Tag Archives: Duck Dunn

” Hey Ya! ” – Booker T. Jones at the Soiled Dove Underground

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Booker T. onstage at SDU

Booker T. , the Master of the Hammond B3, strokes the keys at SDU

Concert review- Booker T. Jones- Soiled Dove Underground, Denver, CO 6/12/15

” I saw him later at the Monterrey Pop Festival. Only this time, he wasn’t playing the Isleys’ music. He was playing his music. And we all poured out of the dressing room to go see him .”

That’s Booker T. Jones, talking about Jimi Hendrix, whom he had first seen playing in a club in Indianapolis with the Isley Brothers. At that time, Booker was at the world-class school of music at Indiana U. in Bloomington on a full scholarship. This might have been a daunting course of study for a humble kid out of Memphis, except this kid had already made great records as the keyboardist for the Stax Records house band behind the likes of Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and Rufus Thomas, as well as writing and recording the hit  ” Green Onions ” with  Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, and Al Jackson, Jr. as Booker T. and the MGs. Oh yeah, and that was while Booker was in high school. The gig at Monterrey was immortalized in the Hendrix/Redding LP, ” Live at Monterrey Pop “, with Otis upstaging rock’s royalty – the bill included The Who, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin – with his unforgettable version of Chris Brown’s ” Try A Little Tenderness “.

Fast forward to 2015, and Booker is an elder statesman of music history, with a roster of LP appearances, songs crafted, and production ( who knew he was at the boards on Willie Nelson’s ” Stardust ” ? ) rivaling anyone on this side of the grass today. The Soiled Dove show was a veritable tour through a Mount Rushmore of rock and R and B, with Booker in the role of docent, guiding the cognoscenti and newbies alike with snippets of memories and back stories galore. Beginning with the organ intro from the soundtrack to  the Clint Eastwood classic ” Hang Em High “, Booker oozed relaxed confidence as he shared the first of many remembrances: the hit single for the MGs, a cover of the soundtrack version by Hugo Montenegro,  was written by then-Los Angeles Rams owner Dominic Frontierre, apparently moonlighting in the movie biz. Next up was blues legend Albert King, and  ” Born Under A Bad Sign “, famously covered by Cream. Booker has said that he and songwriting partner William Bell crafted this R and B standard the very night before Albert showed up in Memphis for his session. Talk about deadline pressure! Booker stayed with Albert on the latter’s ” Pretty Woman ” ( decidedly not the Roy Orbison tune of the same title ), noting that he played his original instrument, the upright bass, on King’s recording of the song.

Booker T. and Ted

Booker takes center stage on guitar, with son Ted in background. Photo courtesy of SuziQ

Nicely pacing the set with covers and originals, Jones sandwiched Hendrix’ bluesy ” Hey Joe ” between the MGs’ ” Green Onions ” and ” Hip Hug-Her ” . Then on to ” one of the most unusual men I’ve ever met “, the prehistoric  rocker Ellas McDaniel, a/k/a Bo Diddley, with an obscure tune that Jones left unnamed.  Jones would later swing back to the 50s blues legends with Muddy Waters’ ” Mannish Boy “. One could almost follow Highway 61 along the banks of the Mississippi River with Booker as he sampled the sweeping range of musical genres that came through Memphis during his formative years.

Ice and Ted Jones

( l-r ) Vernon ” Ice ” Black, Ted Jones, and Melvin Brannon, Jr.

That exposure to a wide variety of styles leads Booker to places you wouldn’t expect. Referencing an award ceremony in Minneapolis, he recounted the appearance of local eminence Prince, and deftly segued into a lovely version of ” Purple Rain ” with his son Ted. To see father and son alone together onstage, trading heartfelt verses in a gentle, almost quiet arrangement, was a touching moment and a musical treat.

Booker and Ted

Who woulda thought? Booker and Ted pay tribute to Prince Rogers Nelson.

Booker’s hits have all been instrumentals, but his voice is surprisingly supple and his phrasing is relaxed. He stayed within his range, and his sincere delivery was at times compelling. Stepping out to center stage on guitar, he showed a disciplined musicianship befitting a guy who directed his high school band and orchestra from the day he showed up as a freshman.

(l-r) Melvin Brannon, Jr. on bass, Ted Jones on guitar, Booker T. on guitar and vocals

(l-r) Melvin Brannon, Jr. on bass, Ted Jones on guitar, Booker T. on guitar and vocals. Photo courtesy SuziQ

Jones closed the set with the MGs’ ” Soul Limbo ” ( our late Harry Gebippe’s favorite Booker tune ), and ” Hey Ya ! ” from his Grammy-winning collaboration with the Drive-By Truckers and Neil Young, Potato Hole . Booker took pains to thank his outstanding band     ( Vernon ” Ice ” Black and Ted Jones on guitars, Darian Gray on drums, and Melvin Brannon Jr. on bass ), and stepped offstage only briefly . Almost in thanks to the crowd, Booker launched into his most familiar hit, ” Time Is Tight “.  Booker has said that the song was  written as he gazed upon the Seine River in Paris, and the gentle but pulsing tempo coupled with Booker’s feathery chords by  gave the feel of a watery current beneath the floor of the Soiled Dove. Time for another musical giant? Another cohort from Booker’s past? Yes, back to Otis Redding and the hit written with Jerry ” The Iceman ” Butler ,          ” I’ve Been Loving You Too Long “. Too long to stop now, indeed, Mr. Jones.

Booker T. at the SDU

Booker T. Jones sharing the wisdom of the musical ages.

— Nanker Phledge

The editors would like to welcome back our intrepid mountain correspondent Mr. Phledge from his extended ” vacation ” at an undisclosed location.

As The Year Goes Passing By: A Look Back at 2012

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The Ghost Writer heads North!

Our guys Harry G and Nanky P hook up by satellite to trade tales of 2012– Ed.

Harry: For me, the year was bookended by memorable shows from two of my favorite mid/late-70’s artists. In early January, Garland Jeffreys made a rare appearance up here in the Great White North. Backed by just a single guitarist and playing to an adoring, sold-out house in a small theater in NE Minneapolis, Garland was animated, engaged and gracious to a fault, staying after the show for hours signing anything people shoved in front of him and posing for photographs. The Parker and Rumour review has already been posted, so ’nuff said about that. Both men proved that rockers of a certain age can still be vital, passionate and relevant, without turning into anachronistic Indian-casino-touring oldies shows.

Nanker: For me, it’s the unexpected, off-the-cuff moments that are the live concertgoers’ reward for tolerating outrageous fees by brokers, no parking near venues, and pre-drink requests for I.D. from twenty-year-olds who can’t grow a beard. ” I.D.? I saw Blind Faith back when your Mom was a preschooler! Give me a damn beer! ”

Malcom, Luther, and John rock the soundcheck

Malcom, Luther, and John rock the soundcheck

How about these: Watching the North Mississippi Allstars’ soundcheck, as Luther Dickinson helped integrate new bassist Lightnin’ Malcom and tour keyboardist Missing Cat John Hermann by jamming on the Stones’ Latin-flavored rave-up finale to ” Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’? ” Listening to Mavis Staples telling the story of her father, Roebuck ” Pops ” Staples, writing ” Keep On Marchin’ ” in 1963 for the blood-stained Freedom Marches in Alabama. Hearing Joe Walsh, his little-kid voice choking with emotion, saying of his friend Levon Helm, ” I’m not okay with his passing, but it helps me to sing this “, as he lead his band into ” I Shall Be Released “. Meeting Marcia Ball at the merch tent at Blues Under the Bridge and asking how she liked the Soiled Dove Underground ( she did!). Seeing Bonnie Raitt raise her fists in triumph like Rocky Balboa to proclaim, ” I just had a visit from Dr. Feelgood “, and knowing that every guy at Red Rocks wished it was him.

Blues Under the Bridge 2012

Blues Under the Bridge 2012

Where else but at the Rock Show?

Harry: Ah, Levon! His passing figured prominently in a number of venues this year. In Nashville, at the Americana Music Festival Honors & Awards show in September, not only did a cast of Americana heavyweights gather onstage for a stirring rendition of “The Weight,” dedicated to Levon, but later that evening the song was reprised by a different group of musicians at The Mercy Lounge. Nick Lowe gave a “Good on ya, mate” shout out to the late drummer for The Band at his First Avenue show, shortly after Levon’s death. I feel a certain affinity for Levon, as we share the same birthday (albeit 13 years apart). Like the old Pete Seeger song says, there was a time to mourn and a time to celebrate this year. NRBQ regrouped and put out a strong new album this year, following band leader Terry Adam’s recovery from cancer. A number of local Twin CIties bands put on a Kill Kancer Benefit show, in memory of the late Soul Asylum bass player, Karl Mueller. Another cancer survivor, Danny Amis, played most of a set with his fellow Los Straitjackets band members in September. So, for every loss, there is a survivor, and promising newcomers are always waiting, ready to pick up the torch.

NRBQ at Famous Dave’s in Minny!

Nanker: We should also remember Donald ” Duck ” Dunn, the Memphis kid who teamed with guitarist Steve Cropper and organist Booker T. Jones to make some of the greatest music ever in the late 60s/early 70s at the tiny Stax Records studio in his hometown, backing up Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, and Wilson Pickett, in addition to his own MGs with Steve, Booker, and the drummer Al Jackson, Jr.

Stax Recording Studios, Memphis, TN

Stax Recording Studios, Memphis, TN

Gebippe at Stax front door, in Otis' footsteps

Gebippe at Stax front door, in Otis’ footsteps!

And here’s hoping for a blowout New Year’s Eve at the 9:30 Club in D.C. with the North Mississippi Allstars Duo and the Drive-By Truckers. ” She ain’t revved ’til the rods are thrown! ” See ya there!