Elvis Writes - Stax profiles - Booker T & The MGs

 

 

Stax Profiles

Booker T. & the MG's

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Elvis Costello

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Any fan of this marvelous combo is going to have a sequence in which their favorite tracks might play on an imaginary jukebox.
I have chosen to start out with "Time Is Tight" because I think it shows the group at the peak of their powers. Booker T. Jones's slow and soulful opening statement and Steve Cropper's spare reply seem almost to contradict everything we expect from the Memphis Group. Have no fear, the groove is coming and when it arrives it is mighty. 

The next six cuts are the kind of records that belong in a dancehall or the most happening party. Dig the crazy organ tone that bites into "Burnt Biscuits." I can't hear any Steve Cropper on that one but you can't miss him on "Jellybread," another of the sides from the menu the band were reading off after the success of "Green Onions." 

This is a group discovering their sound. The guitarist enters at the very back of the first bar in his solo and plays it pretty straight for the first twelve bars but in the next twelve he quite simply defines the "Cropper style"—all wiry, unexpected, and spare. This would be just another straight-ahead blues if it weren't for that hip "baritone sax" figure that kicks into the "one." I've tried to work out who is playing what and my best guess is that it's the sound of Al Jackson, Jr.'s kick drum and Booker T.'s left hand on the low organ keys, although original MGs bassist Lewie Steinberg might be helping out. 

"Chinese Checkers" is more laid-back but totally irresistible. It features Booker T. on a half-broken electric piano and has a cool spoken interjection from Al Jackson, Jr. It also shows the group in their role as the Stax "house band," working with the horns of the Mar-Keys. Booker T. wrote the chart and even joinsthem on trombone. 

When putting this record together I knew I had to include "Boot-Leg." It was the moment when Duck Dunn joined the group on bass and created the lineup that most people associate as "Booker T. & the MGs." However, when I checked the credits I found out that Booker T. didn't even appear on that session, his place at the keyboards being taken by Isaac Hayes. My son, Matt, had the solution: the inclusion of this furious excerpt from the Stax Revue Live at the 5/4 Ballroom. Once again the MGs are the "house band" and on this version of "Boot-Leg," Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn sound as if they are going to blow up their amps. 
 
That voice you hear is the Dj Magnificent Montague, and his cry of "Burn," from the catchphrase "burn,baby, burn," was seen as too provocative after the Watts riots and so the concert stayed in the can for many years.
By the time we get to "Heads or Tails" and "Hip Hug-Her," we are hearing a group with an almost supernatural understanding. "Heads or Tails" sometimes gets overlooked but it's an absolutely effortless gem. I've never been able to understand how anything so simple and perfect as "Hip Hug-Her" can still sound so avant-garde and beautifully weird. 

Musicians this talented couldn't stand still even with a winning formula. The second half of this collection shows what they did about it. Subtle changes in the sonic picture give us the more open sound of "Lady Madonna." It starts out as a literal instrumental statement of the famous McCartney melody but then the track turns into something uniquely MGs. Check out how Booker T. and Cropper make space for each other. The trade-off in fade is just about perfect. 

Having based almost everything on rhythm, blues, and groove, the group now went in two directions at the same time: into the freedom and open-ended forms such as the ominous, piano-led "Over Easy," and by showing what they could do with tight and more musically complex songs. 

"Hang ‘Em High" is in the tradition of the musical combo reinterpreting the movie theme that gave us Roland Alphonso's Skatalites version of "The Guns of Navarone." Booker T.'s mock-noble sounding organ catches the Western drama of the theme while the rhythm section lay down an entirely new kind of feel.But the blues is never far away and my favorite moments on the record are those last few spiky interjections from Steve Cropper.In the midst of these changes, there was still a place for a deadly groove and they don't come any better than "Soul Clap ‘69," a track that seems to have found real favor only in England.

If the city fathers of Memphis ever get around to doing the right thing they will erect a "Golden Statue of the Groove" to Al Jackson, Jr. He was not only the perfect motor of so many Stax sides, but on this track you can hear him lay down the blueprint for all his incredible work on the Hi Records hits made by Willie Mitchell and Al Green, not to mention throwing in a little "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" era Motown on the tambourine part. 

Not that the drummer completely steals the show. Times had changed and Steve Cropper is heard using a wah-wah pedal and playing in a mellow style that predicts the fade of the Beatles' "Come Together." This is all the more curious because the next song comes from the group's later instrumental reinterpretation of Abbey Road, which took its name from the Stax address, McLemore Avenue, and featured a parody of the Beatles' cover. 

Even as a fan I had previously thought that McLemore Avenue was a bit of mad idea but I am grateful for this opportunity to completely revise that view. "Something" leads off with Booker T.'s fairly faithful statement of the vocal melody but as the tracks moves through one of their most complex arrangements, there are subtle reharmonizations that make the song their property until they land on a groove that seems to belong 500 miles south of Stax in New Orleans. Steve Cropper then takes off into one of his most expansive and remarkable solos, trading with Booker T. until the end. 

There is nowhere to go after that but to church and "Sunday Sermon" must be one of the MGs' most underrated cuts. Booker T.'s gospel piano lays beautifully on Al Jackson, Jr.'s deep backbeat and glides over the bass foundation from Duck Dunn. Unsurprisingly, Steve Cropper's contributions are the definition of economy. 

Before getting too sanctified, we go back to the 5/4 Ballroom once more for a version of the MGs' signature tune, "Green Onions." If you think you know this song or have heard it too many times, this should be the tonic you need. The entire group completely tear it up. Booker T. is using a Hammond tone that should be X-rated and this is some of Steve Cropper's wildest playing, while Al and Duck lust keep stepping up the tension. 

Grooves like this will last forever and just to remind us, I've closed things out with another beaut that occasionally slips by people, called "Fuquawi."Imagine it playing as the credits roll and we consider for a moment all the indelible records on which this unique group played; not just those credited to "Booker T. & the MGs" but all the fire and swing they lent to so many Stax vocal records. Give praise and give thanks.
I've had a ball putting this record together and I hope that you have a fine time listening to it.

Elvis Costello
August 2005

CD compilation by Elvis Costello

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Elvis Costello was a teenager when Booker T. & the MGs began hitting the British charts with their deceptively simple R&B instrumentals. The Memphis quartet's most successful single in the U.K. was 1969's "Time Is Tight," with which Costello leads off this personal 15-track selection. Besides that tune and such other signature songs as "Hip Hug-Her," "Hang 'Em High," "Green Onions," and "Boot-Leg" (the latter two presented here in live versions), the singer has picked numerous lesser-known nuggets. In his booklet notes, Costello offers insightful commentary on each performance. He observes, for instance, that on "Soul Clap '69" (a hit in the U.K. only) Steve Cropper's mellow guitar playing predicted the fade of the Beatles' "Come Together" and drummer Al Jackson, Jr.'s beat was a blueprint for his later work with Al Green. Booker T. & the MGs were clearly ahead of their time, and their music remains utterly timeless.

Tracklist

1 Time Is Tight 4:55

2 Burnt Biscuits 2:00

3 Jellybread 2:27

4 Chinese Checkers 2:25

5 *Boot-Leg (Live) 2:03

6 Heads Or Trails 2:30

7 Hip Hug-Her 2:22

8 Lady Madonna 3:32

9 Over Easy 4:05

10 Hang 'Em High 3:53

11 Soul Clap '69 2:40

12 Something 4:07

13 Sunday Sermon 3:53

14 *Green Onions (Live) 3:44

15 Fuquawi 3:40

* Different version to compilation

Elvis Writes - Dusty in Memphis - Dusty Springfield (Liner notes- Reissue 2002)

Dusty In Memphis

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Elvis Costello

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What words best describe the quality of voice and singing on `Dusty In Memphis`?

I’m damned if I know. You could start by saying the singing is `cool`, in that it is elegant and restrained but it also has great warmth and power. Doesn’t the tone sound like some kind of vapour at times? No, that just doesn’t do it justice. It is true to say that the voice is recorded in the audio equivalent of `extreme close-up`? Every breath and sigh is caught and yet it can soar. Knowing that these things are beyond words, I offer these few lines of adoration and praise.

Dusty Springfield’s singing on this album is among the very best ever put on record by anyone. It is overwhelmingly sensual and self- possessed but it is never self-regarding. The delivery might be confidential, intimate or vulnerable in the opening lines of a song only to explode in the chorus with unknowable emotion. Every crescendo is well judged; the performances are never showy or bombastic. The most striking impression throughout is one of honesty.

The most famous songs in this collection are probably `Son of a Preacher Man` and `Breakfast in Bed` - simply one of the most knowingly adult records ever made. This track may have the greatest vocal entrance of Dusty’s career. Her vocal tone on the line, `She’s hurt you again, I can tell`, tells an entire story in itself.

On `Son of a Preacher Man`, Dusty recalls the life of a young girl. She teases through the taboo tale, lending her brand new style to the Memphis funk. She had clearly left behind the world of her English vocal contemporaries. Don’t get me wrong; Dusty’s London recordings are wonderful. However, at times the accompaniments sound as if the players are struggling to receive messages from overseas about the music that the singer is interpreting with ease. Then again, many of the best cuts have a glorious European drama that would have been totally alien to the Memphis players.

Now Dusty had a rhythm section that dove deep into the groove but could also play with extreme delicacy. She also had Arif Mardin’s arrangements to sparkle and illustrate her voice with Spanish guitars, shimmering strings and snaking lines of oboe. All this was immaculately ordered by the production team of Mardin, Tom Dowd, and Jerry Wexler. The only comparison that comes to mind is the musical journey of that other great Irish soul singer, Van Morrison, in the records such `Moondance` and `Tupelo Honey` (a song that Dusty would later cover). Even when the accompaniments have touches of period charm such as the electric sitar introduction to `in the Land of Make Believe` or the Tennessee version of a Byrds guitar figure in the opening of `Don’t Forget About Me`, it is Dusty’s performance that is timeless.

Most extraordinary is her poise and confident progress through a frankly berserk, psychedelic Brazilian- influenced arrangement of Michael Legrand’s utterly French melody for `Windmills of Your Mind` . The occasionally comic surrealism of the lyric never sounded better.

Dusty’s ethereal and seamless tone is perfectly matched to Burt Bacharach's exquisite and otherworldly, `In the Land of Make Believe` while Carole King’s song of the earth, ` No Easy Way Down` is as well suited to Dusty as the same composer’s `Natural Woman` was to Aretha Franklin, Gerry Goffin’s lyric speaks of romantic disappointment and the embrace of melancholy.

It could have no finer advocate. However, there are two other songs in particular which serve to best illustrate the musical ambition and achievement of `Dusty in Memphis`. They are both by Randy Newman and are almost unique in their tenderness and straight-faced passion, among his catalogue of dark humoured portraits.

The first, `Just One Smile` opens with a series of rising, questioning phrases and unravels into an gracious but constantly surprising melody that might have come from the Catania of Bellini’s time. This is soulful music of the first order even though it arrives from place beyond our expectations. The second of these unusual songs is `I Don’t Want To Hear It Anymore`. It written from the point of view of a betrayed woman living in a poor apartment block. She can hear the gossip and innuendo coming through the walls, hence the title. However, the song never descends into soap opera melodrama thanks to the remarkably ambitious melody, a line that Dusty negotiates with conversational ease, so that you hardly realise how far your ear has travelled when you are hurled into the longing of the chorus.

The arrangement contains the sort of sublime touch that, for me, places `Dusty in Memphis` right up there with Aretha’s `I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You` album. In the final verse she sings: `Ain’t it sad` said a woman down the hall, `That when a nice girl falls in love, ain’t it too just bad she had to fall for a boy that doesn’t care for her at all`. At this moment a cool vocal group enters and utter their judgement with such pity and cruelty: `It’s so sad` and the song crashes into the final devastating chorus: `I don’t want to hear it anymore!`

Hearing this record again in all its stereo and mono glory, I realise that this is just one moment among so many others on `Dusty in Memphis`, that will chill and thrill, always and forever.

Elvis Costello, May 2002.

1.  Just a Little Lovin' (2:21)
2.  So Much Love (3:33)
3.  Son of a Preacher Man (2:31)
4.  I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore (3:13)
5.  Don't Forget About Me (2:55)
6.  Breakfast in Bed (3:00)
7.  Just One Smile (2:44)
8.  The Windmills of Your Mind (3:53)
9.  In the Land of Make Believe (2:34)
10. No Easy Way Down (3:13)
11. I Can't Make It Alone (3:59)

12. What Do You Do When Love Dies [bonus track] (2:44)
13. Willie & Laura Mae Jones [bonus track] (2:51)
14. That Old Sweet Roll (Hi-De-Ho) [bonus track] (3:01)
15. Cherished [bonus track] (2:40)
16. Goodbye [bonus track] (2:36)
17. Make It with You [bonus track] (3:15)
18. Love Shine Down [bonus track] (2:24)
19. Live Here with You [bonus track] (2:46)
20. Natchez Trace [bonus track] (3:00)
21. All the King's Horses [bonus track] (3:12)
22. I'll Be Faithful [bonus track] (3:03)
23. Have a Good Life Baby [bonus track] (3:11)
24. You've Got a Friend [bonus track] (5:30)
25. I Found My Way [bonus track] (3:12)

Elvis Writes - Gram Parsons

Gram Parsons

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Elvis Costello

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There are those better qualified than I to tell Gram Parsons' story. But as a fan of the man, I think you should own this record . . . . this is why.

In the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Gram Parsons had helped create a Frankenstein`s Monster — country rock. But his first Warner Brothers album "G.P." paid no allegiance to this style. With an impressive back-up band it was a traditional sounding album, mercifully free of gimmicks like fuzz-tone steel guitar. The songs are of lost or stolen love, crossed only occasionally with an R'n'B beat. But most importantly it featured some of the finest duet singing ever put on record. There is something about the combination of Parson`s frail and not always perfect pitching and Emmylou Harris's pure and true voice. If it should fail to move you — then you have a big problem. I would say that Emmylou Harris`s solo verse on "We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning" matches anything in her excellent solo catalogue.

Of course for the followers of Frankie's Monster in California and the Formula Kings of Nashville, this was much too close to real emotion and sales did not fare well.

On "Return Of The Grevious Angel," Parsons, the co-billed Harris and the soon-to-be Hot Band continued their devastating duets — most notably "Hearts On Fire" and the much crucified "Love Hurts". But Parsons also returned to the mysterious, almost philosophical tones of his "Sin City" days. The title track "$1000 Wedding" and "In My Hour Of Darkness" have a dense and ominous sound. Gram Parsons died soon after making these tracks.

I`d be the last to romanticise his death, and I wish he had avoided his apparent self-destruction and continued to make music as great as this.

But it`s hard to deny the irony of hearing the beautiful "Hickory Wind" accompanied by the mock-adulation of a phony audience track — a bitter little comment on scant commercial success. It will be doubly ironic if you stop reading this sleeve note and actually buy the record. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Elvis Costello
February 1982

P.S. In these cases somebody's favourite is bound to be omitted, but I hope you approve of this re-presentation, with the duets on Side One and the songs and performances which to my mind put Gram Parsons up there with Hank Williams. If you've never heard the man before do seek out his other recordings. – you won't regret it.

Side One
1. We'll Sweep Out The Ashes In The Morning
2. Hearts On Fire
3. Kiss The Children
4. That's All It Took
5. Love Hurts
6. In My Hour Of Darkness
7. Return Of The Grievous Angel

Side Two
1. Still Feeling Blue
2. $1000 Wedding
3. Ooh, Las Vegas
4. The New Soft Shoe
5. How Much I've Lied
6. Cash On The Barrelhead / Hickory Wind

Lip Service - More Kojak Varieties

1. David Bowie - Where Have All The Good Times Gone? (2:39)
2. Little Willie John - I'm Shakin' (2:23)
3. *Bob Dylan - Sally Sue Brown (2:24)
4. Gram Parsons - Ooh Las Vegas (3:32)
5. Dan Penn - You Left The Water Running (2:21)
6. Peggy Lee - Black Coffee (3:09)
7. Little Willie John - Fever (2:39)
8. Little Willie John - My Nerves (2:34)
9. The Band - Holy Cow (3:22)
10. Dusty Springfield - Breakfast in Bed (3:00)
11. Los Paranoias  - Step Inside Love (2:31)
12. Cilla Black - I've Been Wrong Before (2:09)
13. The Supremes - It's The Same Old Song (2:32)
14. Little Willie John - Big Blue Diamonds (2:49)
15. The Supremes - (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave (2:39)
16. Gram Parsons - Wild Horses (6:22)
17. Percy Sledge - Out Of Left Field (3:15)
18. John Lennon - Stand By Me (3:26)
19. The Drifters - Please Stay (2:17)
20. Left Banke - Walk Away Renee (2:42)
21. Gram Parsons – The Dark End of the Street (3:58)
22. Larry Adler & George Martin - Rhapsody in Blue (8:28)

* Different version to compilation

Lip Service - Volume 6

1. The Beach Boys - California Girls (2:37)
2. The Beach Boys - Funky Pretty (4:10)
3. The Animals - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (2:28)
4. Bob Neuwirth - Eye On The Road (4:00)
5. Carol King - It's Too Late (3:54)
6. Patsy Cline & Jim Reeves - Welcome to My World (2:35)
7. Frank Sinatra - Mighty Lak' A Rose (3:26)
8. Frank Sinatra - High Hopes (2:41)
9. Frank Sinatra - Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing (3:22)
10. Peggy Lee - I've Got You Under My Skin (2:32)
11. *Prince - Condition Of The Heart (6:48)
12. Little Willie John - All Around The World (2:58)
13. The Bangles - Manic Monday (3:06)
14. *Prince - Raspberry Beret (3:33)
15. Little Willie John - Spasms (2:45)
16. The Everly Brothers - Some Sweet Day (2:27)
17. Jimmy Reed - Honest I  Do (2:44)
18. *Hesitation Waltz - Henri Klickmann (4:00)
19. Henry Purcell - [Dido] When I Am Laid in Earth (4:03)
20. Bach - Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring from Cantata No. 147 (3:12)
21. Elanie Paige - Memory (4:14)
22. Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice - Superstar (4:15)
23. Hubert Parry (Elgar) - Jerusalem (2:43)

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Lip Service - Volume 5

1. Miles Davis - Concierto de Aranjuez pt 1(16:20)
    Miles Davis - Concierto de Aranjuez pt2

2. Henry Mancini - (Theme From) Love Story (2:54)
3. Sit Down,you're Rockin' The Boat - Guys and Dolls OST (2:00)
4. Al Jarreau - Moonlighting (Theme) (3:02)
5. Richard & Linda Thompson, - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (3:11)
6. Richard & Linda Thompson - Don't Renege On Our Love (4:20)
7. David Ackles - The Road to Cairo (5:18)
8. Royal Marines - Heart of Oak (Royal Navy March) (1:08)
9. Elvis Presley - Wooden Heart (2:03)
10. The Pretenders - Stop Your Sobbing (2:38)
11. Aretha Franklin - Don't Play That Song (2:59)
12. *Black Sorrows - Young Boy's Blues (3:39)
13. Dan Penn - You Left The Water Running (2:21)
14. Dan Penn - It Tears Me Up (3:58)
15. The Flying Burrito Brothers - Sin City (4:11)
16. The Byrds - I See You (2:43)
17. Paul Simon - Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War (3:45)
18. Roy Orbison - Running Scared (2:29)
19. The Beatles - I'm Only Sleeping (3:01)
20. The Beatles - You Never Give Me Your Money (4:02)

Lip Service - Volume 4

1. Joe Loss & His Orchestra - In The Mood (3:12)
2. *London Philharmonic Orchestra & David Parry - The Valkyrie: Ride Of The Valkyries
3. Herbert Von Karajan - La Mer II Jeux De Vagues Allegro
4. The Last Poets -Wake Up, Niggers (2:45)
5. Robert Wyatt - I'm a Believer (4:54)
6. Amen Corner - If Paradise is Half as Nice (2:53)
7. The Move - Fire Brigade (2:24)
8. Barry White - Love's Theme (4:11)
9. Robert Wyatt - At Last I Am Free (4:18)
10. Robert Wyatt - Te Recuerdo Amanda (3:35)
11. Joni Mitchell - In France They Kiss On Main Street (3:22)
12. Miles Davis - 'Round Midnight (5:58)
13. Frank Sinatra - In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning (2:59)
14. Frank Sinatra - I Get Along Without You Very Well (3:41)
15. Frank Sinatra - Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry (4:00)
16. Billie Holiday - Glad to be Unhappy (4:09)
17. Frank Sinatra - Love Is The Tender Trap (2:56)
18. Billie Holiday - Ghost of Yesterday (2:39)
19. Billie Holiday - I'm a Fool to Want You (3:26)
20. Reinbert de Leeuw - Gymnop-die No. 1 (Satie)(6:01)