BOOKER T. JONES
Genres: RnB, Jazz Related Rock • United States

Booker T. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1944. He was named in honor of his father, Booker T. Jones, Sr., who was named in honor of Booker T. Washington, the educator; "Booker Taliaferro Jones, Jr." is his full name. Jones was a prodigy, playing the oboe, saxophone, trombone, and piano at school and serving as organist at his church. He attended Booker T. Washington High School, the alma mater of Rufus Thomas and shared the hallowed halls with future stars like Isaac Hayes's writing partner David Porter; saxophonist Andrew Love of The Memphis Horns; soul singer/songwriter William Bell and Earth, Wind, & Fire's Maurice White. Jones's first entry into professional music came at age sixteen, when he played baritone saxophone on Satellite (soon to be Stax) Records' first hit, "Cause I Love You", by Rufus Thomas and Carla Thomas. While hanging around the Satellite Record Shop run by Estelle Axton, co-owner read more...