Artist: Booker T. & the M.G.'s
Album: Green Onions
Year: 1962
So I guess this is soul-rock. It's got that Hammond organ thing going on like Jimmy Smith did. It's entirely instrumental. It's like what would happen if the organ operator at a hockey game suddenly became afflicted with "the groove." It's also incredibly catchy.
I don't really know what to say about this album. I don't know whether to take it seriously when it feels like such a novelty. Seriously, it's like the muzak of the 60's. I can't imagine people buying an album like this. Still, there's something really compelling about it, because the songs are just so absurdly catchy. And I do mean absurd. "Green Onions" is the song on this album that everyone knows. It's been in movies, commercials, you name it. What this song has to do with green onions, I'll never know. It's so damn catchy with its bluesy organ riff. "Rinky Dink" sounds a skanked-out version of the Everly Brothers or something. "I Got a Woman" covers the Ray Charles classic successfully in its own right, and I really liked "One Who Really Loves You" later in the album. After a while, I listened to this album with a big goofy grin on my face. Somehow the 35-minute running time seemed to be just right. And then I listened a second time.
For what it is, this is a pretty much perfect album. I just wish I understood what it was!
Rating: Worth a listen
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