Green Onions
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| Green Onions | ||
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| Studio album by Booker T. & The MG's | ||
| Released | October, 1962 | |
| Recorded | June-August 1962 | |
| Genre | Southern soul, Instrumental rock | |
| Length | 34:55 | |
| Label | Stax/Atlantic | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booker T. & The MG's chronology | ||
| Green Onions (1962) |
Soul Dressing (1965) |
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- This article is about the album. For the vegetable, see Scallion
Green Onions is a soul single and album by Booker T. & the M.G.'s, released on Stax Records in October of 1962.
The tune is currently being used in TV and radio commercials for Mercedes-Benz in the United States, is a favorite at baseball parks across the United States, and has featured in numberous TV and movie soundtracks. It was recently used as the theme song on Bus Eireann's advertising campaign in Ireland. It is also occasionally heard on the NPR program Fresh Air.
The single release of Green Onions entered Billboard's best selling singles chart in Sep. 1962 where it remained for 16 weeks, peaking at number 3. In October the album entered the Pop Albums chart, where it reached number 33. As a result of its constant use in radio, TV, film, and advertising it has been rereleased worldwide numberous times and charted on several of them, although it was not until it was featured in the 1979 film Quadrophenia that it finally charted in the UK in January of the following year.
In October 2004, "Green Onions" appeared in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
Possibly the song's strangest tribute came when singer Billy Bragg claimed that it could "Knock down a fascist from a mile away" whilst performing it at a 2005 concert with The Small Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan.
[edit] Track listing
- "Green Onions" (Cropper/Jackson/Jones/Steinberg) – 2:45
- "Rinky Dink" (Clowney/Winley) – 2:39
- "I Got a Woman" (Charles) – 3:32
- "Mo' Onions" (Cropper/Jackson/Jones/Steinberg) – 2:50
- "Twist and Shout" (Medley/Russell) – 2:09
- "Behave Yourself" (Cropper/Jackson/Jones/Steinberg) – 3:45
- "Stranger on the Shore" (Bilk/Mellin) – 2:18
- "Lonely Avenue" (Pomus) – 3:25
- "One Who Really Loves You" (Robinson) – 2:22
- "You Can't Sit Down There Boy!" (Clark/Mann/Muldrow) – 2:46
- "A Woman, a Lover, a Friend" (Wyche) – 3:15
- "Comin' Home Baby" (Tucker) – 3:09
[edit] Personnel
- Steve Cropper - guitar
- Booker T. Jones - organ, bass guitar, guitar, keyboards
- Lewie Steinberg - upright bass
- Al Jackson, Jr. - drums
[edit] Charting singles
Billboard Music Charts (North America)
1962 "Green Onions" Pop Singles No. 3
1962 "Green Onions" Black Singles No. 1
1964 "Mo-Onions" Pop Singles No. 97
1964 "Mo-Onions" Black Singles No. 97
