Green Onions (album)

Green Onions
Studio album by Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Released October, 1962
Recorded June–August 1962
Genre Soul jazz, R&B, proto-funk, electric blues, instrumental rock[1]
Length 34:55
Label Stax/Atlantic
S 701
Producer Jim Stewart
Booker T. & the M.G.'s chronology

Green Onions
(1962)		 Soul Dressing
(1965)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [1]

Green Onions is the debut album by Booker T. & the M.G.s, released on Stax Records in October 1962. It reached number 33 on the Pop Albums chart in the month of its release. The title single had been a huge hit worldwide and was covered by dozens of artists, including the Blues Brothers (featuring guitarist Steve Cropper), the Ventures, Al Kooper, the Shadows, Mongo Santamaría, Roy Buchanan (also featuring Steve Cropper and Jan Hammer), Count Basie and many others.

Three previous Stax LPs - two by the Mar-Keys, one by Carla Thomas - had been issued on Atlantic Records. Green Onions was the first album released on the Stax label proper. It was also Stax's first charting album, peaking at number 33 on the Billboard 200.[2] The album features only instrumental songs and features Steve Cropper playing a Fender Telecaster.[3]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Green Onions" (Steve Cropper, Booker T. Jones, Lewie Steinberg, Al Jackson, Jr) – 2:45
  2. "Rinky Dink" (David Clowney, Paul Winley) – 2:39
  3. "I Got a Woman" (Ray Charles, Renald Richard) – 3:32
  4. "Mo' Onions" (Cropper, Jackson, Jones, Steinberg) – 2:50
  5. "Twist and Shout" (Phil Medley, Bert Berns) – 2:09
  6. "Behave Yourself" (Cropper, Jackson, Jones, Steinberg) – 3:45

Side two

  1. "Stranger on the Shore" (Acker Bilk) – 2:18
  2. "Lonely Avenue" (Doc Pomus) – 3:25
  3. "One Who Really Loves You" (Smokey Robinson) – 2:22
  4. "You Can't Sit Down" (Dee Clark, Kal Mann, Cornell Muldrow) – 2:46
  5. "A Woman, a Lover, a Friend" (Sidney Wyche) – 3:15
  6. "Comin' Home Baby" (Bob Dorough, Ben Tucker) – 3:09

Personnel

Chart history

Name Chart (1966) Peak
position
Green Onions U.S. Pop Albums Chart 33
"Green Onions" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 3
"Green Onions" U.S. Billboard R&B Singles 1
"Mo' Onions" U.S. Billboard Hot 100 97
"Mo' Onions" U.S. Billboard R&B Singles 97

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Eder, Bruce. Green Onions (album) at AllMusic
  2. ↑ Bowman, Rob (1997). Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records. New York: Schirmer Trade. p.229-233 ISBN 0-8256-7284-8
  3. ↑ Electric Guitar Classics:2010 Calendar Published by Sellers Publishing, Inc. Copyright 2009