Booker T. & the M.G.'s were an American instrumental R&B/funk band that was influential in shaping the sound of Southern soul and Memphis soul. The original members of the group were Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums). In the 1960s, as members of the Mar-Keys, the rotating slate of musicians that served as the house band of Stax Records, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists including Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King. They also released instrumental records under their own name, including the 1962 hit single "Green Onions". As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of its era.
Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.
Guy Theodore Sebastian is an Australian singer-songwriter who rose to fame after winning the first Australian Idol in 2003. Sebastian has since released ten top ten albums, including three number ones. The first seven all gained either platinum or multi-platinum certification. He has also achieved twenty three top twenty singles, with fourteen of them, reaching the top ten, including six number ones. He is the only Australian male artist in Australian chart history to achieve six number one singles, and places third overall for all Australian acts. Ten of his singles have been certified multi-platinum, including the 13× platinum "Battle Scars". His debut single "Angels Brought Me Here" was the highest selling song in Australia in the decade 2000 to 2009. With 69 platinum and seven gold certifications and combined album and single sales of over five million in Australia, he has the highest certifications and sales of any Australian Idol contestant.
Steven Lee Cropper, sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas and Johnnie Taylor. He also acted as the producer of many of these records. He was later a member of the Blues Brothers band. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 36th on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, while he has won two Grammy Awards from his seven nominations.
Donald "Duck" Dunn was an American bass guitarist, session musician, record producer, and songwriter. Dunn was notable for his 1960s recordings with Booker T. & the M.G.'s and as a session bassist for Stax Records. At Stax, Dunn played on thousands of records, including hits by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, Johnnie Taylor, Albert King, Bill Withers, Elvis Presley, and many others. In 1992, he was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He is ranked 40th on Bass Player magazine's list of "The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time".
The Mar-Keys, formed in 1958, were an American studio session band for Stax Records, in Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1960s. As the first house band for the label, their backing music formed the foundation for the early 1960s Stax sound.
"In the Midnight Hour" is a song originally performed by Wilson Pickett in 1965 and released on his 1965 album of the same name, also appearing on the 1966 album The Exciting Wilson Pickett. The song was composed by Pickett and Steve Cropper at the historic Lorraine Motel in Memphis, later the site of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Pickett's first hit on Atlantic Records, it reached number one on the R&B charts and peaked at number 21 on the pop charts.
Eddie Lee Floyd is an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter, best known for his work on the Stax record label in the 1960s and 1970s, including the No. 1 R&B hit song "Knock on Wood".
"Soul Man" is a 1967 song written and composed by Isaac Hayes and David Porter, first successful as a number 2 hit single by Atlantic Records soul duo Sam & Dave, which consisted of Samuel "Sam" Moore and David "Dave" Prater. In 2019, "Soul Man" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress. It was No. 463 in "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2010 and No. 458 in 2004.
Back to Back is a live album by the Mar-Keys and Booker T & the M.G.'s, released on Stax Records in 1967. It features both groups playing live on the Stax/Volt package tour of Europe. The album peaked at number 98 on the Billboard 200 album chart in the United States.
McLemore Avenue is a 1970 album by Booker T. & the M.G.s, consisting entirely of mostly instrumental covers of songs from the Beatles' album Abbey Road. The title and cover are an homage to the Beatles album, 926 East McLemore Avenue being the address of the Stax Studios in Memphis, as Abbey Road was for London’s EMI Studios, which were soon renamed Abbey Road Studios. As a nod to Abbey Road's medley, most of the M.G.s' selections are arranged into their own medleys.
Melting Pot is a 1971 studio album recorded by Booker T. & the M.G.'s for Stax Records. It is the last album to feature the group's classic lineup of Jones, Cropper, Dunn, and Jackson and the first of their albums to contain longer, jam-oriented compositions.
Universal Language is a 1977 album by the Southern soul band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. The album was recorded for Asylum Records, following the demise of Stax Records, of which the M.G.'s were an integral element, in 1975.
"Green Onions" is an instrumental composition recorded in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Described as "one of the most popular instrumental rock and soul songs ever" and as one of "the most popular R&B instrumentals of its era", the tune is a twelve-bar blues with a rippling Hammond M3 organ line by Booker T. Jones that he wrote when he was 17, although the actual recording was largely improvised in the studio.
The Memphis Album is a cover album of Memphis soul songs by Australian singer Guy Sebastian released in Australia by Sony Music on 10 November 2007. The album was recorded at Ardent Studios in Memphis with Steve Cropper, Donald 'Duck' Dunn, Steve Potts, and Lester Snell. The M.G.'s were the Stax studio band who played on many of the original versions of the songs Sebastian recorded on the album. Steve Cropper was also a co-writer of three of the tracks, "In the Midnight Hour", "Knock on Wood" and "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay". One original song written by Sebastian was included on the album. The Memphis Album debuted at No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart, spending eight weeks in the Top 10. It reached double platinum accreditation, and received a nomination for "Highest Selling Album" at the 2008 ARIA Music Awards.
Hold On, I'm Comin' is the 1966 debut album by Atlantic Records soul duo Sam & Dave, issued on the Atlantic-distributed Stax label in 1966.
Willie Clarence Hall is an American drummer best known for his work with Isaac Hayes and as a member of the Blues Brothers band.
Like It Like That is the fifth album by Australian singer Guy Sebastian. The album was produced by David Ryan Harris and Fredrik Odesjo and was released in Australia on 23 October 2009 and in the US on 29 June 2010. The album contains a duet with Jordin Sparks, and also three tracks with John Mayer on guitar and backing vocals. It peaked at number six on the ARIA Albums Chart and gained platinum certification. The title track "Like It Like That" was one of the most successful singles of Sebastian's career. It reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart, and achieved 4× platinum certification. "Art of Love" was also a top ten single, spending five months in the ARIA top 50 and double platinum certification. In 2010 Sebastian received six ARIA Music Award nominations for the album and two of its singles.
Twenty Ten is a two-disc retrospective album by Australian singer and songwriter Guy Sebastian. Disc one contains 18 songs from his previous five albums and two new songs, including the lead single "Who's That Girl" which features American rapper Eve. Disc two has acoustic versions of ten of the songs. The album was released in Australia on 19 November 2010 and reached number four on the ARIA Album Chart, Sebastian's sixth consecutive top ten album. It was certified platinum in its fourth week of release and was the fifth highest selling Australian artist album of 2010. It reached 2× platinum certification in 2014. "Who's That Girl" reached number one on the ARIA Singles Chart and achieved 5× platinum certification, and was Sebastian's fifth of six number one singles in Australia. It won the Highest Selling Single ARIA Award in 2011, and received nominations for Single of the Year and Best Pop Release. Sebastian was also nominated as Most Popular Australian Artist. "Who's That Girl" also reached number one and Platinum certification in New Zealand.
"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. Redding recorded it twice in 1967, including just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. It was released on Stax Records' Volt label in 1968, becoming the first posthumous #1 single in the US. It reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart.
Official Music Video "Gimme Some Lovin" 
