Booker T Jones Recounts The Endless Facets Of His Career

"They were all my favourite songs and as well as being a participant in them I was also a fan." That's Booker Taliaferro Jones, Jr. reminiscing about his storied early career as musician, songwriter and arranger with the Stax Records house band in the 1960s. Those songs he refers to include the indelible hits Green Onions, Hip Hugger and Time Is Tight with his own band the M.G's and countless others such as Eddie Floyd's Knock On Wood and Otis Redding's Try A Little Tenderness. "Personally it's music that I've been fortunate to have been involved in and it's the story of my life. It's just great to play it again. I've not got sick of playing a single one."

"I did hear Ray Charles playing organ on the radio but I wasn't sure exactly what it was. I put the two together when I was at my piano teacher's house and she played a few notes on a Hammond B3..."

Jones was a multi-instrumentalist as a youngster before discovering the organ and finding his calling with the instrument at Stax studio. "It was unique for me at my age to play the organ but it was a very popular instrument during that time," recalls Jones. "I was led to the organ through my piano studies. I grew up in the church and was always curious about the pipe organ so I got a couple of lessons on it as a young boy. I did hear Ray Charles playing organ on the radio but I wasn't sure exactly what it was. I put the two together when I was at my piano teacher's house and she played a few notes on a Hammond B3 for me and I realised that was what Ray Charles was playing. Bill Doggett, Earl Grant and Jimmy Smith were on TV and in the clubs and it was a very predominant live instrument in Memphis at the time. It was pretty predominant in the churches too so it was everywhere."

As with all long-term careers, Jones' took a downturn during the 1980s as the industry and musical trends changed. "From the mid '80s up to the early '90s I was pretty much disengaged from the music industry. It took a downturn in the early '80s when the interest rates in the US rose so high and disco had come in and I wasn't really a disco guy, even though I had done dance music with the M.G's. The whole period wasn't a good one for me. It was a vacant period and though I was still working in music, to tell you the truth, I just couldn't get arrested!" laughs Jones. "I left the Hollywood area and headed up North and started working with Neil Young and others. I went on tour with Neil and played in his band. I started concentrating more on music in Northern California and that seemed to turn the tide."

With a revitalised career, Grammy Awards and collaborations with Drive-By Truckers, The Roots, Lou Reed and Elton John, Jones is happy to be able to keep sharing his music with new generations of fans. "The industry has changed so much and there are so many more demands on the artist so I'm happy to just have the time to let the muse come through me and do its work."