Booker T. & The MGs - In the Christmas Spirit (1966)

We wish you a groovy Christmas! Booker T. & The MGs record Christmas tunes in the classic STAX style. Probably one take, direct to tape. Recorded in October, released in November. Amazing. New to me, this one will get quite a few spins around this house this season and will be added to the usual Xmas CD rotation.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart, but regularly placed on the Christmas album chart for the remainder of the decade.

Tracks: 12 tracks in 34 minutes. They're all good - a big batch of holiday fun. STAX even released Jingle Bells as a single. It's also nice to get a gentle take on Sweet Little Jesus Boy since I don't hear that one much.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. Don't know what took me so long to find this one.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Road From Memphis (2011)
Potato Hole (2009)
McLemore Avenue (1970)
Green Onions (1962)

Booker T. Jones - The Road From Memphis (2011)

WISH LIST WEEK* (AUGUST 10-16, 2015)

Booker T. and the Roots, produced by ?uestlove. That fact tells you all you need to know. Best thing I've heard in a while and I've heard a lot of great music during this theme week. Metacritic has it rated at 76/100. Consider my summer heated.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #85

Tracks: It's all good, but my favorites today are Walking Papers, The Hive, Harlem House, and the covers of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy and Lauryn Hill's Everything Is Everything.

Another listen?  Don't mind if I do.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  None

Previously revisited for the blog:
Potato Hole (2009)
McLemore Avenue (1970)
Green Onions (1962)

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*My money earned for teaching summer school usually pays for the family summer vacation. This year, however, we decided to forgo the usual vacay and spend money updating things around the house (the wife has been watching a lot of HGTV). Anyway, there was a little money left over, so I went over to Amazon and bought every CD available on my wish list, some of which had been on said list for over four years. This week, I'll be featuring some of these new-to-me discs; listening to many of them for the first time.

Booker T. & The MGs - Green Onions (1962)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 2012 50th Anniversary reissue.

I'm not much of a podcast guy, but I'll listen to one every now and then. My friend Blake hipped me to the Booker T. Jones episode of the WTF podcast with Marc Maron. If you have any interest whatsoever in Stax or soul music, try to find it. Listening to that episode this week led me to believe Booker T. Jones is the coolest musician on the planet and prompted me to pull out this classic album.

This is the debut album from the Stax house band. Bruce Eder, over at Allmusic, writes:

There's not a note or a nuance out of place anywhere on this record, which featured 35 of the most exciting minutes of instrumental music in any category that one could purchase in 1962 (and it's no slouch multiple decades out, either).

I can't really add anything to that except that I think it's an amazing accomplishment considering Jones, the band's leader, was 17 years old when this was recorded.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #33

Tracks: The title track is a classic but there are some really fantastic cover tunes here as well, including I Got A Woman, Twist And Shout, Lonely Avenue, and Comin' Home Baby. Having hastily recorded covers as album filler was commonplace in those days, so quality covers like these are relatively rare phenomena. Don't you dare skip any tracks. Even the two bonus tracks (recorded live in '65) are top notch, especially the live version of Green Onions.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: The last time I visited The Stax Museum of American Soul Music, I went as it opened on a cold, rainy Sunday morning in December. I think it was 2011. I was by myself, but 4 others were there. As we wound our way through the museum, I took my time at most every exhibit, while the others moved quickly. So by the time I made my way to the reproduction of the famous movie theater space that served as the Stax studio, I was completely alone. On the floor of the studio sits the Hammond M-3 organ used on this recording. I must have spent 10 minutes alone in that studio just staring at the organ, thinking of all the soul classics on which it appears. Just me and the organ. I've been to that museum several times, but those minutes make up my favorite time there.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Potato Hole (2009)
McLemore Avenue (1970)

Booker T. & The MGs - McLemore Avenue (1970)

I'm saddened by the death today of bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn (1941-2012), but choose to celebrate his musical contributions by listening to this great CD.

As you can guess by the album cover, this is Booker T. & The MGs' re-imagining of The Beatles' Abbey Road. Abbey Road was released in September 1969; recording on this album began early in 1970. Because the original Beatles album was so new, MGs guitarist Steve Cropper says he hadn't even heard the original music when the band started recording their versions saying, "Booker told me every note to play." Critic Thom Jurek writes, "Booker T. & the MG's turned an already hip record into one that was funky as hell. Not only is McLemore Avenue a stellar interpretation of Abbey Road, it's one of the finest Booker T. & the MG's albums to boot." I wholeheartedly agree. This reissue contains excellent liner notes by Ashley Kahn.

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #107
• Billboard R&B: #19

Tracks: Don't skip any tracks here. There are three medleys, but they differ from the famous medleys of the original Beatles album:

Track 1: Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End/Here Comes the Sun/Come Together - 15:48
Track 2: Something - 4:09
Track 3: Because/You Never Give Me Your Money - 7:26
Track 4: Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came In Through the Bathroom Window/I Want You (She's So Heavy) - 10:40

Of the three medleys, the first is the best, mainly because of the treatment they give Here Comes The Sun. The true gem of the album, however, is Something. Something is a beautiful song in the first place, but the band really goes all out here, kicking into a stomp about 2 minutes in.

Bonus tracks: This CD reissue also compiles 5 other Beatles covers by the band recorded in the 1960's for other releases. The best of these is Day Tripper.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This reissue was remastered and re-released on CD in 2011. I visited the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, 926 East McLemore Ave, in December of last year and, after touring the museum (again), picked this up in the gift shop of the museum. In other words, I bought my copy of McLemore Avenue on McLemore Avenue.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Booker T. - Potato Hole (2009)
Steve Cropper & Felix Cavaliere - Nudge It Up A Notch (2008)

Booker T. - Potato Hole (2009)

This is an awesome experiment. Booker T. is the same Stax keyboardist of Booker T & The MGs (Green Onions) fame. For this release (his first since 1981), he teamed up with Neil Young and Drive-By Truckers. As a result, there's not only a lot of Hammond B-3 organ, there's even more guitar - up to 5 guitarists on a single track. I was expecting some modern soul music but these instrumentals are much fuzzier, grungier and heavier, almost a Southern rock sound. It's not what I was expecting, but it is a fun listen. The B-3 may be one of my favorite instruments on the planet.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #135 (May 16, 2009)

Tracks: The jewel here is the cover of Hey Ya. Booker T takes a great song and makes it his own. Native New Yorker definitely has some Neil Young influence, but Young respectfully stays in the background and lets Booker do his thing. Other favorites included Warped Sister, Reunion Time, and the title track.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I traveled to England in June 2010 and this CD is one of those I bought so that I'd have new music to listen to on the train between London and Brighton.