Booker T and the M.G.’s: Green Onions

Booker T and the M.G.’s was the house band for Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, and as such they appeared on virtually every single that Stax released during its heyday in the Sixties and early Seventies. The band can be heard backing Stax’s star vocalists on recordings by Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Carla Thomas and others. 

As one of the most influential instrumental ensembles in American music, Booker T. and the M.G.’s pioneered the sparse, groove-heavy blueprint of the Southern soul sound. Operating out of the legendary Satellite studio in Memphis, this trailblazing, racially integrated quartet defined an era of cross-cultural musical collaboration during a time of intense social civil rights struggles. Their signature blend of interlocking rhythm patterns, driving bass lines, and piercing organ melodies became an indelible hallmark of twentieth-century popular culture. 

The band consisted of Booker T. Jones on organ/piano, Steve Cropper on guitar, Donald “Duck” Dunn on bass, and Al Jackson on drums. This versatile and talented ensemble was equally comfortable providing accompaniment for blues or ballads, rock, or R&B. In addition to providing Stax singers with a backing band, they released instrumental singles under their own name, including “Groovin,” Hip Hug Her,” “Time is Tight,” and their biggest hit, “Green Onions.” 

With the addition of the Memphis horns, the band also recorded instrumental tracks as the “Mar-Keys.” 

In the early eighties, the surviving members of the band, Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn, were members of Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi’s Blues Brothers band and were featured in the movie “The Blues Brothers.” They returned with Ackroyd in “Blues Brothers 2000.” 

The band recorded several fine studio albums in the Sixties, including "Green Onions" (1962), "Soul Dressing" (1965), and "Hip Hug Her" (1967), but "The Best of Booker T and the M.G.'s" (1968) may be all you require. 

Essential Album Review: Green Onions (1962) 

This sensational debut studio album stands as a definitive cornerstone of instrumental rhythm and blues. Built around the spontaneous genius of its title track, the record perfectly showcases the band's tight, minimalist approach to rhythm. Jones’s Hammond M-3 organ work provides a swirling, gritty texture that pairs seamlessly with Cropper's sharp, economic guitar stabs. It remains a timeless audio masterclass in groove and constraint. 

• Released: October 1962 
• Label: Stax Records 
• Producer: Jim Stewart 
• Core Personnel: Booker T. Jones (Organ), Steve Cropper (Guitar), Lewie Steinberg (Bass), Al Jackson Jr. (Drums) 
• Key Tracks: "Green Onions", "Behave Yourself", "Mo' Onions" 

Essential Album Review: Hip Hug-Her (1967) 

Marking a crucial evolutionary point in the ensemble's discography, this mid-1960s release captures the definitive lineup operating at the absolute peak of their collaborative powers. With Donald "Duck" Dunn fully locked in on bass, the rhythm section achieves an unparalleled level of syncopation. The tracking features a brilliant mixture of tight original grooves and soulful, transformed interpretations of contemporary pop and R&B hits. 

• Released: June 1967 
• Label: Stax Records 
• Producer: Jim Stewart 
• Core Personnel: Booker T. Jones (Organ), Steve Cropper (Guitar), Donald "Duck" Dunn (Bass), Al Jackson Jr. (Drums) 
• Key Tracks: "Hip Hug-Her", "Groovin'", "Slim Jenkin's Place" 

Essential Compilation Review: The Best of Booker T. & the M.G.'s (1968) 

For listeners seeking a comprehensive gateway into the definitive architecture of the Memphis soul sound, this landmark 1968 compilation is unmatched. The collection neatly aggregates the band's most influential instrumental hits alongside essential tracks that shaped the Stax legacy. It serves as an indispensable historical audio capsule, preserving the timeless, rhythmically precise tracks that soundtracked a generation. 

• Released: 1968 
• Label: Atlantic Records / Stax Records 
• Producer: Jim Stewart, Staff 
• Core Personnel: Booker T. Jones (Organ), Steve Cropper (Guitar), Donald "Duck" Dunn (Bass), Al Jackson Jr. (Drums) 
• Key Tracks: "Time Is Tight", "Green Onions", "Boot-Leg" 

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Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers

Drummer Art Blakey and his band, The Jazz Messengers, are the pioneers of a jazz subgenre called “hard bop.” Hard bop takes the fundamentals of bebop and adds elements of rhythm and blues. The idea behind hard bop was to make bebop music more danceable and, perhaps, more palatable to mainstream music fans. 

As a powerhouse force behind the drum kit and one of the most celebrated bandleaders in jazz history, Blakey turned his ensemble into an unmatched institution of musical excellence. Known for his thunderous press rolls, aggressive hi-hat snap, and polyrhythmic drive, his drumming commanded the bandstand with a physical urgency that defined the post-bebop era. Beyond his own virtuosic performance, Blakey operated as a masterful educator and talent scout, nurturing generations of young masters and leaving behind an expansive recorded catalog that serves as the definitive manual for small-group modern jazz. 

Art Blakey was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1919, and by the fifties, his virtuosic and incessant drumming would put him at the forefront of the bebop genre along with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and others. 

In 1954, he formed the band, The Jazz Messengers, which became a training ground for up-and-coming young jazz musicians. New Orleans trumpet prodigy Wynton Marsalis would get his professional start as a member of the band. Among the best of the Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers albums are “A Night at Birdland” (Volumes 1-3) (1954), “The Jazz Messengers” (1956), “A Night in Tunisia” (1957), “Drum Suite” (1957), “Ritual” (1959), “Moanin’” (1959), “The Big Beat” (1960), “Mosaic” (1961), “Free For All,” and “Indestructible” (1965). 

Essential Album Review: A Night at Birdland (1954) 

This explosive live set captures the exact historical moment where the seeds of hard bop were planted on a New York City bandstand. Recorded at the legendary "Jazz Corner of the World," the tracking documents a stellar collective executing complex tempos with an underlying, gritty blues sensibility. Blakey's driving rhythms push Clifford Brown's brilliant trumpet flights to dizzying heights, creating a foundational audio text for live jazz presentation. 

• Released: 1954 
• Label: Blue Note Records 
• Producer: Alfred Lion 
• Core Personnel: Art Blakey (Drums), Clifford Brown (Trumpet), Lou Donaldson (Alto Saxophone), Horace Silver (Piano), Curley Russell (Bass) 
• Key Tracks: "Split Kick", "A Night in Tunisia", "Mayreh" 

Essential Album Review: Moanin' (1959) 

Widely considered the quintessential hard bop album, this 1959 classic perfectly bridges the sophisticated harmonic changes of modern jazz with the deep, soulful roots of gospel and rhythm and blues. The tracking is instantly memorable, anchored by Benny Golson's tight compositional structures and Lee Morgan's brilliantly fiery trumpet work. Blakey coordinates the grooves with an infectious, swinging authority that made the genre truly popular. 

• Released: January 1959 
• Label: Blue Note Records 
• Producer: Alfred Lion 
• Core Personnel: Art Blakey (Drums), Lee Morgan (Trumpet), Benny Golson (Tenor Saxophone), Bobby Timmons (Piano), Jymie Merritt (Bass) 
• Key Tracks: "Moanin'", "Along Came Betty", "Blues March" 

Essential Album Review: Free For All (1965) 

For listeners seeking the most raw, high-octane display of the Jazz Messengers' performance power, this mid-1960s session is unparalleled. The band operates at an astonishing level of intensity, delivering modal jazz structures with a frantic, almost overwhelming force. Wayne Shorter's searing saxophone lines trade spaces with Blakey's volcanic drum accents, illustrating the explosive maturity of the hard bop idiom. 

• Released: January 1965 
• Label: Blue Note Records 
• Producer: Alfred Lion 
• Core Personnel: Art Blakey (Drums), Freddie Hubbard (Trumpet), Wayne Shorter (Tenor Saxophone), Curtis Fuller (Trombone), Cedar Walton (Piano), Reginald Workman (Bass) 
• Key Tracks: "Free For All", "Hammer Head", "The Core" 

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