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Home , Green Onions, Johnnie Taylor, McLemore Avenue, Rufus Thomas, Soul Limbo, Steve Cropper

W m m BookerPERFORM E R S T. and the M G s Booker T. & the MGs grew out of a pair of boyhood friend­ After Duck Dunn replaced Lewis Steinberg on bass in ships in Memphis. Guitarist (born October 21, 1963, Booker T. & the MGs developed into one of the most 1942) and bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn (born November 24, prolific ensembles of the Sixties. They appeared 1941) attended Messick High School and played together in an on ten albums of their own and over 600 Stax recordings, in­ all-white R&B band called the Royal Spades. On the other side cluding all of ’s timeless classics plus those of of town, drummer A1 Jackson, Jr, (born November 27, 1934) , , , William Bell and bassist Lewis Steinberg (born September 13, 1933) were and Sam & Dave. regulars in the all-black band at the Plantation Inn. “Our music was all very spontaneous,” explains Duck In I960, and its affiliated record shop had just Dunn. “A lot of the MGs’ songs came from the vamps we did opened on East McLemore Avenue. Steve Cropper was a clerk during the fades on other artists’ records.” “Hip Hug Her,” in the record shop and an assistant studio engineer. One of “,” “Hang ‘Em High,” and “” were Steve’s regular customers was sixteen year-old Booker T. Jones among the MGs’ fourteen chart hits spotlighting (born December 11, 1944), already an accefnplished keyboard Steve Cropper’s stinging guitar and Booker T.’s churning and horn player. . But A1 Jackson, Jr. “was the heart of the Byimd-1962, Cropper, Jones, and Steinberg were estab­ band,” Duck acknowledges, “our musical and spiritual lead­ lished Stax sessioneers, Steve and Lewis having played on the er.” Mar-Keys’ (nee Royal Spades) Top Ten hit “Last Night”; Duck The MGs’ era drew to a close with the sale of Stax in 1968. Dunn was mostly on the road with the touring Mar-Keys. Booker was the first to leave, in 1969, followed the next year When Jim Stewart called them to Stax for a ses­ by Steve. But Duck and A1 played on many hits of the label’s sion, Steinberg recruited his friend A1 Jackson, Jr. on drums. second golden era, and Jackson moved into the That day’s work produce«! a Top Ten hit and one of the most Seventies with A1 Green. Booker’s subsequent productions in­ popular of all time. clude Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and Willie Nelson’s “The session wasn’t going particularly well,” Jim Stewart multi-platinum Stardust. Steve Cropper produced albums for recalls. “At one point we took a break, and Riley disap­ and , and joined Duck Dunn in peared.” Stewart decided to cut the backing band on a pair of their ongoing Brothers Band. instrumentals, “Behave Yourself” and “.” To In September, 1975 the MGs were planning a reunion al­ settle an argument with Stewart over the choice of A-side, bum. But their plans came to a halt with the shocking murder Steve Cropper rushed a demo pressing of “Green Onions” to of A1 Jackson, Jr. in Memphis on October 1. The other mem­ WLOK DJ Reuben “Mad Lad” Washington, and his first bers played together only occasionally over the next fifteen spin of the disc prompted an outpouring of positive calls. years. But in 1990, the MGs hit the road again, with either “And that,” says Cropper, “was the end||§ that” — or rath­ Danny Gottlieb or Anton Figg on drums—and all of the con­ er, the beginning. trolled power and melodic grandeur of their music intact. Jim Stewart: “The blend of Steve and Duck, who were a little bit rock & roll and a little bit country, with Booker, who loved JL. ime is Tight (l. to. r.): “The Memphis equivalent of jazz and understood music theory, plus A1 Jackson, the rock the Modern JazzT Quartet, ” Booker T. & the MGs, with Donald “Duck” upon which it was all built g||§ this is what the made the MGs Dunn (bass), Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper and A1 Jackson, Jr. magical. Booker T. & the MGs were The Memphis Sound.” — Steve Greenberg

BARON WOLMAN o HALL OF FAME« 1092