01. Melting Pot
02. Soul Dressing
03. Born Under A Bad Sign
04. Summertime
05. Green Onions
06. ?
07. Hip Hugger
08. Hang 'em High
09. Up Tight
10. Soul Man
11. Raise Your Hand
12. 634-5789
13. Sitting on The Dock Of The Bay
14. Get on up Big Bird

New York City, 1990-01-19.

Booker T. and the M.G.'s, Lone Star Roadhouse, 240 West 52d Street (245-2950). In the 1960's, the keyboardist Booker T. Jones led the Stax Records studio band that backed up many of the great Memphis soul hits and, as the M.G.'s (for Memphis Group), had some hits of its own with instrumentals like the supremely uncluttered ''Green Onions.'' This weekend, Mr. Jones is to reconvene the M.G.'s with the guitarist Steve Cropper and the bassist Donald (Duck) Dunn. Eddie Floyd, who had the M.G.'s behind him when he made ''Knock on Wood'' in 1966, is to join them. ---nytimes.com/1990/01/19

Highlights include "Hip Hugger," "Hang Em High," which was originally recorded as the theme song for the Clint Eastwood spaghetti western of the same name, and the eternal "Green Onions," which opens the show. Shortly after this tour ended, the MG's disbanded again, and Cropper and Dunn went on to form The Blues Brothers Band with John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd.

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01. Pound It Out
02. She Breaks
03. Hey Ya (Outkast cover)
04. Native New Yorker
05. Nan
06. Warped Sister
07. Get Behind The Mule (Tow Waits cover)
08. Reunion Time
09. Potato Hole
10. Space City (Drive By Truckers cover)

Musicians:
Booker T. Jones - Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Organ
John Neff - Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar
Mike Cooley – Guitar
Neil Young - Guitar
Shonna Tucker 	- Bass
Lenny Castro – Percussion
Brad Morgan – Drums

Potato Hole is Booker T. Jones' first solo album in two decades and the early buzz in the media has already termed it his most "audacious," but that's not exactly the case with this new set. It isn't audacious so much as it is moderately predictable, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Recorded quickly with producer Rob Schnapf in Georgia and California, Jones is backed here by Athens, GA's Drive-By Truckers with Neil Young sitting in on electric guitar for nine of the ten tracks, most of which were written by Jones. This isn't the MGs, and nothing here is close to being as timeless as "Green Onions," but the album is a pleasant listen with a nice, funky, and kind of grungy groove that settles into a deep pocket, even if it never really completely catches fire. There's plenty of Jones' Hammond B-3, of course, but he branches out and plays both acoustic and electric guitar on the title track, and with up to five guitars going on some tracks, this is almost as much an instrumental guitar album as it is an organ one. If there's really anything audacious here, it would be the cover of Outkast's "Hey Ya," which sputters around more than it grooves, and Jones' B-3 lines simply can't approximate the sassy joy of André 3000's original vocal. Jones also covers Tom Waits' "Get Behind the Mule," which comes off more successfully, although, again, one misses Waits' vocal. The final cut, "Space City," is a lovely chill-out instrumental while the opening track, "Pound It Out," does exactly that, pounding things out, full of fuzzed-out guitars. Young, for those wondering, doesn't take over anything here but remains the consummate session player, showing a delicate sensibility on guitar that one wishes he'd apply more often to his own work. Again, there's no "Green Onions" track here, and nothing that'll end up as everyone's ringtone. Potato Hole isn't a slab of greasy Stax soul, either. It is what it is, a new Booker T. Jones album, and hopefully it won't take another 20 years to get to the next one. --- Steve Leggett, allmusic.com

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1. I'll Put Some Love (Back In Your Life) 		
2. Ain't That Peculiar 		
3. Let's Go Dancing 		
4. Someday We'll Be Together 		play		
5. I Was Made To Love Her 		
6. Knockin' On Heavens Door 		play		
7. We Could Fly 		
8. Superlove 		
9. Try And Love Again

Musicians:
    Marlena Teter, John Lehman – Vocals
    Mike Utley - Synthesizer, Piano, Keyboards
    Michael Baird – Drums
    Dennis Belfield – Bass
    Jim Gilstrap, Patricia Henderson, Marlena Jeter – Voices
    Booker T. Jones - Organ, Synthesizer, Piano, Arranger, Keyboards, 
    Piano (Electric), Vocals

Renowned as the organist and leader of the unparalleled Stax house band Booker T. & the MG's, Memphis native Booker T. Jones remained active as a solo artist after the breakup of the legendary quartet. Jones was the first to leave the group in 1968, relocating to Los Angeles and producing Bill Withers' 1971 gold record "Ain't No Sunshine." Recording under the name Booker T., he also managed a substantial seller of his own in 1981 with "I Want You" for A&M. Jones reunited with MG's guitarist Steve Cropper and bassist Duck Dunn for a series of tours in the early '90s. He spent the rest of the decade lending his multi-instrumental prowess to a number of other albums, from Soul Asylum's Grave Dancer's Union to several John Lee Hooker releases. Although hidden from the public's eye for several years, he emerged in 2009 with Potato Hole, a solo album recorded with acclaimed alt-country outfit the Drive-By Truckers and featuring Neil Young on guitar. ~ Bill Dahl, All Music Guide

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  01-power in your love
  02-i want you
  03-treasure chest
  04-don't stop your love
  05-electric lady            play
  06-prize possession  
  07-you're the best
  08-i came to love you


    Backing Vocals – Jim Gilstrap, John Lehman, Marti McCall, Myrna Matthews
    Bass – "Ready" Freddie Washington
    Concertmaster [Strings] – Harry Bluestone
    Contractor [Strings & Horns] – Ben Barrett
    Drums – John F. Robinson, Raymond Lee Pounds (tracks: B3)
    Guitar – Paul Jackson
    Horns [Leader] – Chuck Findley
    Percussion – Paulinho Da Costa
    Producer, Arranged By [Rhythm] – Michael Stokes
    Vibraphone – Gary Coleman
Vocals, Keyboards, Guitar – Booker T. Jones

Such a great record that has received so little recognition. Booker T croons like no other. "Don't Stop Your Love" is one of my all-time favorites, so smooth, so funky, so sexy, in the end.

If you're planning for a get-down this evening, put I WANT YOU on. It will convince any sensible human being out there. If this doesn't work, ask yourself if this is the right partner for you... ---DarknessNoon, amazon.com

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   1. Hip Hug-Her
   2. Soul Sanction
   3. Get Ready
   4. More
   5. Double Or Nothing
   6. Carnaby St.
   7. Slim Jenkins' Place
   8. Pigmy
   9. Groovin'
  10. Booker's Notion
  11. Sunny

Musicians:
Booker T. Jones - Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Organ, Piano (Electric)
Steve Cropper - Guitar, Percussion, Piano
Donald "Duck" Dunn - Bass, Bass (Electric)
Booker T. Jones - Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Organ, Piano (Electric)
Al Jackson, Jr. - Drums

Still riding high years after the success of "Green Onions," Hip Hug-Her is another 11-song solid session of Southern soul delivered by one of the best bands in the business. In an attempt to appeal to the up-and-coming mod movement, the cover features an alluring model flanked by fashionable faceless people. But not to judge the album by its cover, Hip Hug-Her finds the group diving deeper into soulful territories, no doubt aided by the addition of bassist Duck Dunn to the fold. The title track is clearly one of the stronger cuts on the album, but other tunes such as the midtempo Motown anthem "Get Ready" and the group's interpretation of "Groovin'" make this one of the strongest full-lengths in the Booker T. & the MG's catalog. --- Rob Theakston, allmusic.com

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1. Sound The Alarm featuring Mayer Hawthorne
2. All Over The Place featuring Luke James
3. Fun
4. Broken Heart featuring Jay James
5. Feel Good
6. Gently featuring Anthony Hamilton
7. Austin City Blues featuring Gary Clark, Jr.
8. Can't Wait - featuring Estelle
9. 66 Impala - featuring Poncho Sanchez and Sheila E.
10. Watch You Sleeping - featuring Kori Withers
11. Your Love Is No Love - featuring Vintage Trouble
12. Father Son Blues - featuring Ted Jones

Booker T. Jones - Bass, Hammond B3, Piano, Piano (Electric), Producer, Vocals
Bobby Ross Avila - Bass, Celeste, Fender Rhodes, Guitar, Piano, Vocals (Background), Wurlitzer
Gordon Campbell - Drums
Carla Carter - Vocals (Background)
Adan Castillo - Vocals (Background)
Gary Clark, Jr. - Featured Artist, Guitar
Nalle Colt - Guitar
Richard Danielson - Drums
Rick Barrio Dill - Bass
Jaymes Felix - Vocals (Background)
Ben Franklin - Vocals (Background)
Anthony Hamilton - Vocals
Mayer Hawthorne - Featured Artist, Vocals
Iz - Bass, Bass (Upright), Brushes, Drums, Guitar, Horn, Percussion, Scratching
Jay James - Featured Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Luke James - Featured Artist, Vocals
Hugo Johnson - Vocals (Background)
Ted Jones - Featured Artist, Guitar
Rashawn Ross - Horn
Raphael Saadiq - Guitar
Sam Salter - Vocal Producer, Vocals (Background)
Poncho Sanchez - Congas, Featured Artist, Guiro
Sheila E. - Bongos, Featured Artist, Timbales
Leon Silva Jr. - Horn
Wesley Smith - Horn
Devin Vasquez - Vocals (Background)
Nate Watts - Bass
Kevin Williams - Horn
Kori Withers - Featured Artist, Vocals

Booker T. Jones has certainly put his mark on modern pop music. As part of the legendary group Booker T. & the MG's, Memphis' first integrated band, and the house band at Stax Records in the 1960s, he pretty much was in at the ground floor of the invention of soul, backing classic soul hits by Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, and many others, as well as generating iconic instrumental hits from the era like "Green Onions," "Time Is Tight," and numerous others with the MG's. Jones left Stax as the 1970s hit and the label was essentially falling apart, and he's drifted from label to label ever since, his legacy secure as the dominant Hammond B-3 organ player of his generation (apart from Jimmy Smith, of course). Sound the Alarm is Jones' tenth solo album since leaving Stax, and it returns him to the label, now owned by Concord Records, a dozen years and change into the 21st century. Homecomings are nice, and it makes for a nice press hook for this outing, but anyone expecting some vintage-styled Memphis soul here is going to be disappointed, because there isn't much of it. Jones, who wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, has brought in several guests to help him out, and while it isn't exactly a duets album, it's pretty close, and the focus is hardly on Jones and his playing. There are a couple of nice urban R&B love ballads like "Broken Heart," which features Jay James on vocals, and "Your Love Is No Love," done with the group Vintage Trouble and spotlighting Ty Taylor on vocals, but most of the other tracks with lead vocals have little real impact or presence. The best tracks here by far are the handful of instrumentals, including the soul-jazz-like "Feel Good," the funky and bluesy "Austin City Blues" with Gary Clark, Jr. on guitar, and the set closer, "Father Son Blues," which features Ted Jones on guitar. There's nothing wrong with trying to get a more contemporary sound and feel (the album was co-produced by Jones and brothers Bobby Ross and Issiah "IZ" Avila), of course, but when you're Booker T. Jones, maybe you shouldn't worry about that. After all, the funky soul groove template that Jones helped create in Memphis some 40-plus years ago never really goes out of style. One wishes there were more of that here. ---Steve Leggett, allmusic.com

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