Green Onions (60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

As the house band for Memphis-based Stax Records, Booker T and the MGs appeared on hundreds of recordings and can lay claim to be the greatest backing band in the history of soul. In 1962 they released their debut LP after the surprise success of the single Green Onions, a tune knocked up during a casual session in the studio. Note that the MGs bass player on these tracks was Lewis Steinberg – it was a couple of years before he was replaced by Duck Dunn, whose distinctive bass lines became an integral part of the Stax sound.

One of the most popular instrumental songs ever, “Green Onions” started out as a band jam at a demo recording session for rock’n’roll singer Billy Lee Riley with the famed Stax Records house band. Stax label head Jim Stewart liked what he heard and recorded what would become the basis for the band’s debut album. Christened Booker T. and The M.G.s, they released “Green Onions” with original members Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums) in October 1962. The title track became a worldwide hit, covered by dozens of artists including the Blues Brothers, the Ventures, the Shadows, Deep Purple, Mongo Santamaria and Count Basie.

LP – The deluxe 60th Anniversary Edition of Green Onions release is a 180 Gram Vinyl in a green translucent colourway similar in hue to the vegetable it celebrates plus a 4-page insert, including band photos, Stax Records ephemera and David Ritz’s new liner notes.