Booker T. & the MGs

Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Booker T. & the M.G's c. 1967: (left to right) Donald "Duck" Dunn, Booker T. Jones (seated), Steve Cropper and Al Jackson Jr..
Background information
Origin	Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	R&B, Memphis soul, funk, Southern soul, soul jazz, instrumental rock
Years active	1962–71, 1973–77, 1994–present
Labels	Atlantic, Stax
Associated acts	Mar-Keys, Blues Brothers, Neil Young
Website	www.bookert.com
Members	Booker T. Jones Steve Cropper Steve Potts
Past members	Al Jackson, Jr. Lewie Steinberg Donald "Duck" Dunn Bobby Manuel Carson Whitsett Willie Hall Steve Jordan

Booker T. & the M.G.'s is an 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 (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums). In the 1960s, as members of the house band of Stax Records, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists such as 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, of which the best known is 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. By the mid-1960s, bands on both sides of the Atlantic were trying to sound like Booker T. & the M.G.'s.

In 1965, Steinberg was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn, who played with the group until his death in 2012. Al Jackson, Jr. was murdered in 1975, after which Dunn, Cropper and Jones reunited on numerous occasions using various drummers, including Willie Hall, Anton Fig, Steve Jordan and Steve Potts.