Search - Booker T & Mg's :: Green Onions

Don't buy this for "Green Onions"!

thestaxman | 04/02/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

""Green Onions" is a great song--a song that sounds thrilling no matter how many times you've heard it. Unfortunately, the "Green Onions" album isn't nearly as exciting and gets kind of tiring after a listen or two. This was the MG's first album and was recorded after the 45 of "Green Onions" hit the top of the charts. The inventiveness and fire evident on the "Green Onions" single is just about impossible to find on the other tracks of this album, though. If you were thinking of getting this so you could hear "Green Onions"--well, don't do it. Pick up "The Very Best of" on Rhino. It has "Green Onions" and about 17 other songs that are just as thrilling. Then, if you want to have more MG's material, pick up "Hip Hug-Her" or "Soul Limbo" or the "Time is Tight" Box set. This album is one that only completists will want."

It's Not As Bad As You Think...But...

BluesDuke | Las Vegas, Nevada | 07/24/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"You KNOW the three original compositions are, in Dave Marsh's words, "what happens when the best backing group ever decides it's time to step up front and be noticed." (You probably also know how badly underrated is "Mo' Onions" - particularly Steve Cropper's ever-so-understated guitar break; the greatest soul rhythm guitarist of them all before Teenie Hodges came of age could flat play the blues without breaking a sweat or letting the string-bending joyboys intimidate him...the man's middle name was "Taste".) You also know that most of the rest is the kind of filler you used to hear (and cringe upon) at the local skating rink. But if you've got even half the sense of humour as the guys who cut it, this album isn't all that bad. In fact, they actually make "Lonely Avenue" (the classic Ray Charles cut from Pomus-Shuman) work. As album makers, Booker T. and the M.G.s in due course began living up to their classic singles and then some, and would someone PLEASE remind the nimrod from the critic's review at the head of the page that with the horns they were the MAR-KEYS, and not the BAR-KAYS (which was an entirely different band, both before and after they bought it with Otis Redding in that plane crash...)"

Classic instrumental, but too much supplemental

Michael Sean | Seattle, WA - US | 03/02/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Green Onions" was originally recorded as the B-side to what was intended as their debut single, "Behave Yourself," but ended up reaching #1 in the R&B charts and becoming Booker T. & The MG's most famous tune. This album was quickly assembled around those two songs to capitalize on the success of the million-selling single. Along with a follow-up jam, "Mo' Onions," they recorded nine mediocre covers of previous hits by Ray Charles, the Isley Brothers, Jackie Wilson, and Acker Bilt. I'd recommend this album only if you don't plan on investing in the wonderful "Time Is Tight" box set, which contains the best tracks off this disc, the three originals."