The Very Best of Booker T. & the MG's (CD - 1994)

Booker T. & The MG's: Booker T. Jones (trombone, piano, electric piano, organ); Steve Cropper (guitar, bass); Donald "Duck" Dunn, Lewis Steinberg (bass); Al Jackson, Jr. (drums).

Additional personnel: Charles "Packy" Axton (tenor saxophone); Floyd Newman (baritone saxophone); Wayne Jackson (trumpet).

Producers: Booker T. & The MG's, Jim Stewart.

Compilation producer: Steve Greenberg.

Includes liner notes by Steve Greenberg.

Digitally remastered by Bill Inglot.

Personnel: Steve Cropper (guitar, piano); Charles "Packy" Axton (tenor saxophone); Floyd Newman (baritone saxophone); Wayne Jackson (trumpet); Booker T. Jones (trombone, piano, electric piano, organ); Al Jackson, Jr. (drums); Donald "Duck" Dunn (claves).

Audio Remasterer: Bill Inglot.

This 16-song CD, clocking in at 46 minutes, is the second-best, and the handiest and most easily affordable, compilation available on Booker T. & the MG's. It's not remotely as comprehensive as Fantasy Records' three-CD set (although this disc does have two tracks, "Booker-Loo" and "Slum Baby," that don't appear on the triple-CD set) but is more comprehensive and better representative of their work (and offers better sound) than either Fantasy's single-disc best-of or the old Atlantic Records' best-of compilation. The collection does jump around a bit across history in the course of covering the years 1963-1971, bouncing between late-'60s singles and album tracks and odd early/middle-'60s tracks. "Booker-Loo," one of the pieces unique to this set, features some very crunchy rhythm guitar and flamboyant organ work in its intro, before Steve Cropper takes center stage with an unusually flashy lead guitar solo spot. "Slum Baby," from three years later, features a much smoother and funkier sound. "Slim Jenkins' Place" shows off Booker T. Jones's piano skills as well as his organ playing, and all of it is marked by virtuoso playing. The collection also makes a strong case for the band's members as composers -- hits like "Hang 'Em High" come off beautifully, especially in the crisply remastered version presented here, which brings out every nuance in the organ and guitar-dominated rendition of Dominic Frontiere's theme from the Clint Eastwood movie of that name. But originals like the majestic, soaring "Time Is Tight" and the lyrical, playful "Soul-Limbo" are great pieces of pop-soul composition as well, and stand up just as well to repeated listening. Buy the triple-disc set if it's in your budget, but at less than one-third of the cost, this collection shouldn't be dismissed for its compactness and range. ~ Bruce Eder

Let's make this simple: If you don't own any albums by this seminal Memphis groove collective, without whom what we nowadays refer to as "soul music" would have been impossible, buy this disc. If you've ever enjoyed a song by any Stax recording artist--Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, or Rufus Thomas, for example--chances are excellent that the MG's were the backing band. Their inimitable guitar/bass/drum/organ groove was the cornerstone and essence of the Memphis sound.

Rhino has done all music fans a favor by combining material from the two period-specific best-of compilations available (the early MG's Stax catalogue was sold to Atlantic, the later to Fantasy) on one 16-track set. The band's early singles, including "Groovin'," "Hip Hug-Her" and, of course, "Green Onions," are combined here with their late '60s hits such as "Hang 'em High" and "Time is Tight." Donald "Duck" Dunn and drummer Al Jackson's in-the-pocket locks, Steve Cropper's stinging guitar lines and Booker T. Jones' funkified organ create a sound that comes across as fresh and infectious today as it did in the early '60s. minimize