Booker T & The MGs

Booker T. & the M.G.'s were an American instrumental R&B/funk band that was influential in shaping the sound of Southern soul and Memphis soul. The original members of the group were Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums). In 1965, Steinberg was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn, who played with the group until his death in 2012.
In the 1960s, as members of the Mar-Keys, the rotating slate of musicians that served as the house band of Stax Records, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists including Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King. They also released instrumental records under their own name, including the 1962 hit single "Green Onions". As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of its era.
(Read more at Wikipedia.)
== Links to Peel ==
Booker T and the MGs are not known to have been featured by Peel during his early years in UK radio, when the musical focus of his shows lay away from their brand of southern R&B/soul. From the 1970s, however, vintage material by the band came to appear regularly on his programmes, both instrumentals under their own name, and especially as backing musicians for Stax Records performers such as Otis Redding - with personal favourites on the label turning up in his Peelenium selections and John Peel's Record Box. 
In 1980, band guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn appeared in both the film and soundtrack of Blues Brothers, which was much loved by the DJ.
For many years, the band's 'Soul Limbo' was used as the theme music for Test Match Special cricket programmes on BBC TV.
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*None. 
*Roy Buchanan's cover of the band's 'Green Onions' placed #48 in Peel's self-selected 1977 Festive Fifty.
== Sessions ==
*None.
== Other Shows Played ==
thumb|220px
thumb|220px
thumb|220px
;1970s
*29 September 1972: Jellybread (LP - The Best Of Booker T & The MGs) ATCO
*28 August 1973: Green Onions
*05 September 1974: Plum Nellie (LP-Soul Dressing) Stax
*16 November 1977: Time Is Tight (7")
*27 June 1979: Green Onions (dedication to "Tim of Norwich, for Michael")
;1980s
*03 May 1982: Time Is Tight
*17 June 1987: Green Onions
;1990s
*30 November 1991: Behave Yourself (9x Compilation CD-The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968) Atlantic
*08 December 1991: Jelly Bread (9xCD - The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-68) Atlantic
*09 May 1992: Can't Be Still (9-CD v/a album - The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968) Atlantic
*08 December 1999: Winter Wonderland (LP-Soul Christmas) Stax
;Other
*The Hammond: A Vital Organ: Soul Limbo
*Jerry Wexler: Soul Man: Green Onions
;Steve Cropper
*06 June 1970: Funky Broadway (7") Stax
== Covered ==
(The list below was compiled only from the Cover Versions page of this site. Please add more information if known.)
Artist | Track | First Known Play
*Roy Buchanan: Green Onions 22 December 1977
*Clash: Time Is Tight 17 November 1980
== See Also ==
*Atlantic Records
*Christmas Video Gallery A-C
*Covers
*Stax Records
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists
Category:Covered