Booker T. & The MG's

Genres:	Easy Listening • Pop / Rock • R&B / Soul
Descriptive "tags":	soul • funk • rhythm and blues • blues • instrumental
Decades Active:	1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Links online:	BBC Music • Wikipedia

Biography

Formed in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, in 1962 as a spin-off from the Mar-Keys, this instrumental outfit comprised Booker T. Jones (12 November 1944, Memphis, Tennessee, USA; organ), Steve Cropper (b. Stephen Lee Cropper, 21 October 1941, Dora, Missouri, USA; guitar), Lewis Steinberg (b. 13 September 1933, USA; bass) and Al Jackson Jnr. (b. 27 November 1934, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, d. 1 October 1975, Memphis, Tennessee, USA; drums). ‘Green Onions’, their renowned first hit, evolved out of a blues riff they had improvised while waiting to record a jingle. Its simple, smoky atmosphere, punctuated by Cropper’s cutting guitar, provided the blueprint for a series of excellent records, including ‘Jellybread’, ‘Chinese Checkers’, ‘Soul Dressing’, ‘Mo’ Onions’ and ‘Hip Hug-Her’. Pared to the bone, this sparseness accentuated the rhythm, particularly when Steinberg was replaced on bass in 1964 by Donald...

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