The Stax house band!
Led by piano and organ player Booker T. Jones, the Stax Records house band played behind numerous legendary artists, as well as released their own instrumental records. Most famously Green Onions.
As Stax’s answer to Motown’s Funk Brothers, they arranged and recorded for Bill Withers, Albert King, Sam & Dave, Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, and many, many more.
With the addition of the Memphis Horns, they would come to define the sound of Memphis and Southern Soul.
The list of tunes these guys are largely responsible for is seriously extensive, here’s a handful.
Green Onions, Born Under A Bad Sign, (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay, Ain’t No Sunshine, Soul Man, Hold On I’m Coming, Knock On Wood, Try A Little Tenderness, Respect (Otis Redding version), and Mr. Pitiful.
Right now, you may be asking yourself, what does M.G’s stand for? There has been a lot of debate about what the acronym M.G. stands for, including references to the car manufacturer.
The world has settled for Memphis Group but Donald Duck Dunn famously claimed it stands for musical geniuses and who can argue with that?
Let’s take a look at the core band members of this relatively unknown group that had such a huge impact on popular music.
Booker T. & The M.G.’s core band members
Booker T. Jones was the bandleader, he played piano and organ but also co-wrote many of the hits as well as produced.
Steve Cropper played guitar and also co-wrote many of the songs, most famously (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay with Otis Redding.
Donald Duck Dunn was not the first bass player, he replaced Lewie Steinberg but he did become synonymous with the band and had the longest involvement with them.
Al Jackson Jr. was a founding member of the band. He played drums but also produced, most famously Albert King. Not just involved with Stax, Al Jackson Jr. also recorded for Hi Records where he played on Al Green‘s smash hit Let’s Stay Together. Other credits include Rod Stewart, Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Ann Peebles, and Donny Hathaway.
Booker T. & The M.G.’s Tunes | Related Pages
(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay
Learn how to play (Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding (and Steve Cropper) using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| G | B7 | C | A |
Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun, I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ comes…
Ain’t No Sunshine
You can learn how to play Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers using chords, lyrics, TAB, chord analysis, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| Am7 Em G5 | Am7 | Am7 Em G5 |
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, it’s not warm when she’s away…
Born Under A Bad Sign
You can learn how to play Born Under A Bad Sign by Albert King using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| Db7 | Db7 | Db7 | Db7 (Gb G) |
Born under a bad sign, I’ve been down since I began to crawl…
Hold On, I’m Comin’
You can learn how to play Hold On, I’m Comin’ by Sam & Dave using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, and the original recording.
| Ab7 | Ab7 | Ab7 | Ab7 |
Don’t you ever, be sad. Lean on me, when the times are bad…
Knock On Wood
You can learn how to play Knock On Wood by Eddie Floyd using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, the original recording, and cover versions.
| A6 | A6 | A6 | A6 |
I don’t want to lose, this good thing, that I got…
Respect
You can learn how to play Respect by Aretha Franklin using chords, lyrics, TAB, backing track, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| G7 | F7 |
(Oh) What you want, (Oh) Baby, I got it…
Soul Man
You can learn how to play Soul Man by Sam & Dave (Blues Brothers) using chords, lyrics, TAB, backing track, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| G G7 G | G G7 G |
Coming to you, on a dusty road…
Booker T. & The M.G.’s on the web
Artists & Bands
Behind every single tune you learn, there’s an artist or band with an entire catalogue of music, waiting to be discovered.
Find out more about these great Artists & Bands, and let their tunes guide you to success.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about Booker T. & The M.G.’s tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
