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Booker T. Jones

From an early age, Booker T. Jones—“one of the legends of soul music” (The New Yorker)—was captivated by the magic of melody, rhythm, and harmony. So magnetic was the attraction, in fact, that by the time he turned sixteen, he was, incredibly, already a working musician with a hit song to his name.

As part of the first house band for Stax Records, he formed the category-defining group Booker T. & the MGs, whose first recording, “Green Onions,” was an international sensation, selling more than one million copies and winning a place among Rolling Stone’s top five hundred songs of all time. Not stopping there, Jones continued to push soul music’s boundaries, refining it to its essence and then injecting it into the nation’s bloodstream. Nearly five decades after he first made his entrance onto the scene, Jones paved the way for modern soul music and is largely responsible for the genre’s rise and enduring popularity.

From midcentury Memphis, where the brutality of segregation was a stark backdrop to the loving, supportive family and community in which he was raised, to the creative hotbed of Beale Street, the Harlem of the South; from his early friendship with figures such as Maurice White (who went on to form Earth, Wind, and Fire) to the complicated dynamics of the racially mixed MGs—Jones not only was a witness to revolutions but also wrote their soundtracks. His musical legacy includes enduring compositions such as “Time Is Tight,” “Hip Hug-Her,” and the oftensampled “Melting Pot” and collaborations with the likes of Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, and Sam and Dave—and later Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Carlos Santana, and Willie Nelson.

Years in the making, this unforgettable personal journey is so much more than just a musician’s tale. Indeed, Time Is Tight is both the definitive account of one of modern music’s most influential eras and also a necessary addition to the canon of literature about American music.

Booker T. Jones is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer, and arranger. Best known as the front man of the band Booker T. & the MGs, he has worked with countless award-winning artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and has earned a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Along with the band, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992. Jones continues to record and tour internationally, both as a solo artist and as head of Booker T.’s Stax Revue.

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7
Album Review

Albert King: Born Under A Bad Sign (SACD)

Read "Born Under A Bad Sign (SACD)" reviewed by Doug Collette


Originally released in the psychedelicized year of 1967, the altogether earthy blues recording that is Albert King's Born Under A Bad Sign may have gone over the heads of those succumbing to flower power during the Summer of Love. Nevertheless, it made an impression on those who were learning to dote on the genre, many of whom were musicians who not only acted upon the inspiration they found in the music, but also tendered dutiful homage to the artist. Cream ...

60
Live Review

Booker T. Jones At Freight & Salvage

Read "Booker T. Jones At Freight & Salvage" reviewed by Walter Atkins


Booker T. Jones Freight & SalvageBerkeley, CADecember 9, 2022Lifetime Grammy winner Booker T. Jones presented an evening of vintage Booker T & the MGs compositions and more to a holiday crowd at downtown Berkeley's Freight & Salvage. The band included Jones, keyboards, guitars and vocals: Ted Jones-guitars, vocals; Ty Dennis-drums; and Melvin Brannon, bass. Jones's set list consisted of: “Hang 'Em High," “Soul Dressing," “Mannish Boy," “Hey Joe, “Hip Hug Her," “Summertime," “Born Under A ...

467
Live Review

Booker T. Jones at Yoshi's

Read "Booker T. Jones at Yoshi's" reviewed by Walter Atkins


Booker T. Jones Yoshi's Oakland CA February 6, 2016 The esteemed Booker T. Jones and his band performed in front of a sold out house at Yoshi's in Oakland. He presented a set of Booker T. & the MGs vintage originals mixed in with some popular songs from artists he has admired and respected over the years. His stellar guitar centric group included Vernon Black and Ted Jones on guitars, drummer Darian Gray, and bassist ...

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Event

Booker T Jones And Sol Roots Perform At The Hamilton In DC

Booker T Jones And Sol Roots Perform At The Hamilton In DC

Source: 9th Floor Music

Soul music legend Booker T Jones performs Friday February 21 at The Hamilton! Funky guitarist and soulful singer, Sol Roots opens the show! It can be argued that it was Booker T. Jones who set the cast for modern soul music and is largely responsible for its rise and enduring popularity.  On classic Stax hits like “Green Onions,” “Hang ‘Em High,” “Time Is Tight,” and “Melting Pot” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Musicians Hall of Fame inductee and GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award recipient ...

141

Interview

Interview: Booker T. Jones

Interview: Booker T. Jones

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Not sure who Booker T. Jones is? If I took away “Jones," would that help? Yep, he's that Booker T. In today's Wall Street Journal (go here), I interview Booker T. of Booker T. & the M.G.'s about his new solo album, The Road From Memphis, as well as a range of other topics. [Photo by Jason Thrasher] Booker T. & the M.G.s was an integrated Memphis quartet that performed double-duty for the Stax and Volt record lables in the ...

156

Recording

Booker T. Jones - The Road to Memphis (2011)

Booker T. Jones - The Road to Memphis (2011)

Source: Something Else!

His name is linked forever with the town, and the sound, of Memphis. But Booker T. Jones' influence moves beyond Beale, into hip hop and today's rhythm-and-blues—something that's underscored on The Road to Memphis, co-produced by The Roots drummer/bandleader ?uestlove and out today on Anti- Records. Not that Jones, a three-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, doesn't stake his claim to all that is fonky. “Walking Papers" and “The Vamp" boast a Meters-level greasy grind, while ...

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Recording

Booker T. Jones: the Road to Memphis

Booker T. Jones:  the Road to Memphis

Source: JamBase

WITH BACKING FROM THE ROOTS AND GUEST VOCALISTS MATT BERNINGER (THE NATIONAL), YIM YAMES (MY MORNING JACKET), SHARON JONES AND LOU REED Booker T. Jones' historic life in music has brought him international fame, awards (he's a three-time Grammy winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer), and iconic status as one of the architects of American soul music. With his new album The Road From Memphis due May 10 on Anti- Records, Jones traces his journey from his hometown ...

162

Recording

Booker T. Jones Tours with a New Album That Breaks the Mold

Booker T. Jones Tours with a New Album That Breaks the Mold

Source: Michael Ricci

For about three seconds, Booker T. Jones' new album, Potato Hole, is exactly what you'd expect.

“Pound It Out," the opening track, begins with the unaccompanied notes of a Hammond organ, an instrument whose quavering sound was integral to the records Jones made in the 1960s, both as part of Booker T & the MGs and as part of the Stax Records house band that backed Otis Redding and Sam & Dave, among many others.

Recorded in a converted movie ...

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Performance / Tour

Booker T. Jones to Appear at Malibu Arts Center on November 11

Booker T. Jones to Appear at Malibu Arts Center on November 11

Source: All About Jazz

Booker T. Jones, founder and leader of Booker T. & the MGs, will appear at the Malibu Performing Arts Center on November 11.

Location: 23825 Stuart Ranch Road Malibu, CA 90265 310-456-6722 www.malibuperformingartscenter.com

Booker T.'s intriguing marriage of R&B and pop sounds has its roots in the clubs and studios of Memphis in the late '50s and '60s. The son of a high school math teacher and a school secretary, Booker T. ...

Charlie Wood
organ, Hammond B3

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Sound The Alarm

Lone Hill Jazz
2013

buy

The Road From Memphis

Lone Hill Jazz
2011

buy

The Runaway

Lone Hill Jazz
1989

buy

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