BOOKER T & THE MG'S

Booker T. & the MGs is an instrumental soul band popular in the 1960s and 1970s. They are most commonly associated with Stax Records and are often placed in the subgenre of Memphis soul. They were also one of the first racially-integrated bands in popular music. They are probably best known for their 1962 hit instrumental "Green Onions" and for being members of the house band for many Stax/Volt performers.  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 MGs.

Original members of the group were Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums). Donald "Duck" Dunn replaced Steinberg on bass in 1965, and has played with the group ever since. Carson Whitsett was the group's keyboard player during a brief 1973 reunion (when the temporarily Booker-less band was known simply as The MGs). Following the 1975 death of Al Jackson Jr., drummers Willie Hall, Anton Fig, Steve Jordan and Steve Potts have joined the group for later reunion efforts.

The exact origin of the band's name is a matter of dispute. Booker T. Jones has stated that it was Jackson who named the group after its youngest member. "M.G." is supposed by many to refer to "Memphis Group," not the sports car of the same name. However, musician and record producer Chips Moman, who was active in Stax Records when the band was formed, claims that they were named after his car, and that it was only after he left the label that Stax's publicity department declared that "M.G." stood for "Memphis Group". To lend some credibility to this story, Moman had played with Booker T. Jones in an earlier Stax backing group named the Triumphs, also after his car. (wikipedia)

Green Onions

Red Beans & Rice  (1967)

Time Is Tight

Melting Pot

Hip Hug Her

Separate Ways  with Neil Young  (1993)