A young Booker T. Jones was intrigued by the sounds that wafted from behind a curtain
in the Memphis record store he frequented.
That’s where the studio of what was then Satellite Records. Barely in high school,
Jones already played all the saxophones and clarinet as well as piano and organ.
He was already gigging, and he wanted to be on the other side of the curtain.
That was his dream.
When he was about 15 years old, blues singers Rufus and Carla Thomas came to town for
a studio session. The producers needed baritone sax player, and David Porter, a
friend of Jones’, suggested the youngster.
He was dispatched to Booker T. Washington High School to get Jones, the school’s
baritone saxophone and the band director’s car.
"It’s what I had wanted for years, but I couldn’t figure out a way to get
there," Jones said in a recent telephone interview.
Once he was behind the curtain, he became a fixture, earning his keep on piano and
organ, and started on the path to becoming a musical legend.
Satellite Records became Stax Records the birthplace of hundreds of soul hits, and
young Jones, became the leader of the house band Booker T. and the MGs,
hitmakers in their own right.
In a career that spans over a half-century, Jones has shared the studio with an
all-star list of popular musicians, including a number of fellow Rock and Roll
Hall of Famers. A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, Jones’ career is
far from over.
The 67-year-old will headline the Black Swamp Arts Festival with a set Saturday at 6
p.m. on the Main Stage.
While Jones played some live dates with the MGs, he was mostly known as a denizen of
the studio, as a musician, arranger, composer and producer.
But back several years ago, Jones emerged again as a solo artist, releasing the
Grammy-winning "Potato Hole" in 2009, featuring members of the Drive
By Truckers and Neil Young and then last year released another Grammy winner
"The Road to Memphis," featuring members of the Roots.
Having performed with the best, Jones is hard to satisfy when putting together a
band.
Some musicians have the misguided notion that because the music sounds simple, it is
simple and easy to play.
But finding people who can lock into that distinctive groove is difficult, Jones
said. "I’m very particular about the songs I played with the MGs. ‘Soul
Limbo,’ ‘Hip Hugger,’ they’re not songs you can just get up and jam on. They
have specific tempos, specific melodies."
Take the MGs’ biggest hit, "Green Onions." "It’s just four chords,
basic 12-bar blues, but the rhythm to it has to be just so. It’s special
rhythm."
Jones’ latest recording appropriately celebrates his connections to the Memphis scene
that nurtured him.
His mother played classical and gospel piano, and Jones remembers standing on his
tiptoes to try to play the instrument with two fingers.
He started piano lessons when he was about 10 – "when I got a paper route and I
could pay for them."
His teacher had a Hammond organ in another room, and he saw another student go in the
next room. He asked his teacher what was in there. She showed him the organ and
played a few notes. "I was hooked."
It took him a bit to earn enough money to study organ as well.
In school he learned clarinet that led to playing saxophone.
That background served him well, as he launched a career as a professional musician.
Still that wasn’t enough for him. He went on to study music at the University of
Indiana.
Jones brings the same attention to detail to live shows as he does to recording work.
"Each live performance I try to make it just as special as a studio
performance," he said. "I want people to feel special like we’re
having a private time together." After all, he said, the audience is making
an effort to be there.
That energy makes every show different without sacrificing the quality of the music
his fans come to hear.
"I try to recreate the music as earnestly, as much like the original, as
possible. I play the verses and the choruses the same and maybe branch out some
after that," he said. "I don’t try to take off too much."
