Booker T. Jones
| Booker T. Jones | |
|---|---|
Booker T, live at the Republic April 25, 2009 playing with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Booker Taliaferro Jones, Jr. |
| Also known as | Booker T. |
| Born |
November 12, 1944 Memphis, Tennessee, USA |
| Genres | R&B, instrumental rock, soul, electric blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, producer |
| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Labels | Atlantic, Stax, Anti- |
| Associated acts | Booker T. & the MGs, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Stephen Stills, Otis Redding, Drive-By Truckers, the Mar-Keys, Rancid |
| Website | Official website |
| Notable instruments | |
| Hammond organ | |
Booker Taliaferro Jones, Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American multi-instrumentalist, 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.
Booker T. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 12, 1944. He was named after his father, Booker T. Jones, Sr., who was named in honor of Booker T. Washington, the educator. Booker T. Jones, Sr. was a science teacher at the school, providing the family with a relatively stable, lower middle-class lifestyle.
Jones was musically a child prodigy, playing the oboe, saxophone, trombone, bass, and piano at school and organ at church. Jones attended Booker T. Washington High School, the alma mater of Rufus Thomas, and contributed with future stars like Isaac Hayes's writing partner David Porter, saxophonist Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns, soul singer/songwriter William Bell, and Earth, Wind, & Fire's Maurice White.
Jones's entry into professional music came at age sixteen, when he played baritone saxophone on Satellite (soon to be Stax) Records' first hit, "Cause I Love You," by Carla and Rufus (Thomas). Willie Mitchell hired Jones for his band, in which Jones started on sax and later moved to bass. It was here that he met Al Jackson, Jr., who he brought to Stax. Simultaneously, Jones formed a combo with White and Porter, in which he played guitar.
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