Legendary collaborations and shows at the White House — More on the life of Booker T. Jones
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* This is Part 2 of a two-part column on soul musician Booker T. Jones.
One of the architects of the influential Memphis soul sound, Booker T. Jones first found fame with the band Booker T. & the MGs. Jones and the MGs played on a string of hits by soul and blues legends like Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Bill Withers, Sam & Dave, Rufus Thomas and Albert King.
Besides composing for the MGs, Jones co-composed blues great King’s signature song, “Born Under a Bad Sign,” which was later recorded by Cream and Jimi Hendrix.
“William Bell and I were given an assignment to come up with a song for Albert King on a Saturday, and we came up with it the night before,” Jones explains. As for Cream’s version, he says, “I really appreciated those guys. They actually visited me one night in Detroit.”
Some years later, Jones and some of the MGs were hired by Eric Clapton to back all the artists at the first Crossroads Guitar Festival in New York.
In time, Jones, who is best-known for playing the Hammond B-3 organ, would work with many leading artists. In 1973, he played bass on Bob Dylan’s hit single from the “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” soundtrack, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”
“Bob needed a bass and I was a bass player,” says Jones. “I’m never without a bass. Bob was a neighbor in Malibu and he would come over and mess around with my old tape recorder. I had a little studio and Bob liked my busted recorder and would plug his guitar into it.”
A few years later, another neighbor, Willie Nelson, invited him to produce and arrange his Grammy-winning album “Stardust,” which became a huge hit for the country star.
Recording an album of pop standards, Nelson wrote in his autobiography, “I needed a producer with Booker T.’s skills as a musician. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”
“I had an apartment in Malibu and unbeknownst to either of us, his apartment was below mine,” Jones explains. “I saw a fellow on the beach and I thought he looked like Willie Nelson, and it was Willie. So I went down and introduced myself, and we just started hanging out and jamming.”
The country legend and soul music star later teamed up to perform together on Carlos Santana’s solo album “Havana Moon.”
Other highlights in his career included a series of tours that paired Jones and his MGs with rocker Neil Young (there’s an amazing live version of Young and the MGs blazing through “All Along the Watchtower” on YouTube). The two had become friends when they met at a Dylan tribute concert in New York.
“We were the backup band at Madison Square Garden, so we backed Neil on his song. And he was a natural choice for lead guitar on my ‘Potato Hole’ album. I wrote the album on guitar and we had a nice big sound.”
Reviewing Jones’ 2009 Grammy-winning “Potato Hole” album, Jambase praised: “With choice accompaniment by Southern rock visionaries Drive By Truckers and a sound often pushed into over drive by the volcanic lead guitar of rock and roll legend Neil Young, it is an altogether extraordinary set.”
He followed that up with another acclaimed, Grammy-winning album, “The Road to Memphis,” featuring the Roots and vocalists Sharon Jones, the late Lou Reed and My Morning Jacket’s Yim Yames.
“Like Miles Davis or Jimi Hendrix, Jones’ inner soul permeates through his instrument and his voice is unmistakable,” raved Consequence of Sound.
In the last few years, Jones has had the honor of performing at two historic shows at the White House.
He was selected as the music director and band leader for a special blues tribute, “In Performance at The White House Red, White and Blues,” which included B.B. King, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy.
“The president came down at the rehearsal and had a good time,” Jones reports. “He commented, ‘I don’t get out much.’ It was a wonderful evening.”
And then in 2013, he was the music director and band leader for “In Performance at the White House: Memphis Soul,” which included performances by Eddie Floyd, Ben Harper, Queen Latifah, Sam Moore, Charlie Musselwhite and Mavis Staples.
“It was great to play my music in the East Room for the president,” he says. “To be in that historical location and kind of funk it up with the jams we did.”
In concert, his recent set lists have included soulful covers of Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” (they hung out at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival), Redding’s “Respect” (which he played on), and the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down” (which the MGs covered on their “Abbey Road” tribute album, “McLemore Avenue,” in 1970).
A San Antonio Express-News concert review praised: “Sitting behind the Hammond B-3, Jones really shined, manipulating the instrument’s many drawbars and alternating the swirling sounds on instrumentals ‘Soul Limbo’ and ‘Melting Pot.’ Jones closed the show with ‘Time is Tight,’ beginning it at half-tempo alone on organ. Once the band kicked in it was impossible not to be awed by the musician who invented those famous licks.”
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Lily Meola is feeling pretty thrilled, as she just got a write-up in Rolling Stone online about her forthcoming debut album.
The album features duets with Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson (on his legendary song “Me and Bobby McGee”), and Nelson plays guitar on two tracks. The exceptional album also includes two memorable duets with Lukas Nelson.
Earlier this year, Meola shared the stage with country singer Lee Brice when he performed at the MACC, and last year, she sang a duet with Jamey Johnson on his “The Christmas Song” EP.
In 2013, she was one of the female artists featured on Nelson’s acclaimed album “To All the Girls,” singing “Will You Remember Mine” with the country legend. It will be included on her new CD.
The album has a projected Christmastime release date.
“I’m excited,” says Meola. “It’s been a long time coming.”
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When it opened at Manhattan’s Hotel Lexington in 1937, the Hawaiian Room became a showcase for Hawaii’s leading musicians and hula dancers. Billed as “Hawaii’s eastern outpost,” the exotic supper club offered twice the salary that Hawaiian entertainers could earn at home.
Ray Kinney, Alfred Apaka, Kui Lee, Maui’s Emma Veary, Mona Joy Lum, Mahi Beamer, Hilo Hattie and Andy Iona were some of the artists lured to New York City.
A documentary about the famous night spot will be screened Sunday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center as part of the Heritage Film Festival. It was created by filmmaker Ann Marie Kirk and the Hula Preservation Society.
Operated until 1966, the venue opened with Kinney and his Hawaiian Room Orchestra featuring the Aloha Maids.
Born in Hilo of Irish-Hawaiian parents, Kinney enjoyed a four-year continuous run at the hotel, helping popularize the Hawaiian music of the time on the Mainland.
In its first two years, more than 500,000 people dined there and the room grossed more than $1 million ($15 million today).
A New York Times review praised the club’s authenticity: “Instead of pawning a batch of brunettes coated with shoe polish as native dancers,” the room “employs the real articles.”
Surrounded by giant tree ferns, a mock Waikiki beach scene and twinkling stars painted on the ceiling, hula dancers could earn $75 to $100 a week. Amy Hanaiali’i’s late grandmother Jennie Napua Woodd was one of those fortunate dancers who performed with Kinney in the Hawaiian Room.
“I went with the aunties (former hula dancers) on behalf of my grandmother when the documentary premiered in New York,” Hanaiali’i reports. “It was so special. My grandmother was the first hula dancer to go into the room. She was one of the original dancers at the Royal Hawaiian in Waikiki, and she was asked by Ray Kinney to go to New York to choreograph the show there.”
Hanaiali’i says she heard some wild stories from the former dancers.
“One of them was dancing about 20 years after grandma, and she said she turned down all the leading actors of the day including Clark Gable,” she says.
* The Heritage Film Festival presents “The Hawaiian Room” at 3 p.m. Sunday in McCoy Studio Theater at the MACC. After the film, there will be a Q-and-A session with several original Hawaiian Room hula dancers. Tickets are $12 (plus applicable fees) and are available at the box office, by calling 242-7469 or at www.mauiarts.org.