Given their role as
Stax's house band,
Booker T. & the MG's played on virtually every hit by the label's defining artists, among them
Otis Redding,
Wilson Pickett,
Carla Thomas,
Sam & Dave, and hitmaking bluesman
Albert King. As recording artists in their own right, they notched 12 Pop and 15 R&B hits during their tenure at
Stax. The band's compilations are numerous, but there are a few necessary selections for hardcore fans: The three-disc, 61-track
Time Is Tight (issued in 1998 and subsequently reissued in Europe) somewhat haphazardly highlights the band's entire history, including their two reunions, but even better are the two
Complete Stax Singles volumes from
Real Gone Music.
Vol. 1 appeared in 2019 and contains 29 tracks from 1962 to 1967. The 20 tracks on
Vol. 2 pick up in 1968 and run through 1974, when the band split up for the first time.
In 1968,
Booker T. & the MG's had plenty of gas left in the tank. Organist/keyboardist
Booker T. Jones had many sophisticated production and arrangement ideas. As such, their sound often stretched beyond basic blues grooves toward proto-jazz/funk. They had the hits to show for it, too. Two of their three Top Ten hits appear here: "Time Is Tight" (number six) and their hip cover of
Domenic Frontiere's spaghetti western theme "Hang "Em High" (number nine). Further, there are several Hot 100 entries here. They include 1968's "Soul Limbo" (number 17), their 1969 read of
Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" (number 37), and "Slum Baby" (number 88), as well as 1970's glorious take on
the Beatles "Something" (number 76). The latter appeared on the band's classic
McLemore Avenue, a track-for-track cover of the Fab Four's
Abbey Road. Also included and not to be missed is 1971's oft-sampled "Melting Pot" (number 45), arguably the quartet's best single after "Green Onions." "Kinda Like Easy," its flipside, is a banger that transposes "Green Onions"' bluesy vamp and adds a scat-singing, jazz-tinged vocal chorus. The gritty psych-funk of "Fuquawi" appeared as the B-side of the calypso-tinged "Jamaica, This Morning." The latter, and four other tunes here, are credited to
the MG's: After
Jones and guitarist
Steve Cropper left the group for the first time, drummer
Al Jackson, Jr. kept
the MG's going with bassist
Donald "Duck" Dunn, guitarist
Bobby Manuel, and organist
Carson Whitsett. The five
MG's tracks make up the set's stereo portion. The jazzy closing cut, "Breezy," was initially the flipside of "Neckbone," and never made
the MG's lone, underrated, self-titled LP.
The Complete Stax Singles, Vol.2 was produced by
Real Gone co-founder
Gordon Anderson and meticulously annotated by
Ed Osborne. Remastering engineer
Aaron Kannowski vetted each track to assure correct use of these singles (i.e., versions played by radio DJs). Like its predecessor,
Vol. 2 is essential. The remarkably consistent quality presents an adventurous musicality that preserves and extends the band's inimitable groove quotient. You need them both. ~ Thom Jurek
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