Booker T. & The MG's

Initially acting as the resident musicians at Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Booker T. & the MG's emerged as one of the label's most vital and lasting influences while shaping the rhythmic foundation of Southern soul throughout the 1960s. Their precise, richly textured, and funky instrumental patterns underpinned landmark recordings by Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Carla Thomas, Albert King, and Sam & Dave, among numerous additional artists. Beyond their exceptional studio contributions, the group operated as a potent instrumental act in their own right. Known primarily for singles, their 1962 debut release "Green Onions" together with the chart-topping album of the same name launched a sustained run of hits that extended through 1972 and featured defining tracks such as "Hip Hug-Her," "Soul Limbo," "Time Is Tight," and "Hang 'Em High." Among the twelve albums issued prior to 1971, only three failed to reach the Top 200. The ensemble disbanded in 1972, then reconvened briefly in 1975 for slightly more than two years, during which they delivered the raw, disco-inflected Universal Language on Asylum. Following their 1994 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, they recorded That's the Way It Should Be and performed for a period as the museum's house band.

Guitarist Steve Cropper, whose concise and incisive lines shaped the playing of countless others, and organist Booker T. Jones, whose fluid Hammond B-3 passages supplied essential momentum, formed the core of the Booker T. sound. Jones began his tenure as a Stax session player in 1960, where he encountered Cropper, who had previously performed with the Mar-Keys, the group responsible for the 1961 instrumental smash "Last Night" that established the organ-sax-guitar template later central to both the MG's and Memphis soul overall. After drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewie Steinberg joined, the lineup became Booker T. & the MG's. Within a few years Steinberg yielded his position permanently to Donald "Duck" Dunn, another former Mar-Keys member who shared Cropper's background.

The band's inaugural and most successful single, "Green Onions," which reached number three in 1962, originated spontaneously. While awaiting the delayed arrival of Billy Lee Riley for a session, they improvised a memorable minor-key blues-infused soul instrumental marked by its edgy organ pulse and explosive guitar accents. The accompanying album, containing nearly all original material, entered the Top 40. Over the ensuing five years they struggled to match that commercial peak, yet maintained high artistic quality across releases such as 1965's Soul Dressing and 1966's And Now! and In the Christmas Spirit, while their indispensable role as Stax's house band guaranteed steady compensation for all four members.

Between 1967 and 1969 the MG's returned regularly to the charts with singles including "Hip Hug-Her," "Groovin'," "Soul Limbo," "Hang 'Em High," and "Time Is Tight." The albums containing these tracks—1967's Hip Hug-Her, 1968's Doin' Our Thing and Soul Limbo, 1969's Up Tight! (a soundtrack with an original score by Jones), and The Booker T. Set—likewise entered the Top 200. Although singles typically captured their strongest work, as was common among instrumental rock ensembles of the era, the albums remained substantive and frequently venturesome. The 1970 release McLemore Avenue, named after the Stax studio address, presented an instrumental reinterpretation of the Beatles' Abbey Road and earned approval from all the Beatles, particularly John Lennon, a longtime admirer since "Green Onions."

Despite attaining star status by decade's end, the musicians encountered mounting coordination challenges not rooted in personal friction but in practical constraints. Cropper and Dunn increasingly handled sessions in Los Angeles, while Jones frequently departed Memphis to complete his music studies at Indiana University. They parted amicably in 1971 yet maintained contact and arranged a reunion project in mid-1975. Just nine days before recording commenced in early October, Jackson was killed in his Memphis residence during a burglary. The remaining members eventually completed what became 1977's Universal Language for Asylum with drummer Willie Hall, though they did not tour. The surviving musicians sustained active session careers, with Cropper and Dunn joining the Blues Brothers in the late 1970s and appearing in that capacity in the 1980 film.

In 1986 former Atlantic Records co-owner Jerry Wexler invited the group to serve as house band for the label's 40th anniversary event. Jones fell ill with food poisoning at the last moment and could not attend, prompting Paul Shaffer to substitute. The rehearsal configuration featuring Jones, Cropper, Dunn, and drummer Anton Fig proved so effective that the musicians elected to tour. The MG's regained prominence in early 1992 when Bob Dylan selected them as his house band for his 30th anniversary tribute at Madison Square Garden. In 1993 they backed Neil Young on tour, receiving uniformly enthusiastic notices that likewise elevated Young's critical standing. Their 1994 Columbia comeback album That's the Way It Should Be, produced in the manner of their classic sides, demonstrated that the ensemble's abilities remained undiminished. Although the album did not chart, its single "Cruisin'" earned the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance.

Throughout subsequent decades Jones pursued independent projects while frequently contributing instrumental support to fellow artists and occasionally releasing his own recordings, among them the 2009 solo album Potato Hole. Cropper, in addition to session work, remained a sought-after producer and songwriter; in 2008 he collaborated with the Rascals' Felix Cavaliere on Nudge It Up a Notch and followed two years later with Midnight Flyer, then issued Dedicated: A Salute to the 5 Royales under his own name in 2011. After 2000 bassist Dunn made occasional festival and touring appearances, including a May 2012 visit to Japan alongside Cropper and Eddie Floyd, before passing away in his sleep in a Tokyo hotel. Cropper released Fire It Up on Provogue in 2021.

During the 2000s the band's catalog received extensive deluxe reissues. McLemore Avenue appeared in remastered form in 2013 to stronger notices than its initial reception. In 2019 WEA presented the group's albums from 1962 through 1968 as a streaming collection. That same year Real Gone Music issued Complete Stax Singles, Vol. 1: 1962-1967, with Complete Stax Singles, Vol. 2: 1968-1974 following in 2021.