Booker T. & The M.G.'s - Green Onions | Soul Sunday

Published on 6 Jul 2025, 14:00

Instrumental hitmakers *Booker T. & The M.G.’s* began as a studio band at Stax Records. The Memphis, Tennessee label became a bastion of Southern soul and funk between 1962 and 1969 by releasing hundreds of records in which keyboardist Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg and later Donald “Duck” Dunn (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums) backed Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Johnnie Taylor, and many other artists. Emulating the Mar-Keys—the extant Stax studio band—Jones and company spurned written charts to play by feel. Some jams paid off unexpectedly. In June 1962, between takes at one of the band’s early dates, Jones, 17, noodled a figure on his Hammond organ. Cropper, 20, asked to hear the riff again. He joined in, followed by Steinberg and Jackson. A driving 12-bar blues emerged. Producer and label co-founder Jim Stewart rolled tape, and within the month Stax had released “Green Onions,” a Top 40 hit and perpetual staple of film, TV, and commercial soundtracks. Recording in a repurposed movie theater at 926 McLemore Avenue whose marquee read “Soulsville USA”and whose raked floor gave Stax tracks a unique punch, the M.G.’s, often augmented by Mar-Keys horn players, codified Southern soul music. The band charted again in 1967 with “Hip Hug-Her” and a cover of the Rascals’ “Groovin,’” meanwhile touring Europe behind a Stax artists revue and playing the Monterey Pop Festival on their own and behind Otis Redding. In 1969 their single “Time Is Tight” reached 6 on the Billboard pop chart. In 1970 the band made McLemore Avenue, an instrumental homage to the Beatles’ Abbey Road. On October 1, 1975, Al Jackson Jr. was murdered; Stax session drummer Willie Hall took his place. Two years later, Cropper, Dunn, and Hall joined the Blues Brothers Band, later appearing in both Blues Brothers movies. Dunn passed away in 2012. Cropper and Jones are still playing out, and “Green Onions” will forever soundtrack the drag race sequence at the end of American Graffiti.—Michael Dolan

Booker T. & The M.G.’s - Green Onions
Album: Green Onions
Single Released July 1962 on Stax
Album released in October 1962
Recorded in June 1962 at Stax Studios in Memphis, TN

_Written By:_ Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Lewie Steinberg, Al Jackson Jr.

_Performed By:_

Booker T. Jones – Hammond M3 organ
Steve Cropper – guitar
Lewis Steinberg – bass guitar
Al Jackson Jr. – drums

_Produced By_ Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Lewie Steinberg, Al Jackson Jr.,

🔔 Subscribe to the Rhino Channel! Rhino.lnk.to/YouTubeSubID

💌 Let's keep in touch! Join the Rhino mailing list to be the first to hear about our new music and merch Rhino.lnk.to/emailLY

Stay connected with RHINO on...

Facebook facebook.com/RHINO
Instagram instagram.com/rhino_records
TikTok tiktok.com/@rhinorecords
X twitter.com/Rhino_Records

**********

RHINO is the ultimate destination for timeless music and unforgettable moments in pop culture! Since 1978, Rhino has been the world’s leading pop culture label specializing in curation of music from the ‘60s, ‘70s, '80s and '90s.

We upload classic music and videos from our vault every week so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell 🔔 ! If there’s something you want to see or hear, let us know in the comments 🗣️

Visit Rhino.com to shop our vast catalog of vinyl, CDs, boxed sets, and merchandise. We regularly announce exciting new releases. Join our mailing list via the link in our bio so you don’t miss a chance to expand your collection!