Born in South Memphis, Tennessee, Jones was a child prodigy, playing the oboe, saxophone, trombone, and piano at school and serving as organist at his church. He attended Booker T. Washington High School, the alma mater of Rufus Thomas and shared the hallowed halls with future stars like Isaac Hayes's writing partner David Porter; saxophonist Andrew Love of The Memphis Horns; soul singer/songwriter William Bell and Earth, Wind, and Fire's Maurice White.
Jones's first entry into professional music came at age sixteen, when he played baritone saxophone on Satellite (soon to be Stax) Records' first hit, "Cause I Love You", by Rufus Thomas and Carla Thomas.
While hanging around the Satellite Record Shop run by Estelle Axton, co-owner of Satellite Records with her brother Jim Stewart, Jones met record clerk Steve Cropper, who would become one of the MGs when the group formed in 1962. Besides Jones on organ and Cropper on guitar, Booker T. and the MGs featured Lewie Steinberg on bass guitar and Al Jackson, Jr. on drums (Donald "Duck" Dunn eventually replacing Steinberg). While still in high school, Jones wrote the group's instrumental "Green Onions", which not only became a hit in 1962, but remains an enduring classic more than 40 years later.
Over the next few years, Jones would divide his time between studying classical music composition, composing and transposition at Indiana University, playing with the MGs on the weekends back in Memphis[1], serving as a session musician with other Stax acts, and writing songs that would become classics. He wrote, with Eddie Floyd, "I've Never Found a Girl (To Love Me Like You Do)", Otis Redding's "I Love You More Than Words Can Say", and, with William Bell, Albert King's "Born Under a Bad Sign." The latter would later be popularized in the cover version by power trio Cream.
In 1970, Jones moved to California and stopped playing sessions for Stax, after becoming frustrated with Stax's treatment of the MGs as employees rather than musicians. While still under contract to Stax, he appeared on Stephen Stills' eponymous album (1970). The 1971 album, Melting Pot would be the last Booker T. & the MGs album issued on Stax.
Jones produced three albums with his former wife, under the name Booker T. & Priscilla, as well as making the charts as a solo artist in 1981 with "I Want You". He produced Priscilla's sister Rita Coolidge, Bill Withers's debut album Just As I Am (on which he also played several instruments), and Willie Nelson's album Stardust. He has also lent his trademark keyboards to everyone from Ray Charles to Neil Young to Natalie Merchant. Jones currently still plays with Booker T. & the MGs and his own Booker T. Jones Band.
Jones was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, and was honored with a Grammy award for lifetime achievement on February 11, 2007.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Down In Memphis
Booker T. Jones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Learning how to walk the beat
Laying it down again
Taking it on the chin
Heading for the darkest club
Down on Beale Street
Playing that funky music
Gotta be a pistol
Gotta be a gun
Gotta be one strange phenomenon
Down in Memphis
Yeah Memphis Tennessee
Memphis Tennessee
Gotta see a new woman over in Klondike
Ten minutes in the Thunderbird
Running on the turnpike
I gotta pay union dues
Make me wanna to sing the blues
I can't be a winner now
'Cause I'm born to lose
Down in Memphis
Yeah Memphis Tennessee
Memphis Tennessee
Down in Memphis, Memphis
Yeah
Doing it, doing it
Gotta shine shoes
Down on Fourth and Walker
Out on Peggy's Patio
For some sweet talker
Spend your easy nights
Out in Mallory Heights
Living on Auction Road
With no street lights
Tried to find love
Out in Dixie homes
Look at your TV
And you find Rufus and Bones
Matt D. Williams
Giving you a D-
The man won't hear no plea
Man won't play no key
Down in Memphis
MMM Memphis Tennessee
Memphis Tennessee
Down in Memphis, Memphis
Yeah Memphis Tennessee
Down in Memphis, Memphis, Memphis yeah
Memphis, Memphis, Memphis
Memphis Tennessee
Memphis Tennessee
Yeah Memphis Tennessee
Booker T. Jones's song Down In Memphis is an ode to the city that was the birthplace of blues and rock n' roll music. The song speaks of the rough and tumble life that musicians led in Memphis, and the struggles they had to face to make it big in the music industry. The lyrics describe the hot and humid conditions in Memphis, as well as the difficult job of learning to play music and making a name for oneself in the competitive music scene.
The song also references some of the iconic landmarks and neighborhoods of Memphis, such as Beale Street, Klondike, Fourth and Walker, and Dixie homes. The lyrics suggest that despite the hard work and numerous obstacles that musicians had to face in Memphis, it was still a city that was full of life and opportunities. The song's catchy refrain of "Down in Memphis, yeah Memphis Tennessee" serves as a rallying cry for those who believe in the magic of the city's music scene.
Line by Line Meaning
Doin' it in the heat
Performing in the hot climate
Learning how to walk the beat
Trying to get accustomed to the rhythm of the music
Laying it down again
Playing the music once more
Taking it on the chin
Enduring the hardships associated with music
Heading for the darkest club
Going to a club where it is dark
Down on Beale Street
At Beale Street
Playing that funky music
Playing groovy music
Drinking that funky gin
Drinking distilled alcoholic beverage made from juniper berries mixed with funky music
Gotta be a pistol
Need to be sharp and confident
Gotta be a gun
Need to be formidable and tough
Gotta be one strange phenomenon
Must be a bizarre or exceptional individual
Yeah Memphis Tennessee
Expression of satisfaction with being in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis Tennessee
Referencing and celebrating the city of Memphis, Tennessee
Gotta see a new woman over in Klondike
Need to visit a new woman in Klondike
Ten minutes in the Thunderbird
Short visit in the car model Thunderbird
Running on the turnpike
Driving on a central highway
I gotta pay union dues
Must pay fees to a professional association
Make me wanna to sing the blues
Makes the individual feel melancholic
I can't be a winner now
Cannot come out on top currently
'Cause I'm born to lose
It is the person's nature to be defeated and to lose out
Gotta shine shoes
Needs to polish clients' shoes
Down on Fourth and Walker
At the intersection of Fourth and Walker
Out on Peggy's Patio
Outside on Peggy's Patio
For some sweet talker
For someone who relies on flattery
Spend your easy nights
Pass the nights easily
Out in Mallory Heights
At Mallory Heights
Living on Auction Road
Residing on Auction Road
With no street lights
Without any illumination on the streets
Tried to find love
Attempted to search for affection
Out in Dixie homes
At homes in Dixie
Look at your TV
Viewing the television
And you find Rufus and Bones
Spotting Rufus and Bones
Matt D. Williams
Name of an individual
Giving you a D-
Grading with a D-
The man won't hear no plea
No one will listen to the plea
Man won't play no key
Man will not play any musical instrument
MMM Memphis Tennessee
Enthusiastic response to Memphis, Tennessee
Down in Memphis, Memphis
In Memphis, Tennessee
Yeah Memphis Tennessee
Positive affirmation for Memphis, Tennessee
Down in Memphis, Memphis, Memphis yeah
Located in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Memphis, Memphis
Referring to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis Tennessee
Acknowledging Memphis, Tennessee
Yeah Memphis Tennessee
Admitting delight in Memphis, Tennessee
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: BOOKER T. JONES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind