Booker T. Jones

Booker T. Jones

Born: November 12, 1944
in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Booker Taliaferro Jones Jr. (born November 12, 1944) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and arranger, best known as the frontman of the band Booker T. & the M.G.'s. He has also worked in the studios with many well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, earning him a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.

Booker T. Jones was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on November 12, 1944. He was named after his father, Booker T. Jones Sr., who was named in honor of Booker T. Washington, the educator. Booker T. Jones, Sr. was a science teacher at Memphis High School, providing the family with a relatively stable, lower-middle-class lifestyle.

Jones was musically a child prodigy, playing the oboe, saxophone, trombone, double bass, and piano at school and organ at church. Jones attended Booker T. Washington High School, the alma mater of Rufus Thomas, and contributed with future stars like Isaac Hayes's writing partner David Porter, saxophonist Andrew Love of the Memphis Horns, soul singer/songwriter William Bell, and Earth, Wind & Fire's singer/songwriter Maurice White.

Jones's entry into professional music came at the age of 16 when he played baritone saxophone on Satellite (soon to be Stax) Records' first hit, "Cause I Love You", by Carla and Rufus Thomas. Willie Mitchell hired Jones for his band, in which Jones started on sax and later moved to bass. It was here that he met Al Jackson Jr., whom he brought to Stax. Simultaneously, Jones formed a combo with Maurice White and David Porter, in which he played guitar.

On March 1, 1995, Booker T. & the MGs won their first Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for the song "Cruisin'". Jones still plays with the MGs and his own small combo called the Booker T. Jones Band. His current touring group includes Vernon "Ice" Black (guitar), Darian Gray (drums), and Melvin Brannon (bass).

Jones was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992 and was honored with a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement on February 11, 2007.

In 2007, Jones was also inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.

Movies for Booker T. Jones...

Korla
Title: Korla
Character: self
Released: September 29, 2015
Type: Movie
Organist Korla Pandit was an alluring enigma, a television pioneer and the godfather of exotica music. He never spoke a word on 900 episodes of his groundbreaking 1950s TV program but captured the hearts of countless Los Angeles housewives with his soulful, hypnotic gaze and theatrical performance of popular tunes and East Indian compositions on the newly developed Hammond B3 organ. In the ’90s he resurfaced as a cult figure with the tiki/lounge music aficionados and ended up immortalized in the film Ed Wood. Often pegged as a “man of mystery,” Korla lived up to that billing when he took an amazing secret with him to his grave in 1998—one that is finally revealed in KORLA.
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Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013
Title: Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2013
Character: Self
Released: November 19, 2013
Type: Movie
Captured across two nights at Madison Square Garden, the Crossroads Guitar Festival offers a variety of legendary guitarists performing a mix of sultry blues, classic rock and country jams.
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Otis Redding: Soul Ambassador
Title: Otis Redding: Soul Ambassador
Released: May 31, 2013
Type: Movie
Profile of the soul singer, documenting his childhood and career, including unseen home movies that reveal how his 1967 tour of Britain dramatically changed his life and music. Plus, footage of rare performances and intimate interviews with Redding's widow, daughter and previous band members Steve Cropper and Booker T.
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Title: Live From the Artists Den
Character: Self
Released: February 1, 2009
Type: TV
A concert showcase that features music artists performing in unique settings, such as museums, temples and synagogues. The series also features interview segments with the artists.
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Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway 1967
Title: Stax/Volt Revue Live In Norway 1967
Released: October 1, 2007
Type: Movie
Considered by soul music fans to be one of the greatest lineups of artists ever to grace the concert stage, this concert, from April 7, 1967 in Oslo, Norway features stunning performances by Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Eddie Floyd, Arthur Conley, The Mar-Keys and the legendary Booker T. & The MGs.
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The Soul of Stax
Title: The Soul of Stax
Character: Self
Released: January 1, 1994
Type: Movie
"Philip Priestley's acclaimed film charts the history of Stax Records, the influential soul and blues record company founded in the 1960s by Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton. Featuring music by an impressive roster of stars, including Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes and Carla Thomas, The Soul of Stax chronicles the performers' rise through the industry and popular culture, the role played by many of them in the Civil Rights movement, and the label's eventual decline." - bfi.org.uk
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Shake! Otis at Monterey
Title: Shake! Otis at Monterey
Character: Self - Booker T. & the MG's
Released: October 16, 1987
Type: Movie
Renowned documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker captures Otis Redding in his ascendancy, singing at the historic Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967. Comedian Tom Smothers introduces Redding to a crowd that is leaving -- until Redding grabs them with his charged rendition of "Shake." Redding's performance also includes "Respect" (which he wrote), "I've Been Loving You Too Long," "Satisfaction," and "Try a Little Tenderness." Tragically, Redding died in a plane crash six months later. An innovative filmmaker who started in the 1950s making experimental films, Pennebaker garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature in 1993 for The War Room, his behind-the-scenes look at Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign. His other subjects have included Norman Mailer, Bob Dylan, and David Bowie.
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Songwriter
Title: Songwriter
Character: Keyboard (Gilda's Band)
Released: October 14, 1984
Type: Movie
Doc Jenkins may be one of country music's most beloved stars, but his private life is a wreck. He's split up with his longtime partner, Blackie Buck, a country outlaw with a heart of gold. Doc's singer-wife, Honey Carder, has thrown him out of the house. And now he's gotten involved with a sleazy music manager, Rodeo Rocky, who's out to steal his material. Teaming up with Blackie, Doc takes drastic measures to win back his family and reclaim his songs.
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A Star Is Born
Title: A Star Is Born
Character: The Speedway
Released: December 17, 1976
Type: Movie
Drunken, has-been rock star John Norman Howard falls in love with unknown singer Esther Hoffman after seeing her perform at a club. He lets her sing a few songs at one of his shows and she becomes the talk of the music industry. Esther's star begins to rise, while John's continues to fall. She tries desperately to get John to sober up and focus on his music, but it may be too late to save him.
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Monterey Pop
Title: Monterey Pop
Character: Self - Booker T. & the MG's (uncredited)
Released: December 26, 1968
Type: Movie
Featuring performances by popular artists of the 1960s, this concert film highlights the music of the 1967 California festival. Although not all musicians who performed at the Monterey Pop Festival are on film, some of the notable acts include the Mamas and the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Jefferson Airplane, the Who, Otis Redding, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix's post-performance antics -- lighting a guitar on fire, breaking it and tossing a part into the audience -- are captured.