two white, who backed Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, and Wilson Pickett, and then, when there was time left on the studio clock, made Green Onions. It was an instrumental built on a Hammond B3 riff that Booker T. Jones improvised while waiting for a session to start. No words. Just a groove so deep and so cool it sounded like a detective walking through Memphis at 2 AM.

Booker T. Jones on organ, Steve Cropper on guitar, Donald 'Duck' Dunn on bass, Al Jackson Jr. on drums. They were integrated before integration was popular in Memphis. They were session musicians who became stars because the music they made between sessions was better than what most bands made in a lifetime.

Green Onions — Booker T. & the M.G.'s

Al Jackson was murdered in 1975. Duck Dunn died in 2012. Booker T. and Steve Cropper still play. Green Onions is still one of the most perfect instrumental recordings ever made. The house band that was better than the headliners. The groove never dated.

Booker T. & the M.G.'s were Stax's house band -- two Black, two white. They backed Otis and Sam & Dave, then made Green Onions between sessions. An instrumental so cool it doesn't need words.

Key Collaborators

Otis ReddingSam & DaveWilson PickettStax Records

Played With

Booker T. JonesSteve CropperDuck DunnAl Jackson

Essential Listening

1My Sweet PotatoIn the Christmas Spirit Spotify

2Booker LooSoul Limbo Spotify