Customer Reviews

Melting Pot

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It was the last album of the classic lineup (almost - see below) and they went out, for the most part, in a blaze of glory which probably surprised fans of both their easy-grooving, compact instrumental workouts and all the work they had put in as the funkiest backing band in deep Southern soul. The remarkable achievement was that Booker T. & the MGs let their adventurism run free without burying entirely the foundation that got them there in the first place - the deep, wide, spine-slicing groove of bassist Duck Dunn and drummer Al Jackson, Jr.; the spare, effective chords and licks of guitarmeister Steve Cropper (who could also, in fact, take a short solo turn with the best of them and never forgot the blues entirely); and, the magisterially funky keyboard beds and punctuations of Booker T. Jones.

The title cut alone is worth the price of the ticket, a swirling, rolling union of esoteric, dreamy jazz and steady rolling funk whose simplicity and modal melodiousness beats damn near all the ill-begotten "fusion" movement hollow and doesn't let you out of its allure for its entire eight minute run. (Guitar chauvinists, please note - Cropper's brief solo turn here could be an object lesson of "less is more"; he nudges out, simply, a spare solo the shredmeisters would have nervous breakdowns trying to nail.) Almost as effective is the equal-length, soul blues workout "Kinda Easy Like," admittedly a kind of "Green Onions" played inside out but oh, what a groove they cut - and if, as I suspect, it's unearthed from their earlier days with original bassist Lewie Steinberg, well, maybe Lewie wasn't Duck Dunn, but he certainly knew how to lay down the blues bottom without obstructing the feeling; and, anyway, you're too busy enjoying the themes and punctuations Jones and Cropper lay across Steinberg's bottom and Jackson's crackling beat to nitpick.

The rest of the album veers between the two ends of the two longer cuts with equivalent grace and power, and by the time it's over you mourn the breakup of the band and even more so the fact that his still-unsolved murder (in 1976) means that, without Jackson, no regrouping of this exquisite outfit will ever sound quite the same. And you also realise that, of any and everything they did in a long and distinguished career, "Melting Pot" deserved way better than its original weak (on their terms) sales got them. You won't even mind the one or two legitimately lesser moments, so gripping is the meat of the album.

In all honesty, there aren't enough stars to rate this stellar album. Unfortunately, the last by these four members of Booker T. & the MGs. Booker T. Jones plays his B-3 organ with unbelievable fire and passion. Steve Cropper's rhythm and lead guitar is just unrivaled. Duck Dunn lays down some of his most inspiring bass lines ever, and as always, the perfect time keeping of the great Al Jackson, Jr. on drums makes this album a sonic delight from beginning to end. It opens with, in my opinion, the greatest piece of music ever recorded, the title cut, "Melting Pot". From start to finish it is perhaps, the most fitting example of each member's equal contribution to the sound and soul of the band. Four guys doing four distinctive things, with it all coming together like magic, and all the while, none of them having enough of an ego to detract from the other. Tragic circumstances made this the last outing by these four, and the direction they were going in here makes it all the more tragic. However, this was certainly a perfect crowning achievement for the group. Not many bands can go out as they came in. On fire.

Booker T & the Memphis Group have a long history as the background of the Memphis sound (even before the rebirth with the Blues Brothers). This album has some of their really best work, led my the title cut. While a couple of cuts are a bit tepid, all in all, Melting Pot, Kinda Easy like and most of the rest are tight tight grooves. The final cut, Sunny Monday is as strong as anything on the album.

Worth more than the price!

The first half of this album is really ace. In the title cut Booker T & the MG's successfully pull off an extended composition, no easy task for a band rooted in three minute songs & funky covers. Chicken Pox is a crisp original.

Alas, the second half of the album sounds like an audition for soul muzak. Two titles tell the tale: Kinda Easy Like & L.A. Jazz Song. Of course it ain't jazz & the doo dah singing chorus is a major annoyance. The band always heads downhill when there's too much Booker T & not enough MG's.

DJ Rix

By A. P. Monblat (Sutton, Surrey United Kingdom)

At the risk of being accused of hyperbole, I can honestly say that the track "Melting Pot" is the finest piece of music I've ever heard. There simply are not words (at least not in my lexicon) to describe its sublime brilliance. I could mention the incredibly strong melody, its sophisticated big-city feel, the awesome interplay between Booker T's hammond and Steve Cropper's guitar underpinned by Dunn's bass and the genuinely unique presence of Jackson's drumming, but that would still not begin to do it justice. I fell in love with this track (and the rest of the album - especially "Fuquawi" and "Kinda Easy Like") about 30 years ago now (the album was about three years old at the time and already deleted - ridiculously enough). I've heard a great deal of amazing music since then, both new and old, but absolutely nothing touches this. In my opinion this is far and away the best album Booker T and the MGs ever made. The reviewer who said they went out in a blaze of unsung glory with this is absolutely right. They (and this album in particular) are still underrated, but at least the group have had some serious recognition now, and all or most of their material is available. Their music should live on forever.

1. Melting Pot
2. Back Home
3. Chicken Pox
4. Fuquawi
5. Kinda Easy Like
6. Hi Ride
7. L.A. Jazz Song
8. Sunny Monday

It never gets old. One of the best the group ever recorded.It is as fresh as when was released.Steve Cropper smokes. I'm a big fan of the mg's.I'm looking foward to the release of Universal Language.

All I have to say 'bout "Melting Pot" is "Wow!" A great all-round disc, one of the best from Booker T & the MG's. It is one of the very first records I bought, in the seventies. If I remember correctly, the LP was about 50 cents in a small record store, a few scratches were included at no extra cost. The rhythm section of Booker T was, at the time, known as one of the most outstanding of all the U.S. (rhythm sections of fame included Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge, among others). "Melting Pot" is a good transfer on CD (Stax did a great job in the re-issue of a seventies classic).

Awesome. If there's anybody out there who likes outstanding instrumental rock, or jazz, or a combination of the two! then how could you possibly not like this??! like, groovy, baby!

A nice tight album, bringing back some fond memories.
Not quite grabbing me like it did when it first came out, but stands the test of time suprisingly well.
Feel good listening music.

So many musicians could take a lesson from Booker T and the MG's. This album is perhaps the tightest funky jazz recorded this side of heaven, and without synthesizers and electronic drums.

This is feel-good music to blast away on the car stereo with Pyle-Driver speakers! Some say they are annoyed with the "Doo-Wah" female vocals, but I think they just add to the overall splendor of this masterpiece! Especially on the "L.A. Jazz Song"- one of the tightest precision groove songs ever recorded.

Years ago I first found this album on 8-track in a machine I fixed for a friend. I loved it from the beginning.

Believe me when I say that if all you know about Booker T and the MG's is their songs "Green Onions," or "Time is Tight," buy this album and be blown away on the most precice funky jazz ever recorded!