Green onions
| Green onions | |
|---|---|
| Booker T. & the MG's | |
| publication | May 1962 |
| length | 2 min 52 sec |
| Genre (s) | soul |
| Author (s) | Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Lewis Steinberg, Al Jackson, Jr. |
| Award (s) | Rolling Stone Magazine: 500 greatest songs of all time; Grammy Hall of Fame Award 1999 |
| album | Green onions |
Green Onions is the title of an instrumental piece belonging to soul music by the instrumental group Booker T. & the MG's , which was created in 1962 and later became a million seller .
History of origin
The soul band Booker T. & the MG's, in which white and black musicians played together, was formed in May 1962 by splitting off from the group Mar-Keys, which also functions as a session band for Stax Records . Three of the four members of Booker T. & the MG’s came from the Mar-Keys, namely the namesake Booker T. Jones, Jr. (organ), Steve Cropper (guitar) and drummer Al Jackson, Jr. Added to this only bass guitarist Lewis Steinberg .
In May 1962, Booker T. & the MG's were scheduled as a studio band for rockabilly singer Billy Lee Riley , who was under contract with Sun Records . When it did not appear on the booked studio date, the band used the time to make two of their own instrumental recordings. The song Behave Yourself was already set as the A side, because neither the title nor the complete instrumentation was available for the B side. Booker T. Jones and Steve Cropper gradually developed a riff that they remembered. Within 30 minutes it was refined and arranged for the other instruments. After 2 takes , an instrumental piece was completed, which is now known as Green Onions . The statements about the idea for the unusual title are contradictory. Part of the specialist literature is based on the name of a cat whose walking style is based on the guitar riff. Musicologist Rob Bowman and others prefer the idea of a “funky” , ie strong-smelling object like the onion , based on their interviews with participants . The German translation for "green onions" is the spring onion .
The exact date of the recording is not known. The matrix number for Green Onions (# 6295), however, compared to the chronological use of other matrix numbers of the Stax recording studio, suggests that the recording must have been made after May 22, 1962 and before June 1962. The cast consisted of Booker T. Jones (organ), Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewis Steinberg (bass guitar) and Al Jackson Jr. (Drums). These band members are also registered as composers by copyright. The producer was the label boss of Stax Records, Jim Stewart, who monitored the tapes during the session.
The rhythm is dominated by an unusual 2/4 time with clear accents given by the bass guitarist and almost abrupt organ riffs, garnished with staccato-like guitar licks, in which Cropper switches back and forth between the role of a lead guitar and a rhythm guitar. The score shows a chromatic minor with a fifth as the tonic . The razor-sharp guitar staccatos of Cropper's Fender Telecaster at the intro were originally positioned in the second half of the guitar solo, now a variation is played during the solo . Booker T. Jones used a used Hammond M-3 spinet organ that Jim Stewart had bought from an elderly lady. Jackson's rimshot-accentuated drums underpin the danceable rhythm with their strong syncopation . “This is the best instrumental recording I've ever heard,” the impressed Cropper admitted after the session.
Publication and Success
It was first published as Behave Yourself / Green Onions in May 1962 on the Stax subsidiary label Volt (# 102), which had just been founded. Disc jockey Reuben Washington from the local radio station WLOK played the record four times in a row and attracted attention in the Memphis area through this airplay .
After the intervention of producer Jerry Wexler from the Stax sales partner Atlantic Records , the single was released again on the parent label Stax Records (# 127) on August 4, 1962 - this time in reverse page order. This change has led to tremendous success of the new A-side Green Onions that on 15 September 1962 Rank One of the Rhythm & Blues - hit parade arrived, they had held for 4 weeks (but not consecutively). On September 29, 1962, she reached number three in the pop charts. This reflected the sales success, because Green Onions sold 700,000 copies within a few months, a total of over 1 million by the end of 1967. The single received a BMI award . After this success, Donald "Duck" Dunn replaced the previous bass guitarist Lewis Steinberg in August 1962 for the first time on the LP Green Onions of the same name .
Green Onions was named to the list of the 500 best songs of all time by the music magazine Rolling Stone and was awarded a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame also included him in their list of 500 songs that formed rock and roll. Acclaimed Music ranked him 101st of the 3000 best songs of all time.
The LP of the same name, recorded on August 27, 1962, contains the title song and was the first LP in the Stax Records catalog (# 701). In October 1962 it was able to penetrate to 33rd place on the pop LP charts. The first single from Booker T. & the MG's not only creates the sound for the further instrumental recordings, but also provides an essential basis for the Memphis sound . From then on, the group not only played their own instrumental recordings, but also functioned as a session band in the format of a rhythm group for many soul performers on the Stax label - often supplemented by the Memphis Horns . In December 1979, a re-release of the single in Great Britain was able to reach the hit parade there for the first time and reached number 7.
| title | Label | date |
|---|---|---|
| Behave Yourself / Green Onions | Volt Records (USA) | May 1962 |
| Green Onions / Behave Yourself | Stax Records (USA); London Records (UK) | August 1962 |
| Green Onions / Boot-Leg | Atlantic Records (UK) | March 1967 |
| Green Onions / Boot-Leg | Atlantic Records (UK) | December 1979 |
Cover versions
Of the total of at least 28 cover versions, the Ventures with a guitar-driven version (January 1963), Harry James & His Orchestra played a swing version with Buddy Rich on drums (LP Harry James Plays Green Onions and Other Great Hits ; April 1965) should be highlighted , King Curtis with leading saxophone (March 1967), Count Basie with brass sections (LP Basie's in the Bag ; recorded on August 15 and 17, 1967), Mongo Santamaría presents a Latin Jazz version (December 1969), Bill Doggett (LP Every Day, I Have the Blues ; April 1971), Roy Buchanan (September 1977) or the patriotically commenting Blues Brothers (LP Made in America ; December 1980) - all instrumental versions.
reception
Dan Aykroyd commented on the live recording of the song for the Blues Brothers album Made in America :
“I believe that this tune can be equated with the great classical music around the world. Well now you go to Germany, you got your Bach, your Beethoven and your Brahms. Here in America, you got your Fred McDowell , your Irving Berlin , your Glenn Miller , and your Booker T. & the MG's! ”
“I think this piece can be equated with the great classical music of the world. In Germany you have Bach, Beethoven and Brahms. Here in America we have Fred McDowell, Irving Berlin, Glenn Miller and Booker T. & the MG's! "
The song Green Onions has been used widely on radio, television, and in film. The piece appears in the soundtrack of American Graffiti (August 1, 1973) and in the films Quadrophenia (Germany premiere: November 9, 1979), Flamingo Kid (July 3, 1986), Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (June 17, 1979) 1993), Hercules and the Sandlot Kids (July 21, 1994), The House Friend (January 6, 1995), Snaps Shorty (February 29, 1996), Chicken Run (August 10, 2000), A Single Man (December 11 , 1996) 2009) or The Loner (April 8, 2010). The software company Electronic Arts also uses the song in the menu of their game Skate .
Individual evidence
- ^ Rob Bowman, Soulsville USA - The Story of Stax Records , 1997, p. 38.
- ↑ Steve Greenberg, The Very Best of Booker T. & the MG’s , CD Liner Notes 1994
- ^ Rob Bowman, Soulsville USA - The Story of Stax Records , 1997, p. 39.
- ↑ Booker T. Jones himself describes that the title should initially be "Funky Onions": "To laced-up, deep-south conservative America, it sounded like a cuss word. So we retitled it Green Onions". Interview with Dave Simpson: How we made Booker T and the MGs' Green Onions, The Guardian, March 11, 2019, accessed May 2020.
- ↑ Green Onions ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , BMI entry
- ↑ An advertisement in Billboard magazine dated August 4, 1962 announced the record.
- ^ Joel Whitburn: Top R&B / Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. , P. 802. Record Research, 2004.
- ^ Rob Bowman, Soulsville USA - The Story of Stax Records , 1997, p. 40.
- ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 160
- ^ Grammy.com
- ↑ 500 songs that shaped rock and roll
- ↑ Acclaimed music site
