In 1965, Steinberg was replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn, who played with the group until his death in 2012. Al Jackson, Jr. was murdered in 1975, after which Dunn, Cropper and Jones reunited on numerous occasions using various drummers, including Willie Hall, Anton Fig, Steve Jordan and Steve Potts.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2008, and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
Having two white members (Cropper and Dunn), Booker T. & the M.G.'s was one of the first racially integrated rock groups, at a time when soul music and the Memphis music scene in particular were generally considered the preserve of black culture.
Formed in 1962 in Memphis, Tennessee, Booker T and the MG's ("MG" officially stood for "Memphis Group", and is usually punctuated correctly on LP covers as "M.G.") became one of the most important soul outfits in the history of music. They were indispensable as the house band for Stax Records, backing many rising artists (Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Albert King, and many others), but it was the MGs themselves that put Stax on the map with such singles as "Green Onions", which reached number three on the Pop Charts, and "Hip Hug-Her", which reached number six on the Pop Charts.
The group consisted of four core members: Booker T. Jones on keyboards and organ (as well as many other instruments), Steve Cropper on guitar, Al Jackson Jr. on drums, and Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass. Cropper and Dunn were originally in the first house band for Stax, The Mar-Keys, and later were part of the Blues Brothers, both in the band and in the movie. Various others added horns and other instruments, and a young Isaac Hayes covered the keys on at least one session.
Not only were they blazing new trails with their funky instrumental soul music, but also with their integration of races, as two of them were white (Donald "Duck" Dunn and Steve Cropper) and two of them were black (Booker T. Jones and Al Jackson), which was very unusual for 1962.
In 2007 the documentary Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story was released, with interviews and footage in which Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Wayne Jackson and Donald Duck Dunn are interviewed about the history and successes of Stax, among many others Stax' people.
Donald Duck Dunn died in his sleep at age 70 on Sunday, May 13, 2012.
Lewie Steinberg died on July 21, 2016 in Memphis at the age of 82.
(2) As the house band at Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, Booker T. & the MG's may have been the single greatest factor in the lasting value of that label's soul music, not to mention Southern soul as a whole. Their tight, impeccable grooves could be heard on classic hits by Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Carla Thomas, Albert King, and Sam & Dave, and for that reason alone, they would deserve their subsequent induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. But in addition to their formidable skills as a house band, on their own they were one of the top instrumental outfits of the rock era, cutting classics like "Green Onions," "Time Is Tight," and "Hang 'em High."
The anchors of the Booker T. sound were Steve Cropper, whose slicing, economic riffs influenced many other guitar players, and Booker T. Jones himself, who provided much of the groove with his floating organ lines. In 1960, Jones started working as a session man for Stax, where he met Cropper. Cropper had been in the Mar-Keys, famous for the 1961 instrumental hit "Last Night," which laid out the prototype for much of the MG's (and indeed Memphis soul's) sound with its organ-sax-guitar combo. With the addition of drummer Al Jackson and bassist Lewis Steinberg, they became Booker T. & the MG's. Within a couple years, Steinberg was replaced permanently by Donald "Duck" Dunn, who, like Cropper, had also played with the Mar-Keys.
The band's first and biggest hit, "Green Onions" (a number three single in 1962), came about by accident. Jamming in the studio while fruitlessly waiting for Billy Lee Riley to show up for a session, they came up with a classic minor-key, bluesy soul instrumental, distinguished by its nervous organ bounce and ferocious bursts of guitar. For the next five years, they'd have trouble recapturing its commercial success, though the standard of their records remained fairly high, and Stax's dependence upon them as the house band ensured a decent living.
In the late '60s, the MG's really hit their stride with "Hip Hug-Her," "Groovin'," "Soul-Limbo," "Hang 'em High," and "Time Is Tight," all of which were Top 40 charters between 1967 and 1969. Since the presence of black and white musicians made them a biracial band, the MG's set a somewhat under-appreciated example of both how integrated, self-contained bands could succeed, and how both black and white musicians could play funky soul music. As is the case with most instrumental rock bands, their singles contained their best material, and the band's music is now best appreciated via anthologies. But their albums were far from inconsequential, and occasionally veered into ambitious territory (they did an entire instrumental version of the Beatles' Abbey Road, which they titled McLemore Avenue in honor of the location of Stax's studios).
Though they'd become established stars by the end of the decade, the group began finding it difficult to work together, not so much because of personnel problems, but because of logistical difficulties. Cropper was often playing sessions in Los Angeles, and Jones was often absent from Memphis while he finished his music studies at Indiana University. The band decided to break up in 1971, but were working on a reunion album in 1975 when Al Jackson was tragically shot and killed in his Memphis home by a burglar. The remaining members were active as recording artists and session musicians in the following years, with Cropper and Dunn joining the Blues Brothers for a stint in the late '70s.
The MG's got back into the spotlight in early 1992, when they were the house band for an extravagant Bob Dylan tribute at Madison Square Garden. More significantly, in 1993 they served as the backup band for a Neil Young tour, one which brought both them (and Young) high critical marks. The following year, they released a comeback album, arranged in much the style of their vintage '60s sides, which proved that their instrumental skills were still intact. Like most such efforts, though, it ultimately failed to re-create the spark and spontaneity it so obviously wanted to achieve. Jones continued with his own musical output through the following decades, often lending his instrumental skills to other artists and occasionally issuing his own albums, such as the 2009 solo effort Potato Hole. Bassist Dunn, intermittently active with festival and tour appearances after the turn of the millennium, had been touring with Cropper and Eddie Floyd in Japan during May 2012 when he died in his sleep in a Tokyo hotel. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi
Aw' Mercy
Booker T. & the MG's Lyrics
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Have mercy baby
Have mercy
Have mercy on me
Well I went to see a gypsy
And had my fortune read
She said Don, your baby's gonna leave you
And I cry
Have mercy
Have mercy baby
Have mercy
Have mercy on me
I say, if you leave me baby
Girl if you put me down
Well I'm a goin' to the nearest river, child
And jump from above to the ground
Don't leave me
Have mercy
Have mercy baby
Mercy yeah
Have mercy
Have mercy on me
Well hey hey baby, hey hey now
What you tryin' to do, huh?
Hey hey baby, hey hey now
Please don't say we're through
I said if you stay, baby
I tell you what I'm gonna do
I'm gonna work to a job seven days a week
And bring my money home to you
Well I say mercy
Mercy, mercy, mercy
The lyrics to Booker T. & the MG's song "Aw' Mercy" express feelings of desperation and heartbreak. The singer of the song has gone to see a gypsy to have his fortune read, and the news he receives is devastating: his love is going to leave him. The singer begs for mercy from his lover, asking her not to leave him and to have pity on him. He promises to work hard and give her all of his money if she stays with him. The song's chorus is a plea for mercy, repeated several times throughout the song.
The lyrics of "Aw' Mercy" speak to the universal experience of heartbreak and the fear of losing someone you love. The vivid imagery of the song, such as the singer contemplating jumping from a river if his lover leaves him, adds to the song's emotional intensity. The repetition of the chorus underscores the singer's desperation and need for mercy. Overall, "Aw' Mercy" is a powerful expression of human vulnerability and the pain of lost love.
Line by Line Meaning
Have mercy
The singer is begging for mercy from his lover.
Have mercy baby
The singer is directing his plea for mercy towards his lover.
Have mercy on me
The singer is asking for his lover's forgiveness and mercy.
Well I went to see a gypsy
The singer went to a fortune teller to seek guidance about his relationship.
And had my fortune read
The singer had his future revealed to him by the fortune teller.
She said Don, your baby's gonna leave you
The fortune teller predicted that the singer's lover is going to abandon him.
Her back is packed up under the bed
The singer's lover has already packed her bags in preparation to leave him.
And I cry
The singer is emotional and upset about the news from the fortune teller.
I say, if you leave me baby
The singer is saying that if his lover leaves him,
Girl if you put me down
He will be heartbroken and destroyed.
Well I'm a goin' to the nearest river, child
The singer is considering suicide by jumping off a nearby river.
And jump from above to the ground
The singer plans to kill himself by jumping from a high spot to the ground.
Don't leave me
The singer is begging his lover not to leave him.
Mercy yeah
The singer continues to plea for mercy and forgiveness.
Well hey hey baby, hey hey now
The singer is trying to get his lover's attention.
What you tryin' to do, huh?
The singer is asking what his lover is trying to do by leaving him.
Please don't say we're through
The singer is begging his lover not to end their relationship.
I said if you stay, baby
The singer is promising to do something for his lover if she stays with him.
I tell you what I'm gonna do
The singer is going to work hard and provide for his lover.
I'm gonna work to a job seven days a week
The singer is going to work hard, even working seven days a week, to keep his lover happy and cared for.
And bring my money home to you
The singer is planning to bring his hard-earned money home to his lover to provide for her.
Well I say mercy
The singer continues to beg for mercy and forgiveness.
Mercy, mercy, mercy
The singer is pleading for mercy over and over again.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DON COVAY, DONALD COVAY, RONALD MILLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind