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Booker T. & the MG’s — Green Onions
Album: Green Onions
Avg rating:
8.5

Your rating:
Total ratings: 3481









Released: 1962
Length: 2:50
Plays (last 30 days): 3
(Instrumental)
Comments (330)add comment
classic! keep playing. I'm not tired of it yet.
I love Green Onions. Song is also great.
Two great organists in a row: Booker T. and Benmont Tench. 🎹🎹
 Propayne wrote:

I've never understood the "overplayed" or "I've heard the song too much" criticism.

That has nothing to do with how good a song is.

And this one is great.

 



There is no universal definition of a 'good song' - it is a matter of personal opinion.  Your opinion changes over time, especially when subjected to hearing a song too frequently.  That's my main reason why I like RP, but dislike Michael Jackson, Journey (other than their first album - their only good album), Beatles. etc.  It's not that they aren't talented - it's that I'm tired of hearing them ad nauseum.  Same reason I despise top 40 radio.
 Rstrickster wrote:

Is there a huge difference between Booker T and the MGs and The Junior Walker and the all stars?  I like thahairhem both just that this song gives me a cool feeling when I hear it and it makes me want to shiuffle my feet in a cool way  :-)


It is 5:15am & my coffee is kicking in.   Char dancing to start start the day out !   Thanx RP!  
Is there a huge difference between Booker T and the MGs and The Junior Walker and the all stars?  I like them both just that this song gives me a cool feeling when I hear it and it makes me want to shiuffle my feet in a cool way  :-)
Reminds me of Sting dancing like a true cool dude in the movie Quadrophenia..
Check it out!
Just godlike 
Makes me want to rewatch 'The Blues Brothers'... 
Big Wednesday. can't remember the scene.  This was part of one fine soundtrack
Great Song! always loved this and the images it conjured up.  Julianne Moore dancing  to this in A Simple Man is fantastic!
 Marcel1979 wrote:

No, it doesn't finish off the album Brothers in Arms. It's the last song on Communique.

previous song but both albums are fantastic 

 countryrds wrote:

I just love how the haters are simply smashed here!! 



And, they wonder why they are sitting alone in their mommy's basement!  Eh?  LOL!
 SmackDaddy wrote:

You didn't look before you bought it?



It was mail order and only a few of the songs were listed in the catalog. But one would assume, this would be included, no?

I just love how the haters are simply smashed here!! 
 jlind wrote:

As much as I despised the pervious song, what a segue Bill!



What does trickling water have to do with anything?  Don't be such a wet blanket!
GODLIKE!!! ICONIC!!!
This is where the Blues are turning into Rock n' Roll. If you don't like this...get out of my kitchen.     Nevek Yendor  
SUPERGREAT!!
 Gregorama wrote:

Hey, Bill! How about playing their follow up hit to this--"Mo' Onions"?



Know your onion! 
No, it doesn't finish off the album Brothers in Arms. It's the last song on Communique.
 alain.brault wrote:
Only surpassed by their live version... 
 
Yeah, that really has some grit to it!
 rdo wrote:
acxessible bubblegum top 40 schlock
 
Try not to speak, dear.
 Tomasni wrote:
My rating down to 5
 

YOU ARE THE REASON WHY WE DON'T HAVE NICE THINGS!
Elwood Blues: You may go if you wish. But remember this:
walk away now and you walk away from your crafts, your skills, your
vocations; leaving the next generation with nothing but recycled,
digitally-sampled techno-grooves, quasi-synth rhythms, pseudo-songs of
violence-laden gangsta-rap, acid pop, and simpering, saccharine,
soulless slush. Depart now and you forever separate yourselves from the
vital American legacies of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed, Memphis Slim, Blind Boy Fuller, Louis Jordan, Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I and II, Otis Redding, Jackie Wilson, Elvis Presley, Leiber and Stoller, and Robert K. Weiss.
Donald "Duck" Dunn: Who is Robert K. Weiss?
Elwood Blues: Turn your backs now and you snuff out the
fragile candles of blues, R&B and soul, and when those flames
flicker and expire, the light of the world is extinguished because the
music which has moved mankind through seven decades leading to the
millennium will wither and die on the vine of abandonment and neglect.
Only surpassed by their live version... 
My rating down to 5
The Sandlot!
always reminds me of big lebowski :D
 ScottFromWyoming wrote:
Time to swap it out with Time is Tight.
 
 
 
Yesss!
 Propayne wrote:
I've never understood the "overplayed" or "I've heard the song too much" criticism.

That has nothing to do with how good a song is.

And this one is great.

 

 
{#Yes}  {#Notworthy}
 jlind wrote:
As much as I despised the pervious song, what a segue Bill!

 
This is why all of your true listeners would never skip a song on your station, and why you shouldn't let them because your new users don't know any better.
As much as I despised the pervious song, what a segue Bill!
With the start of the cricket season upon us, not sure this is the right Booker T. track to be playing - #SoulLimbo
Now, let's step up the game. Give us some Jimmy Smith!
 Jelani wrote:
This a such a cool and iconic tune of theirs.  I love it.
How disappointed was I when I got the 'Best of" CD and this wasn't on it.
I was confounded as well.

 
You didn't look before you bought it?
 ScottFromWyoming wrote:
Time to swap it out with Time is Tight.
 
 
 
or have both
This a such a cool and iconic tune of theirs.  I love it.
How disappointed was I when I got the 'Best of" CD and this wasn't on it.
I was confounded as well.
 silkaardvark wrote:
I heard Booker T and his son rock this last month in Honolulu. Mr. Jones on the Hammond and his son has serious chops on the guitar. There were only about fifty of us in a small recording studio at the local NPR. Epic and great stories between songs.A real raconteur!

 
Nice!   
Time to swap it out with Time is Tight.
 
 
{#Bananapiano}
Great song!

PSD? 
seems like i have heard this all my life
surprised to just now learn it's 1962
i would have guessed late sixties 
 aaronm wrote:
Me: "Huh, what do you think the album cover looks like?"

Me: "Well, I don't know what I expected." 


I guess that sometimes, life just imitates... life!
I heard Booker T and his son rock this last month in Honolulu. Mr. Jones on the Hammond and his son has serious chops on the guitar. There were only about fifty of us in a small recording studio at the local NPR. Epic and great stories between songs.A real raconteur!
 PopKombo wrote:
classic

 



Ditto
classic
 bentonian wrote:
The first thousand times I heard this it rated an 8. The second thousand times it was down to a 7. Maybe I'm just old, but it's down to a 5.

 
Maybe you need to go to an asylum. It's not related the number of times you've listen this with the quality, repercusion and history of this song.
 Rajin wrote:
Go guitar gooooo!
 
band
I've never understood the "overplayed" or "I've heard the song too much" criticism.

That has nothing to do with how good a song is.

And this one is great.

 
The first thousand times I heard this it rated an 8. The second thousand times it was down to a 7. Maybe I'm just old, but it's down to a 5.
Wow, and it's about vegetables.  

11 !!!!!

also a very inspirational song :  please check out Robert Cray 2014 album "In My Soul" with the song "Hip Tight Onions"

seen Robert Cray perform that one live in Amsterdam ( Europe....)  also deserves 10....+


 kcar wrote:

Huh! I watched a great documentary about Stax/Volt Records years ago and was under the impression that the company's headquarters got demolished after Stax went out of business. Were the studios at a different location or is my memory faulty? 

 
I believe the original studio was torn down in the 1980s, but a replica was built about ten years ago, as a museum, on the same spot.
This song exemplifies the word "groove".
Go guitar gooooo!
Me: "Huh, what do you think the album cover looks like?"
<clicks song link on RP>
Me: "Well, I don't know what I expected." 
 stalfnzo wrote:
Some songs are simply an 11. 

 
Ditto
Some songs are simply an 11. 
I picture Schroeder playing the Hammond while Snoopy, Pigpen and the rest of the Peanuts crew all dance about…
{#Bananasplit} {#Bananasplit} {#Bananasplit} 
What can you say? One of the all-time greats.
Superb...believe it or not, Tom Petty et al do a great cover of this...it's in my archives somewhere...
{#Bananapiano}

A big fat 10!
 oldfart48 wrote:
{#Bananapiano}{#Bananajam}{#Sunny}{#Sunny} {#Sunny}

 
{#Bananajam}   {#Guitarist}{#Bananasplit}  {#Bananapiano}{#Sunny}{#Dancingbanana_2} {#Bananajam}{#Sunny}  {#Drummer}  {#Bananapiano}   {#Bananajam}x{#Sunny}
{#Bananapiano}{#Bananajam}{#Sunny}{#Sunny} {#Sunny}
 Propayne wrote:
groove

 
{#Bananajam}   {#Guitarist}{#Bananasplit}  {#Dancingbanana_2}   {#Drummer}  {#Bananapiano}   {#Bananajam}

"I'm in the groove Jackson"
groove
 rdo wrote:
acxessible bubblegum top 40 schlock
 
Yep, but it is really good "schlock"
acxessible bubblegum top 40 schlock
 unclehud wrote:
Anybody hear the NPR blurb on these guys two days ago?  It was a plug for a new book: Respect Yourself, by Robert Gordon.  Interesting mix of racial cooperation in the midst of big-time segregated Memphis in the 60s.  

A couple of great friends got married in Memphis a few years ago, and their wedding reception was held at the old Stax studios.  Paid all my respects in 15 minutes and spent the next 2 hours cruising through the place.  Unforgettable.  (Gibson factory in downtown is also a "don't miss" music treasure.)

 
Huh! I watched a great documentary about Stax/Volt Records years ago and was under the impression that the company's headquarters got demolished after Stax went out of business. Were the studios at a different location or is my memory faulty? 

One of my favorite stories from that documentary touched on a '62 recording session at Stax's studios in Memphis. A guy named Johnny Jenkins showed up to record some songs but finished early. The guy who'd driven him to the studio had worked with Jenkins in other bands and asked if he could use the remaining session time to record himself. The engineers agreed and Otis Redding cut two tracks, including one of his biggest hits "These Arms of Mine." 
Anybody hear the NPR blurb on these guys two days ago?  It was a plug for a new book: Respect Yourself, by Robert Gordon.  Interesting mix of racial cooperation in the midst of big-time segregated Memphis in the 60s.  

A couple of great friends got married in Memphis a few years ago, and their wedding reception was held at the old Stax studios.  Paid all my respects in 15 minutes and spent the next 2 hours cruising through the place.  Unforgettable.  (Gibson factory in downtown is also a "don't miss" music treasure.)
 unclehud wrote:
A Hammond B3 and a whacka-whacka guitar technique that's rarely (never?) heard these days. 
Glad to report that the B3 is alive and well - in New Orleans, at least. You seem 'em (and their associated Leslie speakers) at pawn shops often, a sure sign that a lot of musicians are working on it. This guy is one of the local masters.
Definitely don't get the unabashed love for this song by posters...  It's fun to hear once in awhile, but that's about it.
 
 cShaggy wrote:
..if ever a song cried out for lyrics..(play it some more & i'll try)..
 
maxi priest with shaggy " that kind of girl " cooks it correctly.....
Sorry, but all I can think of now when I hear this is, " Call your doctor if...". Thank you pharmaceutical conglomerates.

Still one of the beat song ever, ;) 
1962 was a very good year indeed! {#Devil_pimp}
'62....... this Came Out in '62??  Where in the hell was the rest of the music at that time? A M A Z I N G !
Some Link Wray would go well with the green onions.
So '60s. And so '10s.  
You just can't help but feel good... 10!
Does not get cooler than this.
Yeah, a fave of mine. Thank you.


Way cool.


{#Dancingbanana}  
A Hammond B3 and a whacka-whacka guitar technique that's rarely (never?) heard these days.  
This defines "cool"! 
Anyone ever hear Roy Buchanan's version?
 ziakut wrote:
RIP Donald "Duck" Dunn
 
Amen. Duck's one of my idols. However, Lewie Steinberg played bass on this recording.
This is one of the definitive songs of the last 50 years.  Definition of a 10.
..if ever a song cried out for lyrics..(play it some more & i'll try)..
I LOVE this. 
It's a bummer it's not on their greatest hits album. (?!) 
RIP Donald "Duck" Dunn
I've always wondered why this song is so good.  Simple blues song without any real remarkable playing.  But it's a great song that I always pay attention to.  
Welcome to Dave's Dinner... Anyone remember that?  Some radio show from my past?
HELP SAVE THE PLANET ! ! !  .... BUY ''GREEN ONIONS'' {#Bounce}
Yo, daddy-o.
Used to love the clack of the 45s falling onto the deck in those (gasp) automatic record players
Barfly....
9->10
One of the Greats. Amazing to think this is nearly 50 years old.
Depends. Sorry.
Memphis.
This always makes me think of the classic Robert Crumb 'Keep on Truckin' cartoon:


Love RP and Green Onions...

https://www.npr.org/2011/05/05/135840639/booker-t-jones-tiny-desk-concert


 DaveInVA wrote:
I still have the 45 rpm record of this, damn I'm old...
 

Ahhh, I feel better now, there's a hi-tech EP in our house.

 wenatchee wrote:
You know that feeling you get when you hit all the lights just right and the sun is rising and you've had a just-right cup of joe?  
 
(I'm smellin you wenatchee)

OR when the sun is going down on a warm summer Friday night, the smell of barbecue just kicked you in the nose and a cold beer just winked at you and is demanding a big kiss on the lips?!

This should be Volume 1, Track 3 of the Chicago soundtrack.

You know that feeling you get when you hit all the lights just right and the sun is rising and you've had a just-right cup of joe?  
 PA1749 wrote:

There are overplayed songs and there are timeless songs. This one falls into the timeless catagory for me...Great Tune!


 
You forgot the third category.

 gabrielle7nt wrote:
 
Hmmm... I had salmon and wine, too.
 


Wow, cosmic! (as my friend in high school used to say...)
 Dave_Mack wrote:

I'm imagining green onions in the ears. Pretty amusing after a couple glasses of wine and some nice salmon.
  
Hmmm... I had salmon and wine, too.
 gabrielle7nt wrote:
So good for the ears. Tasty and nutritious, too.
 


I'm imagining green onions in the ears. Pretty amusing after a couple glasses of wine and some nice salmon.
Classic, Booker T. Jones and the Memphis Group! Rock that Hammond.
So good for the ears. Tasty and nutritious, too.
 Hannio wrote:


That girl is screaming because she just got hit in the back with two heat seeking missiles.
 
I'm sorry - I love this song, but I'm laughing so hard I can't see what I'm typing.  Thanks, Hannio - you made my entire month.

Too cool for school!  The definitive instrumental.
Too bad that these guys get pigeonholed with their three or four mega-tunes.  They were some of the best Stax to come out of Memphis.  Maybe it isn't too bad, because as often as their songs are used in the movies, each probably has a nice life.

By the way, Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn were also 'Blues Brothers.'

Ya Ya Ya !

Excellent toe-tapping music!

It's the only exercise I've gotten all day, sitting in front of my computer at work.  LOL


 nalle wrote:
Love that sound of B3, great!
 
I'v been playing that exact B3 ! {#Bananapiano}

There are overplayed songs and there are timeless songs. This one falls into the timeless catagory for me...Great Tune!


Love that sound of B3, great!