When it comes to the sounds that shaped American popular music, those of Booker T. Jones are undeniable.
The legendary multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer has been making hits since 1962. It all started with “Green Onions”, a track that would become one of the most popular instrumental songs of all time, serve as the blueprint for soul music in America and set the standard for the historic record label Stax.
Jones grew up in Memphis, Tennessee where Stax records was founded. His upbringing led him to learn many instruments, including what made him most notable, the Hammond B3 organ. Not long after he graduated high school, he formed the group Booker T. and the MG’s. They would become the house band for Stax Records for nearly a decade, recording with artists like Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and Albert King.
Jones eventually moved to California in the 1970’s and began producing records as well as working as a session musician. Two of the albums that solidified Jones’ reputation as a producer were Willie Nelson’s Stardust and Bill Wither’s debut album, Just As I Am (including the hit single Ain’t No Sunshine).
Over that last 60 years, Booker T. Jones has collaborated with dozens of artists. He recorded 13 albums with the MG’s and 9 under his own name. In 1992, Jones was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and in 2019 he released a memoir about his life and career called Time is Tight: My Life, Note by Note.
Jones is currently on tour with an upcoming stop in Grass Valley at The Center for the Arts on Friday June 5th. Excellence in Jazz host Avery Jeffry recently spoke with Jones ahead of that concert to discuss his storied career.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Interview Highlights
On how growing up in Memphis shaped him
Opportunities, in my case, to get exposed to older musicians that were really, really good. They were also instructors and teachers. Also the chance to play with people in clubs who gave me information about chords and music and instruments. So it was like a ripe garden.
On how he first discovered the Hammond organ
I was taking piano lessons from Elmertha Cole. She's a legend down there [Memphis] now and in her dining room was sitting a wooden cabinet that I assumed had their dishes and so forth in it. I hadn't seen it before. But in reality, it was a Hammond B3 organ. I just happened to question her about it. “Miss Cole, what's over there?” “Well, you don't want to know about that. That's a Hammond Organ. You can't avoid those lessons.”
On producing Bill Withers’ debut album
Bill was one of the best people I've known. He had a great sense of humor and he was one of the first people I met when I came to California. He was looking for a record deal, and he was building airplane toilets out in Inglewood. This fellow, Clarence Avant, invited me to hear Bill. He sent Bill out to my ranch in Malibu and Bill sat in my living room and sang the songs that appear on that album. From start to finish, he was not a very egotistical artist to produce. He didn't know until we were at the studio that he was the one who was going to be the singer. He thought that I was just going to record his songs with somebody else.
On writing his 2019 memoir
I've always been in love with words. There's such a freedom in expressing yourself, even if you're just writing for yourself. And so I took the opportunity to tell my story.
On what inspires him today
I love so many different kinds of music. R&B, classical, country music. I don't know, it's just who I am. I've always got some type of music playing in my head. Usually it's pretty happy stuff, you know.
