BOOKER T
''SOUND THE ALARM''
JUNE 25 2013
47:28
1/Sound the Alarm
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones/feat. Mayer Hawthorne/3:51
2/All Over the Place
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones/feat. Luke James/3:29
3/Fun
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones/2:53
4/Broken Heart
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones / Terry Lewis/feat. Jay James/3:19
5/Feel Good
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones/3:24
6/Gently
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Anthony Hamilton / Booker T. Jones/3:08
7/Austin City Blues
Booker T. Jones/feat. Gary Clark, Jr/5:12
8/Can't Wait
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones / Ben Lakey / Raphael Saadiq/feat. Estelle/3:37
9/66 Impala
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones/feat. Sheila E., Poncho Sanchez/3:55
Bobby Ross Avila /Bass, Celeste, Fender Rhodes, Guitar, Piano, Vocals (Background), Wurlitzer
Gordon Campbell /Drums
Carla Carter /Vocals (Background)
Adan Castillo /Vocals (Background)
Gary Clark, Jr. /Featured Artist, Guitar
Nalle Colt /Guitar
Richard Danielson /Drums
Rick Barrio Dill /Bass
Estelle /Featured Artist
Jaymes Felix /Vocals (Background)
Ben Franklin /Vocals (Background)
Mayer Hawthorne /Featured Artist, Vocals
Iz /Bass, Bass (Upright), Brushes, Drums, Guitar, Horn, Percussion, Scratching
Jay James /Featured Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Luke James /Featured Artist, Vocals
Hugo Johnson /Vocals (Background)
Booker T. Jones /Bass, Hammond B3, Piano, Piano (Electric), Vocals
Ted Jones /Featured Artist, Guitar
Rashawn Ross /Horn
Raphael Saadiq /Guitar
Sam Salter /Vocals (Background)
Poncho Sanchez /Congas, Featured Artist, Guiro
Sheila E. /Bongos, Featured Artist, Timbales
Leon Silva Jr. /Horn
Wesley Smith /Horn
Devin Vasquez /Vocals (Background)
Vintage Trouble /Featured Artist
Nate Watts /Bass
Kevin Williams /Horn
Kori Withers /Featured Artist, Vocals
REVIEW
by Steve Leggett
Booker T. Jones has certainly put his mark on modern pop music. As part of the legendary group Booker T. & the MG's, Memphis' first integrated band, and the house band at Stax Records in the 1960s, he pretty much was in at the ground floor of the invention of soul, backing classic soul hits by Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, and many others, as well as generating iconic instrumental hits from the era like "Green Onions," "Time Is Tight," and numerous others with the MG's. Jones left Stax as the 1970s hit and the label was essentially falling apart, and he's drifted from label to label ever since, his legacy secure as the dominant Hammond B-3 organ player of his generation (apart from Jimmy Smith, of course). Sound the Alarm is Jones' tenth solo album since leaving Stax, and it returns him to the label, now owned by Concord Records, a dozen years and change into the 21st century. Homecomings are nice, and it makes for a nice press hook for this outing, but anyone expecting some vintage-styled Memphis soul here is going to be disappointed, because there isn't much of it. Jones, who wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, has brought in several guests to help him out, and while it isn't exactly a duets album, it's pretty close, and the focus is hardly on Jones and his playing. There are a couple of nice urban R&B love ballads like "Broken Heart," which features Jay James on vocals, and "Your Love Is No Love," done with the group Vintage Trouble and spotlighting Ty Taylor on vocals, but most of the other tracks with lead vocals have little real impact or presence. The best tracks here by far are the handful of instrumentals, including the soul-jazz-like "Feel Good," the funky and bluesy "Austin City Blues" with Gary Clark, Jr. on guitar, and the set closer, "Father Son Blues," which features Ted Jones on guitar. There's nothing wrong with trying to get a more contemporary sound and feel (the album was co-produced by Jones and brothers Bobby Ross and Issiah "IZ" Avila), of course, but when you're Booker T. Jones, maybe you shouldn't worry about that. After all, the funky soul groove template that Jones helped create in Memphis some 40-plus years ago never really goes out of style. One wishes there were more of that here.
BIOGRAPHY
by Mark Deming
Booker T. Jones was one of the architects of the Memphis soul sound of the 1960s as the leader of Booker T. & the MG's, who scored a number of hits on their own as well as serving as the Stax Records house band. But Jones' accomplishments don't stop there, and as a producer, songwriter, arranger, and instrumentalist, he's worked with a remarkable variety of artists, from Willie Nelson to John Lee Hooker, from Soul Asylum to the Roots.
Booker T. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee on November 12, 1944. Jones developed an keen interest in music as a boy; while working a paper route, he used to pass by the house of jazz pianist Phineas Newborn, and would often stop and listen to him practice as he folded newspapers. By the time Jones was in high school, he helped to direct the school band and was proficient on saxophone, trombone, oboe, and keyboards; he also played organ during services at his church, and would occasionally sneak out and sit in with R&B combos at local nightclubs. In 1960, Jones, a frequent customer at Memphis' Satellite Record Shop, was recruited to play sax on a Rufus and Carla Thomas recording session when the proprietors of the store, Estelle Axton and Jim Stewart, decided to start their own record label. The label soon evolved into Stax Records, and Jones, along with guitarist Steve Cropper (who was managing the record store when he met Jones), bassist Lewis Steinberg (later replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn), and drummer Al Jackson Jr., would form the MG's, who would back up Stax artists Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Albert King, and many others, as well as releasing a steady stream of instrumental recordings on their own, including the smash hit "Green Onions." Jones' productivity in the early to mid-'60s is all the more remarkable as he was also a full-time student at Indiana University, where he studied composition and music theory while doing shows and recording sessions during weekends and vacations.
Booker T. & the MG's enjoyed considerable success in their heyday -- cutting hits, backing Stax's leading artists, touring Europe and the U.K. with the Stax/Volt Revue, and accompanying Otis Redding for his legendary set at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival -- but between internal disputes at Stax (mostly regarding the spoils of their successful distribution deal with Atlantic Records) and the increasingly busy schedules of the various members, the group was on the verge of breaking up, and in 1970, Jones relocated to Los Angeles. He had already been branching out, appearing on Delaney & Bonnie's 1969 album Home and Mitch Ryder's ambitious The Detroit-Memphis Experiment, and after 1971's Melting Pot, the MG's quietly broke up. Jones stayed busy with session work, playing on albums by Bob Dylan, Steven Stills, Kris Kristofferson, and Rita Coolidge, and in 1971 he released Booker T. & Priscilla, the first of two albums he would record with his then-wife, Priscilla Coolidge-Jones (the sister of Rita Coolidge). The same year, Jones produced Just as I Am, the outstanding debut album by Bill Withers, which featured the hits "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Grandma's Hands." In 1975, Jones and the MG's were working on a reunion album when Al Jackson, Jr. was murdered; the group continued to record with drummer Willie Hall, but they parted ways again in 1977. In 1978, Jones released his first solo album, Try and Love Again, and enjoyed one of his biggest successes as a producer with Willie Nelson's Stardust, a collection of pop standards that established Nelson as one of country's biggest crossover acts.
Session work and production assignments with Nelson dominated Jones' schedule in the '80s, though he released a second solo album, I Want You, in 1981; another followed late in the decade, 1989's The Runaway. In 1992, Booker T. & the MG's were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and that same year, the group reunited for a special, high-profile gig: they served as the house band for an all-star tribute to Bob Dylan staged in honor of the songwriter's 30th year as a recording artist. Neil Young, one of the artists who appeared at the concert, was impressed enough with the MG's that he invited them to serve as his backing band for a major concert tour in 1993. The tour sparked new interest in the band, and in 1994, Jones and the MG's cut a new album, That's the Way It Should Be, and they supported it with a number of live dates. Jones soon returned to a steady schedule of session work, and he produced as well as performed on Neil Young's 2002 album Are You Passionate? But in 2008, Jones stepped up for one of his most ambitious solo efforts to date, Potato Hole, in which he was backed up by country-influenced hard rockers the Drive-By Truckers, with Neil Young adding additional guitar on several tunes. The album earned enthusiastic reviews, and Jones supported the release with a number of live dates in America, Europe, and the U.K. In 2011, Jones returned with another inspired collaboration, The Road from Memphis, in which he teamed up in the studio with Philadelphia-based hip-hop/modern soul collective the Roots. Jones returned to Stax Records, now under the Concord Records umbrella, for 2013's guest-laden Sound the Alarm.
DoWnLoAd
''SOUND THE ALARM''
JUNE 25 2013
47:28
1/Sound the Alarm
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones/feat. Mayer Hawthorne/3:51
2/All Over the Place
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones/feat. Luke James/3:29
3/Fun
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones/2:53
4/Broken Heart
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones / Terry Lewis/feat. Jay James/3:19
5/Feel Good
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones/3:24
6/Gently
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Anthony Hamilton / Booker T. Jones/3:08
7/Austin City Blues
Booker T. Jones/feat. Gary Clark, Jr/5:12
8/Can't Wait
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones / Ben Lakey / Raphael Saadiq/feat. Estelle/3:37
9/66 Impala
Bobby Ross Avila / Issiah "IZ" Avila / Booker T. Jones/feat. Sheila E., Poncho Sanchez/3:55
Bobby Ross Avila /Bass, Celeste, Fender Rhodes, Guitar, Piano, Vocals (Background), Wurlitzer
Gordon Campbell /Drums
Carla Carter /Vocals (Background)
Adan Castillo /Vocals (Background)
Gary Clark, Jr. /Featured Artist, Guitar
Nalle Colt /Guitar
Richard Danielson /Drums
Rick Barrio Dill /Bass
Estelle /Featured Artist
Jaymes Felix /Vocals (Background)
Ben Franklin /Vocals (Background)
Mayer Hawthorne /Featured Artist, Vocals
Iz /Bass, Bass (Upright), Brushes, Drums, Guitar, Horn, Percussion, Scratching
Jay James /Featured Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Luke James /Featured Artist, Vocals
Hugo Johnson /Vocals (Background)
Booker T. Jones /Bass, Hammond B3, Piano, Piano (Electric), Vocals
Ted Jones /Featured Artist, Guitar
Rashawn Ross /Horn
Raphael Saadiq /Guitar
Sam Salter /Vocals (Background)
Poncho Sanchez /Congas, Featured Artist, Guiro
Sheila E. /Bongos, Featured Artist, Timbales
Leon Silva Jr. /Horn
Wesley Smith /Horn
Devin Vasquez /Vocals (Background)
Vintage Trouble /Featured Artist
Nate Watts /Bass
Kevin Williams /Horn
Kori Withers /Featured Artist, Vocals
REVIEW
by Steve Leggett
Booker T. Jones has certainly put his mark on modern pop music. As part of the legendary group Booker T. & the MG's, Memphis' first integrated band, and the house band at Stax Records in the 1960s, he pretty much was in at the ground floor of the invention of soul, backing classic soul hits by Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, William Bell, and many others, as well as generating iconic instrumental hits from the era like "Green Onions," "Time Is Tight," and numerous others with the MG's. Jones left Stax as the 1970s hit and the label was essentially falling apart, and he's drifted from label to label ever since, his legacy secure as the dominant Hammond B-3 organ player of his generation (apart from Jimmy Smith, of course). Sound the Alarm is Jones' tenth solo album since leaving Stax, and it returns him to the label, now owned by Concord Records, a dozen years and change into the 21st century. Homecomings are nice, and it makes for a nice press hook for this outing, but anyone expecting some vintage-styled Memphis soul here is going to be disappointed, because there isn't much of it. Jones, who wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, has brought in several guests to help him out, and while it isn't exactly a duets album, it's pretty close, and the focus is hardly on Jones and his playing. There are a couple of nice urban R&B love ballads like "Broken Heart," which features Jay James on vocals, and "Your Love Is No Love," done with the group Vintage Trouble and spotlighting Ty Taylor on vocals, but most of the other tracks with lead vocals have little real impact or presence. The best tracks here by far are the handful of instrumentals, including the soul-jazz-like "Feel Good," the funky and bluesy "Austin City Blues" with Gary Clark, Jr. on guitar, and the set closer, "Father Son Blues," which features Ted Jones on guitar. There's nothing wrong with trying to get a more contemporary sound and feel (the album was co-produced by Jones and brothers Bobby Ross and Issiah "IZ" Avila), of course, but when you're Booker T. Jones, maybe you shouldn't worry about that. After all, the funky soul groove template that Jones helped create in Memphis some 40-plus years ago never really goes out of style. One wishes there were more of that here.
BIOGRAPHY
by Mark Deming
Booker T. Jones was one of the architects of the Memphis soul sound of the 1960s as the leader of Booker T. & the MG's, who scored a number of hits on their own as well as serving as the Stax Records house band. But Jones' accomplishments don't stop there, and as a producer, songwriter, arranger, and instrumentalist, he's worked with a remarkable variety of artists, from Willie Nelson to John Lee Hooker, from Soul Asylum to the Roots.
Booker T. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee on November 12, 1944. Jones developed an keen interest in music as a boy; while working a paper route, he used to pass by the house of jazz pianist Phineas Newborn, and would often stop and listen to him practice as he folded newspapers. By the time Jones was in high school, he helped to direct the school band and was proficient on saxophone, trombone, oboe, and keyboards; he also played organ during services at his church, and would occasionally sneak out and sit in with R&B combos at local nightclubs. In 1960, Jones, a frequent customer at Memphis' Satellite Record Shop, was recruited to play sax on a Rufus and Carla Thomas recording session when the proprietors of the store, Estelle Axton and Jim Stewart, decided to start their own record label. The label soon evolved into Stax Records, and Jones, along with guitarist Steve Cropper (who was managing the record store when he met Jones), bassist Lewis Steinberg (later replaced by Donald "Duck" Dunn), and drummer Al Jackson Jr., would form the MG's, who would back up Stax artists Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Albert King, and many others, as well as releasing a steady stream of instrumental recordings on their own, including the smash hit "Green Onions." Jones' productivity in the early to mid-'60s is all the more remarkable as he was also a full-time student at Indiana University, where he studied composition and music theory while doing shows and recording sessions during weekends and vacations.
Booker T. & the MG's enjoyed considerable success in their heyday -- cutting hits, backing Stax's leading artists, touring Europe and the U.K. with the Stax/Volt Revue, and accompanying Otis Redding for his legendary set at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival -- but between internal disputes at Stax (mostly regarding the spoils of their successful distribution deal with Atlantic Records) and the increasingly busy schedules of the various members, the group was on the verge of breaking up, and in 1970, Jones relocated to Los Angeles. He had already been branching out, appearing on Delaney & Bonnie's 1969 album Home and Mitch Ryder's ambitious The Detroit-Memphis Experiment, and after 1971's Melting Pot, the MG's quietly broke up. Jones stayed busy with session work, playing on albums by Bob Dylan, Steven Stills, Kris Kristofferson, and Rita Coolidge, and in 1971 he released Booker T. & Priscilla, the first of two albums he would record with his then-wife, Priscilla Coolidge-Jones (the sister of Rita Coolidge). The same year, Jones produced Just as I Am, the outstanding debut album by Bill Withers, which featured the hits "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Grandma's Hands." In 1975, Jones and the MG's were working on a reunion album when Al Jackson, Jr. was murdered; the group continued to record with drummer Willie Hall, but they parted ways again in 1977. In 1978, Jones released his first solo album, Try and Love Again, and enjoyed one of his biggest successes as a producer with Willie Nelson's Stardust, a collection of pop standards that established Nelson as one of country's biggest crossover acts.
Session work and production assignments with Nelson dominated Jones' schedule in the '80s, though he released a second solo album, I Want You, in 1981; another followed late in the decade, 1989's The Runaway. In 1992, Booker T. & the MG's were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and that same year, the group reunited for a special, high-profile gig: they served as the house band for an all-star tribute to Bob Dylan staged in honor of the songwriter's 30th year as a recording artist. Neil Young, one of the artists who appeared at the concert, was impressed enough with the MG's that he invited them to serve as his backing band for a major concert tour in 1993. The tour sparked new interest in the band, and in 1994, Jones and the MG's cut a new album, That's the Way It Should Be, and they supported it with a number of live dates. Jones soon returned to a steady schedule of session work, and he produced as well as performed on Neil Young's 2002 album Are You Passionate? But in 2008, Jones stepped up for one of his most ambitious solo efforts to date, Potato Hole, in which he was backed up by country-influenced hard rockers the Drive-By Truckers, with Neil Young adding additional guitar on several tunes. The album earned enthusiastic reviews, and Jones supported the release with a number of live dates in America, Europe, and the U.K. In 2011, Jones returned with another inspired collaboration, The Road from Memphis, in which he teamed up in the studio with Philadelphia-based hip-hop/modern soul collective the Roots. Jones returned to Stax Records, now under the Concord Records umbrella, for 2013's guest-laden Sound the Alarm.
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