In the 1960s Booker T and the MGs anchored the Stax Records sound out of Memphis backing the likes of Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett and many others while charting hit singles on their own.
On Thursday night Booker T Jones and his trademark Hammond B3 organ played to a packed house at Turner Hall. A wise man once said "everything changes." While this sure wasn't the MGs, the show offered a wonderfully wide spectrum of Jones' talents.
Leading a band that was half Boston jam band blues (bass and guitar) and half Oakland blues funk (drums and guitar), the group came out of the gates like a grungy Meters with "Pound It Out" and other tunes from "Potato Hole" (Jones' 2009 collaboration with the Drive-By Truckers and Neil Young). Sound problems found the musicians making adjustments until everything was dialed in.
Somewhere along the way it seems Booker T was discovered by the hordes of jam band followers. No surprise, really, when you consider the influence the MGs must have had on the likes of Medeski, Martin and Wood. The Turner crowd was an inter-generational mix of almost-hippies, backward ball-capped frat-types and all around music fans.
Following the eternal groove of "Green Onions," Jones took the mic to sing "Born under a Bad Sign," the tune he authored for Albert King. Following a short break to sort out the onstage monitors Jones grabbed a guitar and took center stage. Playing Sam and Dave's "Hold On, I'm Comin" and "Ain't No Sunshine," the song he produced for Bill Withers, he then surprisingly stuck with the guitar for "Take Me to the River."
There were more vitamin B3 hits from the MGs era to come with "Hip Hug Her" and a slow motion intro to "Time is Tight." Possibly the evening's highlight was a genuinely gooseflesh version of "Hang ‘Em High" that found the band's dynamics moving from a haunted whisper to a spaghetti Western roar that pushed Jones' Leslie speakers for all they had.
When this show was announced there were high hopes that opener JJ Grey and Jones would collaborate. Unfortunately, that would not be the case. With his band Mofro, Grey nails a vibe perfectly updating the swampy soul of Muscle Shoals and Memphis. Performing solo on acoustic guitar at Turner, Grey was likeable enough but never cut through the yakking audience that badly wanted him to be Dave Matthews.
A cover of Van Morrison's "Tupelo Honey" was courageous but only begged what a collaboration with Booker T might have delivered.
