BOOKER T. AND THE M.G.’s – SOUL LIMBO LP – Nr MINT/EXC+ A1/B1 UK 1969 STAX SOUL

Booker T. And The M.G.’s – Soul Limbo
(Stax Records  1969  SXATS1001)
Matrix No’s: A1/B1 – UK Pressing

G&L Flipback Sleeve in Excellent condition
 – front is good with just a few small creases to laminate – back cover has some discolouration and initials written in top right corner

Vinyl in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from the odd light pop/crackle – name on the side 2 label)

Booker T. & the M.G.’s is an instrumental R&B/funk band that was influential in shaping the sound of Southern soul and Memphis soul. The original members of the group were Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Lewie Steinberg (bass), and Al Jackson Jr. (drums). In the 1960s, as members of the house band of Stax Records, they played on hundreds of recordings by artists such as Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Carla Thomas, Rufus Thomas, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King. They also released instrumental records under their own name, of which the best known is the 1962 hit single “Green Onions”. As originators of the unique Stax sound, the group was one of the most prolific, respected, and imitated of its era. By the mid-1960s, bands on both sides of the Atlantic were trying to sound like Booker T. & the M.G.’s.

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.

Soul Limbo is the seventh studio album by the American R&B band Booker T. & the M.G.’s, released in 1968 on Stax Records. The album was the first Stax LP issued after the label severed its ties with former distributor Atlantic Records in 1968.

The title track is perhaps best known in the UK as the theme tune for BBC Television’s cricket coverage and later for Test Match Special. It features a marimba solo by Terry Manning. The song was later covered by the English punk band Snuff.

The album also features the group’s hit version of the title theme from the film Hang ‘Em High.

Track listing

Side one

1. “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy” (Al Cobb, Ray Whitley)
2. “La-La (Means I Love You)” (Thom Bell, William Hart)
3. “Hang ‘Em High” (Dominic Frontiere)
4. “Willow Weep for Me” (Ann Ronell)
5. “Over Easy” (Booker T. & the M.G.’s)
6. “Soul Limbo” (Booker T. & the M.G.’s)

Side two

1. “Eleanor Rigby” (John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
2. “Heads or Tails” (Booker T. & the M.G.’s)
3. “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone” (Aretha Franklin, Teddy White)
4. “Born Under a Bad Sign” (William Bell, Booker T. Jones)
5. “Foxy Lady” (Jimi Hendrix)

Personnel

Booker T. & the M.G.s

• Booker T. Jones – Hammond organ, clavinet, piano, guitar
• Steve Cropper – guitar
• Donald Dunn – bass guitar
• Al Jackson Jr. – drums, percussion

with:

• Terry Manning – marimba on “Soul Limbo”