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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Isaac Hayes: Hot Buttered Soul

An architectural force in the evolution of modern rhythm and blues, Isaac Hayes dramatically expanded the structural and cinematic possibilities of soul music. Transitioning from an elite behind-the-scenes house producer and session pianist into a global solo superstar, Hayes pioneered an opulent, symphonic funk aesthetic that became a cornerstone of 1970s popular culture. His deep, velvet baritone vocals, spoken-word raps, and sprawling orchestral movements broke the restrictive boundaries of traditional three-minute pop singles, laying a foundational blueprint for subsequent generations of urban contemporary music and hip-hop orchestration.

Isaac Hayes had a long career as a soul songwriter and session musician prior to the launch of his own solo career in the early Seventies. Hayes was born in Covington, Tennessee, in 1942.

Hayes began his professional career as part of the Stax Records songwriting team of David Porter and Isaac Hayes that produced soul hits for Stax Records’ legendary roster of singers. The songs that Hayes and Porter produced for Stax include "B-A-B-Y" by Carla Thomas, “I've Got to Love Somebody’s Baby” by Johnnie Taylor, and “Hold On! I'm Coming!” “You Got Me Hummin’,” “Soul Man,” and “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby” by Sam and Dave.

Hayes recorded his first solo album, “Presenting Isaac Hayes,” in 1967. The album contained pleasant soul numbers, but it was a tame effort compared to what was to come. When Atlantic Records bought out the Stax Records catalogue in 1968, Hayes was under pressure to write and record new material to replace what had been lost. He hurled himself into the task, and while producing material for other artists, he also came up with the material for his brilliant sophomore album, “Hot Buttered Soul,” one of the greatest soul albums ever recorded.

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Hot Buttered Soul (1969)

This monumental release radically reshaped the landscape of black popular music, substituting short, radio-friendly structures for epic, symphonic soul masterpieces. The pristine high-fidelity production flawlessly captures sweeping classical string sections overlaid with distorted psychedelic rock guitars and Hayes' hypnotic, exploratory vocal arrangements.

• Released: June 1969
• Label: Enterprise Records / Stax Records
• Producer: Al Bell, Allen Jones, Isaac Hayes
• Core Personnel: Isaac Hayes (Vocals, Keyboards), Harold Beane (Guitar), Marvell Thomas (Keyboards), Willie Hall (Drums)
• Key Tracks: Walk on By, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic

The album contained four superb tracks—all of which clocked in at least five minutes. Covers of Burt Bacharach’s “Walk on By” and Jimmy Webb’s “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” ran at 12 minutes and 18 and a half minutes, respectively. Hayes’ extended takes on these songs transcended the originals with their dreamy instrumental passages.

Hayes recorded two more fine albums in 1970, “The Isaac Hayes Movement” and “…To Be Continued.” Hayes’ excellent soundtrack for the film "Shaft" would appear in 1971, with the title track becoming a hit. Another quality Hayes album, “Black Moses,” would be released in 1971, featuring lush string accompaniments to soulful songs such as a cover of another Bacharach song, “Close to You,” and a cover of Curtis Mayfield’s “Man’s Temptation.”

Technical Catalog Spotlight: Black Moses (1971)

A sweeping, conceptually grand double-LP masterpiece that permanently solidified Hayes' cultural status as an iconic symbol of creative self-determination. The expansive recording layout features staggeringly dense, layered horn arrangements and lush, dramatic choral backings that seamlessly frame his deeply emotional interpretations of classic pop and R&B compositions.

• Released: November 1971
• Label: Enterprise Records / Stax Records
• Producer: Isaac Hayes
• Core Personnel: Isaac Hayes (Vocals, Keyboards), The Bar-Kays (Instrumentation), The Isaac Hayes Movement (Instrumentation), Hot Buttered and Soul (Backing Vocals)
• Key Tracks: Never Can Say Goodbye, Close to You, Mans Temptation

Hayes would continue to record throughout the Seventies and sporadically in the Eighties with lesser results. Hayes died in 2008, having achieved the status of a master among soul music figures.

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