Booker T. & the M.G.'s  

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-'''Booker T. Jones''' (born [[November 12]] [[1944]]) is a multi-[[instrumentalist]], [[songwriter]], [[record producer]] and [[arranger]], best known for [[frontman|fronting]] the [[band (music)|band]], [[Booker T. & the M.G.s]].+'''Booker T. & the M.G.'s''' is an [[instrumental]] [[soul music|soul]] band popular in the 1960s and 1970s. They are most commonly associated with [[Stax Records]] and are often placed in the subgenre of [[Memphis soul]]. They were also one of the first [[racial integration|racially-integrated]] bands in popular music. They are probably best known for their 1962 hit [[instrumental rock|instrumental]] "[[Green Onions]]" and for being members of the [[house band]] for many Stax/Volt performers. As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of their era. By the mid-1960s, bands on both sides of the Atlantic were trying to sound like Booker T. & the M.G.'s.
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-Born in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], Jones was a child prodigy, playing the [[oboe]], [[saxophone]], [[trombone]], and [[piano]] at school and serving as [[organist]] at his [[church]]. He attended [[Booker T. Washington]] High School, the alma mater of [[Rufus Thomas]] and shared the hallowed halls with future stars like [[Isaac Hayes]]'s writing partner [[David Porter (musician)|David Porter]]; saxophonist [[Andrew Love (musician)|Andrew Love]] of [[The Memphis Horns]]; [[soul music|soul]] [[singer/songwriter]] [[William Bell (musician)|William Bell]] and [[Earth, Wind, and Fire]]'s [[Maurice White]].+
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-Jones's first entry into professional [[music]] came at age sixteen, when he played [[baritone saxophone]] on Satellite (soon to be [[Stax Records|Stax]]) Records' first [[Chart-topper|hit]], "Cause I Love You", by [[Rufus]] and [[Carla Thomas]].+
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-While hanging around the Satellite Record Shop run by [[Estelle Axton]], co-owner of Satellite Records with her brother [[Jim Stewart]], Jones met record clerk [[Steve Cropper]], who would become one of the MGs when the group formed in [[1962]]. Besides Jones on [[organ (music)|organ]] and Cropper on [[guitar]], Booker T. and the MGs featured [[Lewie Steinberg]] on [[bass guitar]] and [[Al Jackson, Jr.]] on [[drum kit|drums]] ([[Donald "Duck" Dunn]] eventually replacing Steinberg). While still in high school, Jones wrote the group's [[instrumental]] "[[Green Onions]]", which not only became a hit in 1962, but remains an enduring classic more than 40 years later.+
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-Over the next few years, Jones would divide his time between studying classical music composition, composing and transposition at [[Indiana University Bloomington|Indiana University]], playing with the MGs on the weekends back in Memphis[http://books.google.com/books?id=V-LHs6mjKc4C&pg=PA245&lpg=PA246&output=html&sig=SshCjcHohe4Aurk_z9DhnwEU0k0], serving as a [[session musician]] with other [[Stax Records|Stax]] acts, and writing songs that would become classics. He wrote, with [[Eddie Floyd]], "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)", [[Otis Redding]]'s "I Love You More Than Words Can Say", and, with William Bell, [[Albert King]]'s "[[Born Under a Bad Sign]]." The latter would later be popularized in the [[cover version]] by [[power trio]] [[Cream (band)|Cream]]. +
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-In 1970, Jones moved to [[California]] and stopped playing sessions for Stax, after becoming frustrated with Stax's treatment of the MGs as employees rather than musicians. While still under contract to Stax, he appeared on [[Stephen Stills]]' eponymous album (1970). The 1971 album, ''Melting Pot'' would be the last [[Booker T. & the MGs]] album issued on [[Stax]].+
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-Jones produced three albums with his former wife, under the name Booker T. & Priscilla, as well as making the charts as a [[solo (music)|solo]] artist in 1981 with "I Want You". He produced Priscilla's sister [[Rita Coolidge]], [[Bill Withers]]'s debut album ''Just As I Am'' (on which he also played several instruments), and [[Willie Nelson]]'s album ''[[Stardust (album)|Stardust]]''. He has also lent his trademark keyboards to everyone from [[Ray Charles]] to [[Neil Young]] to [[Natalie Merchant]]. Jones currently still plays with [[Booker T. & the MGs]] and his own Booker T. Jones Band.+
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-Jones was inducted into [[The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1992, and was honored with a [[Grammy]] award for lifetime achievement on February 11, 2007.+
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Booker T. & the M.G.'s is an instrumental soul band popular in the 1960s and 1970s. They are most commonly associated with Stax Records and are often placed in the subgenre of Memphis soul. They were also one of the first racially-integrated bands in popular music. They are probably best known for their 1962 hit instrumental "Green Onions" and for being members of the house band for many Stax/Volt performers. As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of their era. By the mid-1960s, bands on both sides of the Atlantic were trying to sound like Booker T. & the M.G.'s.



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