Green Onions [Deluxe]

by Booker T. & the MG's

Overview

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 Got a Woman" is the single best indicator of how superb this record is and this band was -- listening to this track, it's easy to forget that the song ever had lyrics or ever needed them, Booker T. Jones' organ and Steve Cropper's guitar serving as more-than-adequate substitutes for any singer. Their version of "Twist and Shout" is every bit as satisfying. Even "Mo' Onions," an effort to repeat the success of "Green Onions," doesn't repeat anything from the earlier track except the tempo, and Jones and Cropper both come up with fresh sounds within the same framework. "Behave Yourself" is a beautifully wrought piece of organ-based blues that gives Jones a chance to show off some surprisingly nimble-fingered playing, while "Stranger on the Shore" is transformed into a piece of prime soul music in the group's hands. Just when it seems like the album has turned in all of the surprises in repertory that it could reasonably deliver, it ends with "Comin' Home Baby," a killer jazz piece on which Steve Cropper gets to shine, his guitar suddenly animated around Jones' playing, his quietly trilled notes at the crescendo some of the most elegant guitar heard on an R&B record up to that time. ~ Bruce Eder

Product Details

Release Date:	02/24/2023
Label:	Atlantic / Rhino
UPC:	0603497837571
Rank:	21837

Tracks

1. Green Onions
2. Rinky-Dink
3. I Got a Woman
4. Mo' Onions
5. Twist and Shout
6. Behave Yourself
7. Stranger on the Shore
8. Lonely Avenue
9. One Who Really Loves You
10. I Can't Sit Down
11. A Woman, a Lover, a Friend
12. Comin' Home Baby

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Booker T. & the MG's   Primary Artist,Organ
Ray Charles   Primary Artist,Piano,Vocals
The Mar-Keys   Primary Artist
Jackie Wilson   Primary Artist,Vocals
Mel Torme   Primary Artist,Drums,Vocals
Mary Wells   Primary Artist,Vocals
Dave "Baby" Cortez   Primary Artist,Organ
The Dovells   Primary Artist
The Top Notes   Primary Artist
James Jamerson   Bass
Charles "Packy" Axton   Saxophone
Eddie Willis   Guitar
Donald "Duck" Dunn   Bass
Gene Estes   Vibraphone
Joe Mondragon   Bass
Arnie Satin   Baritone (Vocal)
Mike Dennis   Tenor (Vocal)
Danny Brooks   Bass (Vocal)
Jerry Summers   Vocals,Tenor (Vocal)
Mike Wofford   Piano
Al Jackson, Jr.   Drums
Paul Riser   Trombone
Steve Cropper   Guitar,Guitar (Electric)
Booker T. Jones   Organ
Lewie Steinberg   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Derek Ray   Vocals
Joe Burnett   Trumpet
Wanda Young   Vocals (Background)
Katherine Anderson   Vocals (Background)
Mark Stevens   Tenor (Vocal)
Georgeanna Tillman   Vocals (Background)
Popcorn Wylie   Piano
John Kitzmiller   Tuba
Guy Howard   Vocals
Wyanetta Cowart   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Paul Winley   Composer
Ray Charles   Composer
Sidney Wyche   Composer
Berry Gordy, Jr.   Producer
Bert Russell   Composer
Bob Altshuler   Original Liner Notes
Bill Belmont   Project Assistant
Bob Dorough   Composer
Chris Clough   Reissue Producer
Ben Tucker   Composer
Doc Pomus   Composer
Dee Clark   Composer
Joe Tarantino   Remastering
Rob Bowman   Liner Notes
Robert Mellin   Composer
Jim Stewart   Engineer
Nick Phillips   Reissue Producer
Kal Mann   Composer
Renald Richard   Composer
Al Jackson, Jr.   Composer
Muldrow   Composer
William Robinson   Composer
Steve Cropper   Composer
Bert Berns   Composer
Booker T. Jones   Composer
Cornell Muldrow   Composer
Dorough   Composer
Smokey Robinson   Composer
Lewie Steinberg   Composer
Phil Medley   Composer
Acker Bilk   Composer
David Clowney   Composer
Haig Adishian   Cover Design
Winley   Composer
Abbey Anna   Project Assistant
Rikka Arnold   Editorial
Andrew Pham   Package Design
Michelle Tremblay   Project Assistant
Irving Schild   Cover Photo
Sid Wyche   Composer