BOOKER T & MG'S APPRECIATION
kenny
1,024 Posts
damn I was just listening to Meltin Pot againChicken Pox is so DEADLY of a tune!!is it on a 45 ?hip me to your favourite MG's tune/ LP
Comments
ESSENTIAL!!!
Man, Booker T.'s band was so consistent that it would probably be easier to hip you to my least-favorite BT/MG album!*** Damn near everything they did had the mark of Memphis excellence, and that even includes their Christmas album!. Can't go wrong with most of their records, although Melting Pot stands out for being so experimental - no covers, all originals, longer songs, easily one of the band's better moments. Even the jazzy vocal chorus sounds good.
Has anybody heard that mid-seventies reunion album they did for Elektra, Universal Language? Willie Hall replaced Al Jackson on that one.
[color:red]***Okay, I'll fess up...the one BT/MG album I heard that didn't move me was McLemore Avenue, their album of Beatles tunes. But even then, I heard it in the background at a party - maybe a close relisten is in order.[/color]
yes, "Come Together" and "Shes So Heavy" are top shelf..."shes so heavy" has the same effect on me as their version of "summertime", that hammond just simmering under everything then it just boils over...goosebump time
Ha - one of the requests I had for that Indian wedding in Memphis last was the entire MCLEMORE AVENUE album.
I wish we had a "connected" graemlin for the bride & groom.
classic
I just randomly pulled this one out last night to listen to, and forgot how good it is.
cosine!! BT&theMGS has gotta rank among the greatest acts ever just due to their consistency. Not as funky as the classic Meters but in my mind comparable in terms of the quality of their music.
..and for the record...BT&MGs were the greatest band in the world.
Stax/Volt Revue Live in London is
...no, not quite as funky, but then again I don't think funk was the point with BT & the MG's. Funk wasn't their angle. But as far as plain ol' instrumental soul, both bands are on the same high level.
i thought this was a website about beats
of course you're right, funk wasn't the point, although they WERE funky. It's just fun to compare/contrast their differing approaches to the same instrumentation and format.
Soul Clap 69
yeah, sure, otherwise i agree.
instrumental soul wasnt always easy to pull off. one wrong turn and all of a sudden you'd have undistiguished dance music that fades in the background (dennis coffey! paul humphrey & the cool-aid chemists!). the meters and booker t.'s MG's were hipper than that.
"Green Onions" is one of those "oldies" I can never get tired of. I've heard it so much that I always anticipate that moment right before the guitar solo when somebody hollers off-mike, "HEY!".
I think this is the most listened to record in my collection. "No Matter What Shape" is the jam. One of the best nights of my life was when the club I worked at threw a Booker T and the MG??s jam. My boss let me sit backstage next to the Leslie cabinet or whatever, and I just smoked joinnts all night and soaked up the soul. Good times.
It took a long time for me to find this on vinyl, but I did eventually and mint too. And 'No Matter What Shape' is one of my favorite songs ever.
Also, on Green Onions. That song is forever cool.
Always reminds me of the drag race scene from 'American Graffiti' too.
I still have the MP3 up if anyone needs to hear it right now (and why not?)...
I went to see Booker T about 15 years ago and I was druuuuunnk, as they were selling quart draft beers at the show. It was outside and about 97 degrees, so I was putting away beer in a big way .Anyway, that LP was my shit at the moment and I was in front yelling out songs my drunk ass wanted to hear. Steve Cropper got amused by my requests and by the time I got to "Jeruhkoooooo" He was crackin' up whenever I opened my loud drunk mouth...I had a ball.
The one time I saw BT & the MG's live, it was a year ago at an outdoor festival in Memphis and Eddie Floyd was in attendance...like the R&B freaks that we were, me and my friend Tom definitely played the tourist role and got our pictures snapped with the man...
Who did they have on the drums?
That 1973 album that the MG's did (without Booker T. and Steve Cropper) is best forgotten!
I don't remember - I don't think it was Willie Hall or Anton Fig, who filled Al Jackson's shoes in the past.
Those are some big ass shoes...
ive been wondering about this lp.
whats the general sound? ive kinda gotten the drift that its got a bill withers funk-folk thing going on...(and yes, i know booker produced withers' 1st LP)
The song I bought it for was "Flamingo" which sounds a lot like his earlier work. It's an instrumental, summertime sounding cut. I'll try to record it and post it up tomorrow.
green onions is classic. one of the few great great songs that still gets played on oldies stations.