Vinyl Vault — The Mar-Keys & Booker T and the MGs “Back to Back”

In the 1960s, the house band for the legendary record label, Stax, was Booker T and the MGs and when a three-piece horn section joined, the band morphed into the Mar-Keys. The ensemble backed Stax’s biggest artists such as Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Carla Thomas and Eddie Floyd. But the backing band had hits of their own as well, such as “Green Onions” and “Hip Hug-Her.”

In 1967, Stax sent Booker T and the MGs and the Mar-Keys on a tour of Europe. The welcome was enthusiastic and downright rowdy. The album “Back to Back” was recorded on the tour and the exuberance of the audience is all over the album. The full seven-piece band was racially integrated and in the 1960s, that proved to be sometimes challenging in the Jim Crow southeast. Europe, however, was a different story. The Europeans openly welcomed the band without a concern over skin color.

Booker T. Jones, on organ, was the leader, backed up by Steve Cropper on guitar, Donald “Duck” Dunn on bass and Al Jackson, Jr. on drums. The Mar-Keys included Joe Arnold on alto sax, Wayne Jackson, trumpet and Andrew Love on tenor sax. The album features some tunes by Booker T and the MGs and other tunes by the Mar-Keys.

Join Geoff Anderson for some classic ’60s R&B on the Vinyl Vault on Tuesday, December 12 at 8:30 pm on KUVO JAZZ.

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